Canadian cable operator Rogers has constructed what's essentially the dream business model for broadband executives. They're launching a new broadband video portal that's only available if you sign up for Rogers wireless, TV or broadband service -- avoiding a stand-alone service in order to keep users from canceling regular cable. Rogers has also imposed low caps and high overages and the new service counts against your monthly cap -- meaning Rogers is keeping content revenue in house while socking customers with per-gigabyte overages -- up to $5.00 per gigabyte -- for actually using an advertised service.

Of course the only way this model works is if customers agree to pay overages, but with limited Canadian competition many users have no choice. The idea also falters if the video service isn't actually any good, and early impressions of the freshly opened beta from users in our forums are hit and miss.

Luckily for your bandwidth cap there's no HD option at the moment, and the available content is extremely limited -- as in a few dozen films and mostly older TV shows (CHIPs, anyone?). According to the new Rogers On Demand FAQ, only one person per broadband account can access the new service.

On the other hand it's free to existing customers of any Rogers service, unlike Comcast's looming "TV Everywhere" effort, which will only be made available to the company's existing TV customers. Obviously the beta is evolving, and according to Rogers additional functionality (like parental controls and access via smartphone) are things that are coming in 2010.

Still, it's hard to get around this idea that users already paying more than enough money for both cable TV and broadband access face additional, steep per-gigabyte usage fees for using a Rogers service designed to keep them as customers. Any Rogers users care to share their thoughts on the new service in the comment section below?

Users in our Rogers forum note that the Canadian cable provider will be beta launching an open beta of their On Demand Online service beginning November 30. The service, which is Rogers' version of "TV Everywhere," promises to offer users streaming access to several dozen channels of Internet video content, provided you already have Rogers TV service. According to users, the service will come with high quality (500kbps) or higher def (1Mbps) streaming options, all of which will eat away at your Rogers usage cap, incurring overage penalties. In house ad-driven content fueled by high per-GB overages is essentially most cable operators' dream business model -- though we'll see how well Rogers' product fares in the open market when it launches next year.

Apparently taking a page out of this month's advertising debate between AT&T and Verizon, Canadian carrier Telus has sued Rogers Communications for ads claiming that the Rogers wireless network is "the fastest and most reliable in the country." Telus and Bell Canada have of course just launched their new, $1 billion HSPA network, which offers speeds up to 21 Mbps to Canadian customers. As such, Telus demanded earlier this month that Rogers stop making advertising claims that they held the 3G speed edge -- a request Rogers ignored, since they too offer 21 Mbps HSPA+ service. "Telus has not submitted any data on their network performance and we look forward to vigorously defending our position in court," says Rogers.

While the United States FCC prepares to begin construction of new network neutrality rules tomorrow, users in Canada saw Canadian regulatory authority the CRTC issue some new network neutrality rules today. While the new rules don't prohibit Canadian ISPs from imposing the network management of their choice, they do force carriers to be wholly transparent with consumers, while giving retail customers thirty days and consumers at least 60 days before imposing any new traffic management.

As was expected, Canadian cable operator Rogers Communications today issued a press release announcing they've launched faster DOCSIS 3.0 speeds in "select areas of the Greater Toronto Area." According to Rogers, the new 50Mbps tier costs $150 Canadian ($129 US) a month, a fairly expensive proposition given the tier's sluggish 2Mbps upstream speed and the tier's 175GB per month cap. Rogers says they're also boosting their $96 "Extreme Plus" tier from 10Mbps to 25Mbps, and increasing its cap to 125GB.

A letter is being sent out to Rogers TV customers informing them that CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) requires that a new 1.5% service fee for "The Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF)" to be added to the bill starting on August 31 2009. This new percent based fee is suppose to help "local" programming stay alive in markets that have less than 1 million views. The "LPIF" is not a flat fee, so people with higher cable television bills will be paying more. The fund is a response by the CRTC to the CTV national broadcaster Save Local TV campaign conducted earlier in the year. CTV argued that Local TV would disappear unless the cable company was forced to help pay for its production.

Canadian broadband operator Rogers Communications has dropped us a line to note that they're rolling out 50Mbps DOCSIS 3.0 service next month. What's more, the carrier says they're the first cable operator in North America to offers users a 802.11n-based home gateway.

This certainly isn't a surprise to regular readers of Broadband Reports, given we've been talking about this for the better part of a decade now -- but Canadian ISPs aren't very gentle when it comes to handling P2P traffic. For years we've tracked how Canadian cable providers are at the forefront of using caps and traffic throttling to avoid having to invest in infrastructure upgrades.

