According to Canadian Industry Minister Jim Prentice, Canada will not interfere with the new pricing policies of major telecommunications firms, despite public unhappiness over impending moves by BCE and Telus to charge for incoming text messages. Prentice told the two companies that "in the current deregulated telecommunications market, our government has no intention of interfering with the day-to-day business decisions of private companies or with the choices available to consumers."For their part, BCE and Telus have agreed to let customers remove charges caused by unwanted spam text. Prentice had this advice for those upset with the coming changes: "Given these undertakings by Bell Mobility and Telus, I would encourage consumers dissatisfied with existing plans to seek alternatives."
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Bell says that they will charge wholesalers for bandwidth over a certain limit and will throttle p2p traffic as well before it reaches the ISP, so ISPs that lease lines from them will have to pass the cost down to the consumer.
One mentioning that wasn't in the article is that if you have a unlimited text bundle you don't get charged at all for incoming texts.
I'm glad such practices would never be introduced in the UK as i'm sure OFCOM would not allow them!!
Common sense isn't allowed here in the US, we get charged to receive text and we also get charged if someone calls us on our cell phones. I haven't found any justification for it, but it's what all the providers do.
Would you like to pay for incoming e-mails too? Or what about just normal incoming long distance phone calls? Its the same thing. Also, the markup is already stupid enough on text messages... I think they're making enough to not only keep the network going but to expand it
But in Canada, only three wireless carriers dominate the industry and the CRTC (Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission) don't allow foreign companies such as AT&T and T-Mobile to operate in Canada. Bell and Telus control the CDMA transmissions, while Rogers has a monopoly over GSM. Henceforth, I do not trust the free market to fix this problem.
That said, I think the whole texting craze is stupid... of course I also hate talking on the phone in the first place
Edit: Oh yeah, the markup on text messages is so ****ing stupid. I really don't understand how people justify paying for it each month at the prices they pay, but alas free market.
Last edited by SOOPRcow on 10 Aug 2008 - 15:52
Not that I'm poor, I'd class myself in the middle-high class, but I want to pay as less monthly charges as possible. Now, I'd have to pay like 50 bucks for a stupid phone (I don't like to talk that much on the phone, 2-3 mins a day does it), and instead of lowering the prices, they are going up the hill.
Second, it is STILL as expensive. For 15 bucks I think, I can get vocal messages and see who's calling me, as well as a couple of other useless features. I can't see myself without the second thing.
Then I want the Internet (ok I have to admit that I specifically want an iPhone, so an iPhone without the Internet is a joke). Basically, it would cost me 50-80 per month, which means 600-960 per year, for a student who can work only during summer, well no thanks.
Generally, Canada is one of the most überly retarded country in the world of telecommunications.
How about just getting the necessities first if you're so concerned about price?
I pay $25 or so every 3-4 months for minutes that don't expire for a year and receive incoming texts free with a T-Mobile prepaid. I just use the computer to text back or simply call them.
My phone only cost me $30 too with free shipping.
Second, it is STILL as expensive. For 15 bucks I think, I can get vocal messages and see who's calling me, as well as a couple of other useless features. I can't see myself without the second thing.
Then I want the Internet (ok I have to admit that I specifically want an iPhone, so an iPhone without the Internet is a joke). Basically, it would cost me 50-80 per month, which means 600-960 per year, for a student who can work only during summer, well no thanks.
Generally, Canada is one of the most überly retarded country in the world of telecommunications.
Tell me about it!! I use Rogers PAYG and that 30 days thing is completely insane. I payed for those minutes, why should I not be able to use them anytime I want? Like it costs Rogers anything to have those minutes active on my account. I think this should be illegal. If they have to have an expiry, it should be at least 6 months. I go to China a few times a year, sometimes 5 months apart, and when I get back there, my account is still active, with the minutes I payed for still on there.
In contrast look at Rogers. My dad passed away last month, so I didn't use my cell much during the last month and a half or so. I had over $20 in my account. The other day I go to use it, and the money had "expired". What kind of BS is that?!?!? What other industry gets away with stealing money from your account simply because you didn't use it in 30 days?
we should stop harper's party from forming the govt in next election
we should stop harper's party from forming the govt in next election
Oh please. It's been this way since the wireless technology first entered Canada. No particular government will change or fix anything. It's all CRTC regulated so unless you dissolve that council you won't change a thing. If anything, the CRTC is preventing the government from taking over and jacking up the prices even more, not to mention the censorship they would do if they got involved.
No alternatives? Don't use a wireless phone. They are not needed. I purchased one back in 2003 thinking I would use it all the time. I carried it with me, had it at my desk at work, and decided it would be my only phone - landline or otherwise. I soon realized that it's useless when I'm always 20 feet away from a phone and got rid of it. I now pay $30 a month for landline phone which includes caller ID, call waiting, and voicemail.
