Surprise, suprise.. not really http://stopthemeter.ca/
Internet usage fees draw anger Montreal Gazette
I have just emailed my letter to all the mps in the list:
letter is in this format:
I’m writing to you because I am rather concerned about many of the recent rulings made by the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission. From my understanding, the CRTC was set up to regulate the market and provide at least some protection to consumers. Now, however, it appears as though they exist solely to shill for the consortium of large ISP’s such as Rogers, Bell and Cogeco, especially in the province of Ontario. Rulings such as allowing smaller ISPs to be subject to overuse fees and the more recent one regarding metered internet further demonstrate that the CRTC has no interest in consumer protection, especially when referring to internet usage.
Myself and many others believe that it is time something be done about this problem. You might have noticed a recent article by the Globe and Mail among other newspapers focusing on such issues, and Michael Geist frequently comments on such topics in his column in the Toronto Star and other newspapers as well. What I have yet to see, however, is any uproar about this in the House of Commons. Where is the intervention from our elected representatives? I assure you that many have rather strong opinions on this issue, and acting (or failing to act) on such an issue will not be forgotten come election time.
Sincerely,
The CRTC should exist to PROTECT Canadians from big, greedy, money-hungry telecom companies, not pander to them.
This immoral price gouging internet download billing demand by Bell, Rogers, Telus exceeds all decency and it is time that the Government kills it and the governments should not subsidize at all these greedy telecommunications corporations ..
“Only one in 20 Canadian Internet users would be affected by the CRTC’s decision to impose usage-based billing on independent Internet service providers, yet Prime Minister Stephen Harper tweeted his reservations as soon as controversy erupted.“We’re very concerned about CRTC’s decision on usage-based billing and its impact on consumers. I’ve asked for a review of the decision,” Harper tweeted Tuesday.It’s easy to see why Harper jumped into this flap with both thumbs blazing. He saw a chance to tap into widespread public anger at the country’s major telecommunications companies, which charge top-of-the-world prices in return for bottom-of-the-barrel service.
Telecommunications guru Michael Geist of the University of Ottawa told a Senate committee two years ago that Canada’s “relatively expensive” broadband-Internet plans provided “slow” Internet service, with Canada ranking near the bottom of developed countries for Internet speed. When price and speed were evaluated together, Canada ranked 28th out of 30 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in price per megabyte. “As consumers, we pay more for less,”
Canadians are right to worry that as they continue to use more bandwidth for such purposes as downloading Netflix movies, they’ll pay higher and higher prices. The Harper government has promised to quash the CRTC ruling Usage-based pricing isn’t itself the problem. The problem is how much money major telecommunications companies are sucking from their customers. Telus, for instance, usually pulls in around $1 billion in profit per year, and in 2009 four of its executives made more than $2 million each, including $6.9 million for CEO Darren Entwhistle, according to the Vancouver Sun’s report on executive pay. Shaw Communications made about a half-billion dollars in profit in each of the past two years, and its top three executives pulled in a total of more than $32 million in compensation in 2009, the Calgary Herald reported. Outrageous corporate profiteering and executive pay are ALSO significant issues for average Canadians than usage-based Internet billing. ” http://www.theprovince.com/business/issue+that+gets+Harper+tweeting/4223109/story.html
How B.C. activists fought off the Internet billing plan Vancouver Sun – Steve Anderson reflects on his battle with the CRTC over Internet billing. The CRTC has announced it will review plans. A little over a week ago, most Canadians had never heard of usage-based BILLING … As the campaign spread from Vancouver to Halifax, it garnered thousands of hits on YouTube, millions of posts on everything from Twitter, to Facebook, to blogs, and it’s attracting the attention of international Internet commentators. And while its proponents were cheering Friday, the CRTC only announced it will delay implementing its decision while it conducts its own review.
Gov’t won’t accept CRTC’s Internet billing stance Edmonton Journal
CRTC vows to reassess ruling on user-based billing National Post – CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein agreed Thursday to give a controversial ruling on user-based Internet billing a fresh look, but told a committee of MPs he stands by the underlying principle that ordinary Canadians shouldn’t subsidize heavy downloaders… The Conservative government, however, said it would ignore any improvements the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission has to offer unless the regulator abandons attempts to put caps on Internet use.
Bits, bytes, bills and Bell (and Rogers and Shaw and Telus …) Globe and Mail
Assurances demanded in BCE takeover of CTV Toronto Sun – QMI Agency Stakeholders in Canada’s television industry voiced their concerns of BCE Inc.’s proposed takeover of CTV to the country’s telecommunications regulator for a third day Thursday.
Industry quarrel continues over BCE’s use of benefits for satellite TV upgrade The Wire Report
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