Since the launch of the online petition, 200,000 canadians have expressed their opposition against the upcoming usage-based billing. It’s an unprecedent level of mobilization, that is growing strongly by the hour. At other levels, the liberal party and the NDP also raised the issue in Ottawa, while Bell’s purchase of CTV is questioned.
The impacts of usage-based billing have yet to be understood by everyone, so here’s a little exercise to understand what usage-based-billing means:
- It’s as if the government limited overnight your car’s monthly kilometers to a max of 30km, quoting too many cars and lack of infrastructure. What was once a commodity becomes a hindrance to your daily schedule.
- It’s as if the STM limited overnight your monthly bus and metro pass to run only a selected 3 hours per day. They try to explain that there are people using buses 30 times a day, which is unfair use of the system. What was once a commodity becomes a hindrance to your daily schedule.
- It’s as if HydroQuebec limited water delivery to only 3 days a week. HydroQuebec tells us their infrastructure wasn’t made for unlimited consumption. What was once a commodity becomes a hindrance to your daily schedule. And then they announce the same thing for electricity.
- It’s as if your grocery store can only sell one 6 pack of beer to each customer weekly, because there’s a beer monopoly and they are the only one in town to have a end-user distribution system. What was once a commodity becomes a hindrance to your daily schedule.
- It’s as if your bank limits cash withdrawals to $500 a week, because armored bank trucks have formed a monopoly, with now limited delivery to local banks. What was once a commodity becomes a hindrance to your daily schedule.
- And, it’s as if your mobile phone provider gives you only a few GB per month for your smartphone. Goodbye to internet tethering and building new innovative mobile applications. Oh wait… not funny, that’s already the case, unlimited data plans are only for the states
Are you shocked? Those are actually real-world examples, decreeted by many governments or local state monopolies, with citizens having to spend time & resources to cope with the limits, dumbing down local economies … Except it’s only found in developing countries! Are we going to see the same thing for Quebec & Canada?
Ending unlimited internet access means negative impact on the Canadian digital economy, slowing down innovation & local entrepreneurs, making impossible the creation of new business models, and discouraging everyone else to come into the country. Everyone needs to realize that Internet access is a building block of a modern life & economy. If you realize the urgency of the situation, here are a few links:
- Sign the petition at openmedia
- Write a letter to your local representative at the parliement. Here’s a template
- File a complaint at the competition bureau, highlighting that telecommunication companies (Bell) shouldn’t own media companies (CTV Globe Media) at the same time
Comments
Pierre February 01, 2011
I also pay gas for my car in accordance to how much I travel.
I guess big Internet users only want to keep their free rides.
Heri February 01, 2011
We pay a flat sum each year to get unlimited access to roads. It’s the same idea
For the groceries, read the explanation, which was about the distribution system. Bell Canada controls the last mile and the analogy was about that specific point of the system.
The issue here was not about price. If an ISP asks for it, I can pay $100/month or more to get Internet access, but it has to be in a free market. I can even pay $200/month if a provider can offer unlimited fiber Internet access, but this isn’t possible because Bell controls the last mile.
Montreal Tech Watch February 01, 2011
Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing http://bit.ly/eZJYRu
Martha Weaver February 01, 2011
RT @mtw: Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing http://bit.ly/eZJYRu
heri February 01, 2011
RT @mtw Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing http://t.co/PZ2mHlo
Nancy Deschenes February 01, 2011
RT @mtw: Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing http://bit.ly/eZJYRu
John Beales February 01, 2011
RT @mtw: Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing http://bit.ly/eZJYRu
Octavian Cismasu February 01, 2011
RT @mtw: Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing #montreal #tech #UBB http://bit.ly/fqb7fy
John Espinoza February 01, 2011
RT @mtw: Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing #montreal #tech http://bit.ly/fqb7fy
Guillaume Theoret February 01, 2011
Great examples of how and why UBB is bad: http://montrealtechwatch.com/2011/02/01/understanding-the-impacts-of-usage-based-billing/
RebeccaCohenPalacios February 01, 2011
RT @Smokinn: Great examples of how and why UBB is bad: http://montrealtechwatch.com/2011/02/01/understanding-the-impacts-of-usage-based- …
abdullah salim February 01, 2011
RT @Smokinn: Great examples of how and why UBB is bad: http://bit.ly/g5ghOy #fb
duggylimes February 01, 2011
RT @theshady: RT @Smokinn: Great examples of how and why UBB is bad: http://bit.ly/g5ghOy #fb
Darrel Miller February 01, 2011
It’s as if your bank charged based on the transactions that you do on your bank.