Wireless phones are overrated.
Neztea.
Neztea.
i agree it would be fair competition who so ever will provide good service will win the customers.
Neztea.
You do know how crappy their coverage is in the US right? I worked for a telecommunications company based out of the US for 3 years and there service is some of the worse in the world unless you live a huge city like Houston or New York.
The alternative is simple - don't use a wireless phone. I thought of another option just now, use a wireless phone and get text messaging removed including a barring option that you can get added (the providers will deny it until you escalate the call) that will stop all incoming text messages as well.
Wireless phone - overrated. Text messaging - even more overrated and anti-social. Phone the person if you must speak to them. If you are text messaging, changes are you are in a position where you shouldn't even be on your phone fiddling around in the first place.
How is it anti-social? People talking loud on their mobiles while on the bus or train and making sure people hear their conversations is irritating. At least text messaging is not intrusive, though there are the odd people who have button tones which is almost as annoying as people talking on their mobiles loudly. Sometimes crowded or busy areas make it difficult to talk to someone on the mobile, so texting is a viable alternative. Not only that, some people may not be available to answer so a text is sufficient
Show them, just show them!
Glassed Silver:mac
I'm with O2 UK. Used to use their pre-pay service. Top-up voucher cards were sold years ago and they never expired as far as I can remember. These have been replaced with electronic top ups which can be done at ATMs or in some shops which print out a receipt with the top-up number at no additional cost! However much you buy, it lasts as long as you want it to! With O2, it was 10p to send a text and about 25p to send an MMS. Phone calls were charged per-minute at different rates at different times, even free if another O2 number was called! O2 had an offer which required £15 to be topped up on the mobile every month in order to get 150 minutes/300 texts/100 MMS.
Now I have a contract with O2. Used to be £20 for 18 months, then at renewal time, it was reduced to £15 with an increased allowance of minutes and texts! Zero charges for receiving anything apart data when I connect to the internet. Phone came free as well!
O2 and all the other network providers in the UK seem to be doing all right for themselves with this structure. Why cant Canada and the USA adopt this?
They're pretty asswipey about complaints for the most part...but you don't hear this complaint much anymore because almost anyone who texts just gets an unlimited plan. Americans save their whining for even more egregious offenses, like how unlimited 3G data access on a flip phone is $30/mo, but the same unlimited 3G data access on anything running windows mobile (or any other smartphone) is $50/mo.
Actually I think iPhone users had to pay the $50/mo too even when they were limited to Edge speeds...but I could be wrong there.
Say Telus or Bell have 5,000,000 customers (which is about right). Not all use text. Not all are subscribers. Say 25% add a plan for $3.00 /mnth extra for more messages. That's another $50 million a year just for changing billing a bit.
Bell and Telus keep changing their plans every month and they keep calling to add extra services.
Someone sends my phone a SMS and it will recieve that SMS i can't stop them from sending that sms.
"They've got you going in, they've got you going out. Same amount. In & out."
Look at the rates at Rogers: $15/mth for 2MB.... HAHAHAHHA you've gotta be kidding me.
Only in Canada would data roaming from a US provider like T-Mobile be CHEAPER than using data with your own native provider.
Look at the rates at Rogers: $15/mth for 2MB.... HAHAHAHHA you've gotta be kidding me.
Only in Canada would data roaming from a US provider like T-Mobile be CHEAPER than using data with your own native provider.
newer rate is 6gigs for $30 a month. Still more then i would like to pay, but its better then any other plans.
but yea its sad, a buddy went to texas for a few months, it was cheaper for him to call long distance from texas then a local call from canada
after that, we'll be back to crap like $30 for 300mb and $65 for 1gb
How nice.
Does receiving email on your phone use your SMS plan? If not, consider dropping SMS altogether and choosing just data. Did everyone forget they can send an email to people's cells as a text message? And their replies will go straight back to your email address, and if you have real time inbox checking, it's just as efficient. Not to mention, no more LOST text messages.
There are other creative solutions that require just a little bit of effort to set up before they're just as smooth as SMS to use, but rather than using these and sending a message to the provider (bonus: it doesn't require boycotting), people would rather whine and demand the government step in and regulate.
The government is involved insofar as saying that a handful of companies has a monopoly on the wireless market in Canada, but they don't want to get involved when those companies gouge their customers.
It said something about, Hi i'm that girl you had sex with, just thought i'd let you know I have aids, and by the way I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico.
I was so ****ed, only from the thought of paying for that stupid piece of **** mother****'n forward.
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