Usage Based Billing, the CRTC and Me

 
This is a widely discussed topic, but for those living under a rock, many of the country's Internet Service Providers (ISPs) want the CRTC to pass a ruling allowing for the dreaded Usage Based Billing for internet services, due to the strain on these ISPs' networks and servers thanks to current streaming usage. Still not clear on the issue?  Do a Google search on UBB and read on, my friend.

Generally, the ISPs want to remove any current "unlimited" caps, and charge for usage if you go over a certain allotted amount of data bandwidth.  I shudder to think what that may cost us.  Like many of you, I too subscribe to Netflix, and it's become a staple in my household.  We can watch it on our TV via our Wii.  Or on any one of our many computers in the House.  And with great amounts of glee, I discovered I can use it on my iPhone.  Let's not forget about YouTube or any other of the many sources of content that we as viewers are now using, instead of the old, outdated traditional methods (Cable TV? Pshaw!)  This amount of data does take up a lot of bandwidth, but hey, we're living in the future!

Alright, so Bell, Rogers and the other big ISPs don't currently have unlimited plans, but the smaller ISPs do, and that's the problem for the Big Guys.  The small fries rent bandwidth from Bell, et al. and sell the end user an unlimited plan, allowing for a virtually endless supply of bandwidth, for cheap.


I get that the infrastructure set up by Bell, Rogers, and so on costs money to run and maintain, and that as our internet usage continues to escalate - a trend that won't be slowing down anytime soon.- it costs more to maintain and update.  This is where the big companies have the issue.  Customers are signing up with the smaller companies, because their rates are cheaper than the big guys, and they can get even more data bandwidth than the big guys offer for anything remotely close to a similar price.  Bell argues that it's losing money in this situation (I doubt that, but it might humble the mighty giant).


So, the decision to shift into User Based Billing has caused quite the uproar.  On one hand, it kind of makes sense.  But only kind of.  Why should someone who uses a nominal amount of bandwidth pay as much as someone who uses a lot (or vice versa, if you're a cup-half-full sort of person).  On the other, the reported rates they plan on charging for bandwidth used past the plan rate is outrageous.  The CRTC planned on passing this, but as soon as it was brought to light, the Canadian federal government quashed it with breakneck speed.


What I suggest the ISPs do is create a new unlimited rate plan that is nominally higher than before, allowing for infrastructure updates and maintenance, without breaking the end user's bank account.  Usage won't slow down, it will only grow as the media industry continues to grow.


As it stands, this issue hasn't come to a resolution.