BarterFrost
join:2007-11-18
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
| Unlimited Plan: Possible future price/speed increases?
I'd like to start by saying that I was initially a bit shocked to see the email about the price increase, but it didn't last... it's still less expensive than Bell! I'd be happy to pay another $10/month to remain a Teksavvy customer and support them.
My question relates to the following part of the email:
Monthly Rate: $39.95/month
Included Bandwidth: Unlimited
Note: Price based on a maximum 5-6Meg speed profiles and may change for
higher speeds when they arrive. Is there any further information about this? As it is, I'm a heavy user, so I'll be sticking with the Unlimited Plan. I am concerned a bit about the note about potential price increases.
Is this something that is currently on the horizon? Personally, I don't care about speed increases... as long as I can download all the stuff I want, I'll happily do it at the speed I am now. My concern is that I'll miss the big switchover to Premium (it's free to switch until the end of the year! thanks Teksavvy!), but I'll get stuck sometime if the speed profiles increase.
I saw somebody speculate that if it went up to 7 meg, the corresponding price might be somewhere in the ballpark of $50. Assuming that this is more or less accurate, it's out of my budget. If there is a substantial price increase in the future, will we be given the chance to switch at no cost to Premium, much like the current situation? If not, I'd like to throw the suggestion out there.
Apologies in advance if this has been covered - I have been trying to keep up with the forum - but I haven't seen this particular point addressed yet. Seems like everybody's just going to be switching to Premium! 
Thanks for any info! And thanks to Teksavvy... especially after suffering with Bell's HORRIBLE customer service, it's strange to see a company's reps/owners actually ASKING the community what it thinks of potential changes! This is absolutely unheard of! You've won my support.  |
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R0CKY
TSI Rocky
Premium,VIP
join:2005-05-19
Chatham, ON
| Hi BarterFrost,
We put the speed condition in there in order to protect ourselves in case things get crazy stupid with the bell/rogers/etc cap refugees when new speeds are given/introduced. The new speeds haven't yet been discussed in full with the Bell wholesale side but it's something that unofficially has been getting bounced around with Bell Management... There currently aren't any discussions as to pricing changes as we still don't know what we'll get as far as speed differences and we also don't know what impact it will have.
As we normally do, we'll likely have a look at the package as is (provided it's the same baseline cost of course) and from there see what the bottom line usage becomes... This process normally takes between 3 and 6 months.
So, unfortunately, this is a no-answer answer for the time being....  Sorry.
Rocky
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TSI Rocky - TekSavvy Solutions Inc. |
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Frozty2k
join:2002-04-21
Oakville, ON
 ·Cogeco Cable
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| reply to BarterFrost
I think there is still a lot of options to discus about new speeds if/when they get here. Since I know a lot of people came to tek for bandwidth > speed, I'm sure something will be worked out, i.e. when new speeds get here the unlimited/5meg/$40 will stay and then there will just be a new speed tier.
In fact imo the best way might be keep the packages how they are as a base then just add on $/mo for higher speeds to that package if someone wants it. |
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BarterFrost
join:2007-11-18
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| Hopefully that's how they'll do it. I'd hate to miss my chance to switch to Premium now without any penalties, then have to make the choice down the road: pay $50/month (or whatever) for the new speed or the fee to switch to Premium.
Whatever happens, it really does seem like the people at Teksavvy have the customers' best interests in mind. They'll figure out something. |
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R0CKY
TSI Rocky
Premium,VIP
join:2005-05-19
Chatham, ON
| said by BarterFrost  :Hopefully that's how they'll do it. I'd hate to miss my chance to switch to Premium now without any penalties, then have to make the choice down the road: pay $50/month (or whatever) for the new speed or the fee to switch to Premium. Whatever happens, it really does seem like the people at Teksavvy have the customers' best interests in mind. They'll figure out something. Chances are, if a new speed is introduced, that it will be a new service on it's own, leaving the 5Meg intact (guessing however right now).
