JasonParis
Moderator
Which would be akin to abandoning the airwaves. Good luck getting a signal!
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- Thread starter cacruden
- Start date
G
gabe
Guest
no it wouldn't
JasonParis
Moderator
All countries have broadcast regulators. That's the primary job of the CRTC. If we didn't have them anyone could broadcast on any frequency they wanted and all you'd hear is static.
Prometheus The Supremo
►Member №41+⅜◄
i read somewhere that it only costs around 3 cents to move a gigabyte of data over the wired networks. also, when re-sellers are allowed to offer faster speeds, that should really get the competition going.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
I got a form letter from Michael Ignatieff today -
Don --
It’s another step towards an open and competitive internet in Canada, and it's thanks to you.
Late last night, news broke that Tony Clement will ask the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to reverse their decision on usage-based internet billing – a decision that allows internet service providers to impose download limits and new fees.
Our work is not yet done. We need to keep up the pressure until the CRTC’s decision is reversed once and for all.
Canadian families and businesses need open, affordable, unlimited internet access. The future of our economy depends on it. The Conservative government should have known that from the start.
When messages like yours reached us this past weekend – on Twitter and Facebook, by email, phone and fax – my Liberal colleagues and I knew what we had to do.
On Tuesday morning, we sided with you against the CRTC’s decision. By the end of the day, Liberal MPs on the Industry Committee had already begun an investigation. Then, yesterday, we kept the pressure on the Conservative government during Question Period in the House of Commons. At tonight’s meeting of the Industry Committee, Liberal MPs will tell CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein to reverse course.
This isn't the first time that you’ve stared down the Conservatives over an open internet — and that's why tens of thousands of you visited our action page at http://www.liberal.ca/ubb/, to join our digital policy email list and help carry the fight into Parliament.
This is your movement. You rallied on Twitter. You wrote emails and called Tony Clement’s office. You made the difference.
We all know that there are wider issues at stake here. After five years of Stephen Harper, Canada still has no digital plan. The Conservatives’ proposed copyright bill contains unfair digital lock provisions. Canadians are less connected and face higher internet costs than citizens of other OECD countries. And don’t even get me started on the long-form census.
Liberals have been engaged on these issues. In 2009, we worked with the Openmedia.ca / Save Our Net Coalition on Net Neutrality, a position that we support wholeheartedly. Last fall, we announced our Open Government Initiative, which will make government data accessible to all Canadians.
At the heart of our digital policy is a core Liberal value: we must make Canada more competitive and more innovative. That means expanding high-speed internet access to every region of the country, fair and equitable wholesale access, and transparent pricing.
We must build a digital strategy for Canada that embraces the energy, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovative creativity of consumers, businesses and digital influencers like you.
We'll keep the pressure on the Conservatives in Parliament to make sure they follow through and reverse the CRTC’s decision on usage-based billing. This victory is just a taste of what we can accomplish, if we continue this fight together.
I hope you’ll join the Liberal Party's digital policy email list at http://www.liberal.ca/ubb/. Let’s build a more open, more competitive future for Canada.
Thank you for being engaged.
Michael Ignatieff
Don --
It’s another step towards an open and competitive internet in Canada, and it's thanks to you.
Late last night, news broke that Tony Clement will ask the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to reverse their decision on usage-based internet billing – a decision that allows internet service providers to impose download limits and new fees.
Our work is not yet done. We need to keep up the pressure until the CRTC’s decision is reversed once and for all.
Canadian families and businesses need open, affordable, unlimited internet access. The future of our economy depends on it. The Conservative government should have known that from the start.
When messages like yours reached us this past weekend – on Twitter and Facebook, by email, phone and fax – my Liberal colleagues and I knew what we had to do.
On Tuesday morning, we sided with you against the CRTC’s decision. By the end of the day, Liberal MPs on the Industry Committee had already begun an investigation. Then, yesterday, we kept the pressure on the Conservative government during Question Period in the House of Commons. At tonight’s meeting of the Industry Committee, Liberal MPs will tell CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein to reverse course.
This isn't the first time that you’ve stared down the Conservatives over an open internet — and that's why tens of thousands of you visited our action page at http://www.liberal.ca/ubb/, to join our digital policy email list and help carry the fight into Parliament.
This is your movement. You rallied on Twitter. You wrote emails and called Tony Clement’s office. You made the difference.
We all know that there are wider issues at stake here. After five years of Stephen Harper, Canada still has no digital plan. The Conservatives’ proposed copyright bill contains unfair digital lock provisions. Canadians are less connected and face higher internet costs than citizens of other OECD countries. And don’t even get me started on the long-form census.
Liberals have been engaged on these issues. In 2009, we worked with the Openmedia.ca / Save Our Net Coalition on Net Neutrality, a position that we support wholeheartedly. Last fall, we announced our Open Government Initiative, which will make government data accessible to all Canadians.
