Campaign Calls for Broadband Competition
*Cross posted at SaveOurnet.ca A group of businesses have joined together for a "Campaign for Competitive Broadband" focusing on a recent CRTC decision regarding wholesale Internet services that will give Bell Canada/Telus the opportunity to limit competition and further enable them to become gatekeepers of the Internet. As their website notes:
*Cross posted at SaveOurnet.ca
A group of businesses have joined together for a "Campaign for Competitive Broadband" focusing on a recent CRTC decision regarding wholesale Internet services that will give Bell Canada/Telus the opportunity to limit competition and further enable them to become gatekeepers of the Internet.
As their website notes:
"The CRTC's recent decision would destroy this framework. It would allow Bell, Telus and other incumbent Telco's to set whatever prices they choose for competitor access to their networks. If this decision stands, we should all expect massive price increases designed to choke off competition. One way or another, we foresee higher prices, lower service standards, and little if any innovation...Without competition, prices will rise, service will suffer, and there will be little or no innovation."
The group of businesses involved include SaveOurNet.ca
It is essential that more groups speak up now considering the CRTC recently provisionally approved Bell's request that will force independent companies, such as TekSavvy and Acanac, to charge customers by how much they download, instead of having the option of offering unlimited plans. The independents will now have to invest in equipment to implement this charge-per-use regime. This makes it harder for small independents to differentiate themselves, and thus compete, with the big telecom players. This is bad for those of us wanting a fast, open, and accessible Internet.
Bell has been directed by the CRTC to at least provide equal speeds to competitors. Instead of adhering to these directives, Bell is lobbying the federal Cabinet to overturn this equal access ruling.
There can be no doubt that these big telecom companies will do whatever they can to strangle open competition. Just look at how Rogers is now suing Shaw because Shaw was so audacious as to attempt to compete with Rogers in the Ontario Cable market. On the flip side, Shaw is taking a predatory approach to a new competitor in Vancouver called Novus. As the CBC reports, Shaw has sent out "street teams that would stand in front of buildings and ask people entering and exiting whether they were Novus customers." If these street teams find a Novus customer they would offer them Internet service at $9.95 a month. Surely Shaw is losing money in an attempt to smother a potentially serious competitor.
This new business campaign should help make it clear where business stands on these issues. As should the recent outcry by local Chambers of Commerce after the nation Chamber of Commerce sided with Bell and Telus on the equal access ruling.
The best points the Campaign make are:
*The US tried the approach the CRTC is advocating and it was a disaster. Estimates are that the cost to the US economy were $66 billion and 234,000 jobs.
*Bell and Telus and other incumbent telcos control roughly 90% of the local market for business telecom services today. If they have any more power, they will shut off competition completely.
*Canada already has more expensive and slower broadband services than many countries. Within the OECD, Mexico and Turkey are the only countries where broadband services are more expensive.
* Bell and Telus, like most major companies, offer more attentive service and more attractive offers when they know you have a choice.
*The past rules have not harmed Bell and Telus on the contrary, they are among the largest and most profitable companies in Canada.
more at: http://competitivebroadband.com
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