Users in our Bell Canada forum note that the Canadian telco has had their wrist slapped by Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), the Canadian advertising industry’s national self-regulatory body. According to the Toronto Star (via P2PNet), Rogers Wireless is disputing a Bell Canada ad claiming Bell has the "the fastest ... network across North America." The ASC found the claim to be false, but Bell Canada ignored the ruling and continued to run the advertisement, because they don't recognize the organization as legitimate. The U.S. has their own occasionally useless advertising self-regulation operation that is frequently ignored as well -- yet carriers like AT&T and Verizon want a similar system created to oversee user privacy and behavioral advertising.

Rogers users in our forums report that the Canadian cable and wireless broadband operator has discontinued their "Portable Internet Basic" tier. The 2.5 Gigahertz pre-WiMax solution uses the "Inukshuk Network" network Rogers built with Bell Canada, and previously came in two flavors: "Rogers Portable Internet BASIC" ($24.95 per month for 256kbps/64kbps) and "Rogers Portable Internet High Speed" ($49.95 per month for 1.5Mbps/256kbps). Both came with a 30GB monthly cap. The company has killed the cheaper tier and now offers just the 1.5Mbps service, though they've lowered the price to $44.95 and added a new $30 activation fee.

Canadian ISP Rogers, no strangers to caps and throttling, received a lot of grief when they first unveiled their iPhone pricing. Initially the carrier offered users their choice of 400MB ($60), 750MB, ($75) 1GB ($100) or 2GB ($115) caps, but rabid complaints forced them to eventually pony up a limited time tier with a 6GB monthly cap for $30.

At the end of 2007, we saw a surge in the amount of content that ISPs were injecting into websites in order to gain additional revenue for themselves. Canadian cable operator Rogers was found to be utilizing deep packet inspection to insert Javascript into various websites with messages for users about their monthly caps.

The Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) at the University of Ottawa has posted to our forums saying they're starting an investigation into the throttling of P2P traffic by both Bell Canada and Rogers, a likely opening salvo in a larger class action lawsuit. "We are interested from hearing from individuals who are subscribers to Bell or Rogers’ high speed internet services who are concerned about alleged internet throttling practices by Bell and Rogers," says the organization. "If you were or are a subscriber and would like to express your concerns, please contact Robert Hester (e-mail in the forum link) at the CIPPIC."

Last week it was rumored that Apple was cutting back on Canadian 3G iPhone stock as a retaliatory move against Rogers, whose iPhone pricing and obnoxiously low caps have been universally laughed at. Now Apple Insider suggests that Apple won't be selling the iPhone 3G in their Canadian retail stores as a follow up attack on Rogers.

Canadian consumers are finally getting the iPhone a year later than their friends to the south. However, customers are annoyed by how expensive and restrictive Rogers' service plan is.

If you're looking to see the impact low caps and per-byte billing has on a customer base, look no further than our neighbors to the North. Back in March I noted that Canadian cable provider Rogers was implementing a cap and overage fee billing system, where users face a 60GB monthly cap and fees up to $5 per gigabyte should they consume more than that amount. The caps Rogers is using, for those interested:The company began tracking user consumption in March, and using a new banner page injection technology to alert customers to their usage. Starting in July, they'll actually start billing users for consumption, so keep an eye on our Rogers forum if you're interested in user reaction to these new charges. Will the meter work? Will bills be accurate? Will consumers have any recourse to contest incorrect metering? Stay tuned.

What seemed like a vague industry possibility just a few months ago now seems like an inevitable certainty. Multiple carriers in North America are now either employing or considering monthly caps where users pay per gigabyte should they "over eat." But the move begs a number of questions.

Canadian broadband provider Rogers has confirmed that the company will be offering the iPhone "later this year." While Rogers is notorious for capping, throttling and otherwise mucking up their landline broadband network, they haven't been quite as bad about their wireless network -- despite bandwidth being at an even higher premium. Rogers Wireless, formerly known as Rogers AT&T Wireless, offers both EDGE and HSDPA connectivity.

Customers of Canadian cable provider Rogers Communications recently found out they'd be paying steep overages for broadband service. Now the company is about to start degrading the quality of some HD channels in an effort to match the channel count of other HD providers. According to Digital Home Canada (via Engadget HD), Rogers will start stuffing more HD channels per QAM, something Comcast has been taking a beating for this week in the States. And here we were thinking paying more for less was a U.S. phenomenon.

Buried beneath the noise surrounding Bell Canada's effort to annoy independent ISPs and their customers, Canadian cable operator Rogers last week informed its customers they'd be facing new overage charges. In a several page letter sent to Rogers customers last week, the cable operator first goes out of their way to make their existing caps seem "abundant," then alerts users that starting in June, they'll be billed for going over their caps.