The Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission or CRTC has approved Usage Based Billing (UBB) for Bell Canada. UBB is basically a data cap for your home internet. According to the Vancover Sun many smaller ISPs have offered unlimited data or very high caps in order to compete with the giants like Bell, Rogers or Telus. And this might put and end to those, because many of the smaller ISPs often lease their networks from the larger companies.
The problem according to consumers with UBB is there now more than ever there a deluge of bandwidth heavy content like Netflix streaming, the likes of Hulu, internet radio and other similar streaming services, and this could end up costing them more money.
Many critics are talking about how this will hurt the growth of internet business. “If you’re a video producer, you’re probably not going to want to base yourself in Canada. “If you’re a web developer who requires a lot of bandwidth and data transfer, why would you set up shop in Canada?” Steve Anderson, founder and national coordinator of the Vancouver-based OpenMedia.ca, told the Vancouver Sun.
The major ISPs retort by saying it’s more fair to the consumer that if they use less they shouldn’t have to pay the same as a power user. I would agree, but what if you happen to have a lot of downtime on month and watch a lot of streaming video? Your overage fees would likely be pretty high.
While this girls rant is fairly incoherent, it does seem to convey the feelings of many online Canadians. A Google search for “Usage Based Biling” yielded mainly results for why it’s a bad idea. Despite her lacking of argument skills I do tend to agree with her stance. Especially if it were to happen here in the State, where ISPs wanted to lower the definition of broadband.
How do you feel about UBB? For? Against? Don’t give a shit?
[Source: Vancouver Sun]