At the heart of our digital policy is a core Liberal value: we must make Canada more competitive and more innovative. That means expanding high-speed internet access to every region of the country, fair and equitable wholesale access, and transparent pricing.
We must build a digital strategy for Canada that embraces the energy, entrepreneurial spirit, and innovative creativity of consumers, businesses and digital influencers like you.
We'll keep the pressure on the Conservatives in Parliament to make sure they follow through and reverse the CRTC’s decision on usage-based billing. This victory is just a taste of what we can accomplish, if we continue this fight together.
I hope you’ll join the Liberal Party's digital policy email list at http://www.liberal.ca/ubb/. Let’s build a more open, more competitive future for Canada.
Thank you for being engaged.
Michael Ignatieff
khris
Senior Member
We don't really need to get rid of the CRTC, we need to get them to not regulate the internet, and leave that to someone else. The CRTC just needs to stick to radio and television.
JLankford
New Member
Indeed, the CRTC in principal is not wrong. We must have a company to regulate the telecoms and defend people. The problem is the CRTC is filled with ex-Bell and Rogers execs (look at their LinkedIn profiles).
UBB itself is not evil either. If people even had to pay $0.25 per GB, a huge markup, we wouldn't be complaining. The telecoms would lose money on the 90% of users that don't exceed the 25gb cap though ($6.25 per month for internet!). The greedy companies want to charge a huge 'access' fee with a small cap, and then charge an absurd $2.00 per gb overage.
Basically, the 'congestion' of the networks is horse shit, and they don't care if you want to use 300gb per month; you just need to pay insane fees.
It's troubling that Canadians continue to let telecoms walk over them. And now thanks to shortsighted Tories in office and their handling of Globalive, they'll be unlikely to stop Bell's UBB. We need to actually pass real law that prevents these horrific monopolies, and price gouging of consumers.
Amazing that ten years ago this country was leading the way in high speed internet, and now we've fallen so far behind it'll take a decade of work to catch to up the likes of Korea, Sweden, Finland, Japan.. and others. So sad.
UBB itself is not evil either. If people even had to pay $0.25 per GB, a huge markup, we wouldn't be complaining. The telecoms would lose money on the 90% of users that don't exceed the 25gb cap though ($6.25 per month for internet!). The greedy companies want to charge a huge 'access' fee with a small cap, and then charge an absurd $2.00 per gb overage.
Basically, the 'congestion' of the networks is horse shit, and they don't care if you want to use 300gb per month; you just need to pay insane fees.
It's troubling that Canadians continue to let telecoms walk over them. And now thanks to shortsighted Tories in office and their handling of Globalive, they'll be unlikely to stop Bell's UBB. We need to actually pass real law that prevents these horrific monopolies, and price gouging of consumers.
Amazing that ten years ago this country was leading the way in high speed internet, and now we've fallen so far behind it'll take a decade of work to catch to up the likes of Korea, Sweden, Finland, Japan.. and others. So sad.
Jonny5
Senior Member
It's unclear where things go from here though. The Michael Geist article says UBB was mandated on resellers as an alternative to throttling. Do we go back to that now?
I see the government much less inclined to stop that at it's a much more difficult concept for people to understand than simply having their data cap lowered.
I see the government much less inclined to stop that at it's a much more difficult concept for people to understand than simply having their data cap lowered.
dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
The CRTC should allow competition into Canada, that's where we go from here. If the big telecoms don't keep up with the bandwidth demands by investing in the infrastructure that many users want (and more will in the near future), open up the gates.
Prometheus The Supremo
►Member №41+⅜◄
throttling was never eliminated and there are no plans to eliminate it. it would have been UBB + throttling if the UBB decision wasn't postponed. also, it wasn't the re-sellers doing the throttling, it's bell & rogers. indie ISPs who use bell's & rogers' pipes have their traffic go through the throttle. there's no way around this unless the indie ISPs have their own wiring but i think, as a customer, you could bypass throttling by bonding 2 DSL lines with MLPPP.
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dt_toronto_geek
Superstar
See how Canada measures up today -
http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/carriers/internet-speeds-canada-versus-the-world/
JLankford
New Member
Indeed. And it's not just about the speed, it's about the cost. We pay the highest cost in the world for internet among developed nations. Let's not even mention our cell phones..
tissot
Active Member
With the inception of Wind and Mobilicity, things are looking a lot better. I'm with Mobilicity and everything has been fantastic. Yea, the reception can get spotty but for the price, can't really complain.
nfitz
Superstar
The Federal Court of Canada overturned the cabinet decision last week and upheld the original CRTC decision banning Wind. So Wind's future is currently up in the air.
Does it work outside the city? We travel a lot so that was an issue when we were cell phone provider shopping