It’s as if your house taxes were based on the services that are available to you.
It’s as if the gas company charged you for the gas you consumed.
It’s as if restaurants charged you based on what you ate.
It’s as if bars charged you based on what you drank.
It’s as if taxis charged you based on the distance you traveled.
Bandwidth is not an unlimited resource. It costs money to deliver bytes.
Are the telco’s gouging us? Probably. Should we fight for lower rates? Absolutely. Is unlimited usage for a fixed price a reasonable solution? I don’t think so.
Heri February 02, 2011
true on most points, except it’s easy to anyone to start a taxi business, to start a bar, restaurant etc.
Also what do we suggest we do? My thought is that I can be anywhere, on the sole condition I have a good laptop and a good Internet connection. I am using more than the new plans. So maybe time to move out? or you have other ideas?
Josyan McGregor February 02, 2011
RT @mtw: Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing #montreal #tech http://bit.ly/fqb7fy
josyan @ fundscrip February 02, 2011
RT @mtw: Understanding the Impacts of Usage-Based Billing #montreal #tech http://bit.ly/fqb7fy
Darrel Miller February 02, 2011
My suggestion is to stop watching movies and TV via the internet.
Boycott the service, that will make a statement.
Heri February 02, 2011
yes definitively more than 105GB
I don’t watch TV thanks, I don’t even have a tv set. I still think I have the right to visit vimeo or youtube.
Do you still think I have the right to record videos at 1080p? Because when I upload a 2-3mn video on vimeo, the size is on average 1GB. Might as well call Canon or Panasonic and tell them to only manufacture 480p sensors. 1080p would be too advanced for the average canadian consumer.
Or maybe I should stop using video to call family & friends.
Or restrain from watching the latest movie from Ridley Scott, only available on Youtube.
As you suggest, I can stop using the Internet, and instead buy a TV, perhaps also put away my iPhone and instead get a good ol’ phone, thereby saying goodbye to the latest services launched in the past 4 years (netflix.ca, iTMS movies, xbox live, amazon video, appleTV etc.).
Just to be sure, I am not opposed against usage-based billing. BUT the cap is not 105GB, CRTC documents put it at 25GB. 25GB is tiny compared to current and future potential usage.
But my biggest gripe is that, as written in this post and in previous posts, a fast Internet access is the basis for the digital economy and technology innovation. New limits on Internet access will slow down innovation. Previous ideas that were thought to be possible will be considered impossible by Montréaler. And since MTW’s tagline is “Technology and Innovation in Montreal”, that’s why my position is extreme.
Darrel Miller February 05, 2011
As far as using video to talk to family and friends, a 25GB cap would allow you to talk for 4hrs/day every day.
I didn’t suggest stopping use of the internet, simply to avoid consuming resources at a rate that is orders of magnitude greater than average internet use consumes.
Software developers used to brag about how much they could get done with minimum amount of resources. I’ve seen understandable text-to-speech software that consumed just 4kbytes of RAM.
Today, our solution just seems to be to throw more resources at the problem. More RAM, more disk space, more bandwidth. So much of it pure waste.
To argue that unlimited bandwidth is required to foster creativity is like saying startups cannot succeed without infinite cash.
Anyway, it looks like we won’t have to worry about UBB as the government seem to feel like stopping it will buy them votes. I did appreciate Tony Clement’s perspective that the new UBB model would constrain the business models of second-tier ISPs and I do agree that the competition is good to keep the prices in check.
As I have said all along, I’m against price gouging just like everyone else.