I'm not so opposed to the concept of UBB as many others seem to be. Go ahead and put a meter on my internet, let me pay for only what I use. Here's the caveat, however: drop the rates so they more closely reflect the actual cost of delivery. Bell or Rogers wants to charge a 100% or 200% premium on the 1GB (or 10GB or 150GB) that I might download in a given month? Go for it! Just stop charging me 10,000% + that seems to be the case right now.
You guys (big ISPs) shouldn't be allowed to "have your cake and eat it too." Yet that's the situation the CRTC seems to have arranged for them in their recent decision and that, I believe, is what has so many of my "polite" fellow Canadians (including me) up in arms.
Here is my version of the letter I sent:
Dear CRTC,
You now have an opportunity to stand up for the Internet, and to stop big telecom companies from forcing exorbitant charges on Canadians.
I do not disagree with the principle of usage-based billing (UBB); however, if that model is to be employed, then the rates must be adjusted. Online research indicates that the current premium charged by Canadian ISPs is multiple orders of magnitude beyond their actual cost for delivery of internet services. For UBB to be fair and reasonable to citizens, that premium must reflect a much smaller (in the order of one one-hundredth) premium on the actual cost of service delivery.
If core service providers are to be allowed to continue to charge current rates for the relatively I believe the CRTC should reverse its previous UBB rulings and allow independent ISPs to compete with their OWN billing solutions.
This is a moment where all Canadians depend on you to protect THEIR interests in the face of pressure from a few Big Telecom companies.
I'm also adding myself to the nearly half-a-million people who have signed the Stop The Meter petition.
Please stand up for consumer choice and competition in the Internet service market. As a signatory of the Stop The Meter petition, I want affordable access to the Internet.