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TSI Rocky - TekSavvy Solutions Inc. |
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neko
All Hail Canada
Premium
join:2006-08-11
canada
 ·Callcentric
·Cogeco Cable
·Future Nine Corpor..
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| said by R0CKY :Chances are, if a new speed is introduced, that it will be a new service on it's own, leaving the 5Meg intact (guessing however right now). Rocky, that would be fantastic, if the 5 Meg service remained & at the same price.
In saying that, though, do you have any idea how much of a price increase the 7 meg service may be? it's only a couple of megs faster than 5, so it shouldn't be a huge increase, right? |
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Scoop
join:2006-08-05
Ottawa, ON | It would be nice if there was an increase to 6 or 7 meg for the same price. For someone like me $30 a month is a great price and those speeds are sufficient. |
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jfmezei
Premium
join:2007-01-03
Beaconsfield, QC
·ELECTRONICBOX
| reply to BarterFrost
I think Teksavvy will have to thread carefully on that one.
Consider the ugly kludge that DSL is and the fact that one's negotiated speed is essentially random from the point of view of the ISP. (you can't even predict what someone will get until the connection is established).
And consider that a user might have his speed randombly upped if Bell upgrades facilities in his neighbourhood.
So, if Bell raises the default profile to say 10 mbps, and Teksavvy adjusts its unlimited rate accordingly, what about all the people whose profiles cannot achieve that speed ? What happens to the customer whose profile is stuck at 3mbps ? Should he see his bill increased ?
And if a customer who is stuck at 3mbps eventually sees his profile raised by Bell without him asking, should he then be stuck with a more expensive bill ?
This would require Teksavvy setup its billing so it can automatically check a customer's speed profile amnd yjem warm TSI folks when a customer's profile has changed to handle individual cases. And it would also require that Bell agree to let an ISP set a profile speed for a customer so that bell wouldn't raise it with its scripts. |
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Moonlight_x
@videotron.ca
| said by jfmezei :So, if Bell raises the default profile to say 10 mbps, and Teksavvy adjusts its unlimited rate accordingly, what about all the people whose profiles cannot achieve that speed ? What happens to the customer whose profile is stuck at 3mbps ? Should he see his bill increased ? And if a customer who is stuck at 3mbps eventually sees his profile raised by Bell without him asking, should he then be stuck with a more expensive bill ? I think it will play out as
- ADSL1: Up to 7Mbps, $40/month Unlimited or $30/month Premium (what we have now)
- ADSL2: Up to 16Mbps, $50/month Unlimited or $35/month Premium (guaranteed faster than ADSL1 services)
Someone who can only squeeze 3Mbps out of ADSL1 should be able to get 4-6Mbps with ADSL2's wider spectrum and improved line agility. The $5 increase on ADSL2 Premium is based on the assumption that nexxia will charge a mild extra for ADSL2 ports until ADSL1 has been practically phased out while the $10 increase on Unlimited ADSL2 also accounts for their likely substantial contribution to increased average and, more importantly, peak network loading across the board. |
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Angelo_
The Network Guy
Premium
join:2002-06-18 | i see unlimited adsl2 at around 90 a month.... if we are talking about full 16mbps speeds |
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Frozty2k
join:2002-04-21
Oakville, ON
·Cogeco Cable
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| said by Angelo_ :i see unlimited adsl2 at around 90 a month.... if we are talking about full 16mbps speeds Or maybe unlimited just stays for 5-7meg and maybe an adsl2 plan with high limits like 1TB kind of deal, 16meg can do some damage so unlimited could be hard unless they do price that high. Which is a turn off because we all know the more someone downloads the cheaper they are  |
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neko
All Hail Canada
Premium
join:2006-08-11
canada
·Callcentric
·Cogeco Cable
·Future Nine Corpor..
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| reply to Moonlight_x
said by Moonlight_x :
I think it will play out as
- ADSL1: Up to 7Mbps, $40/month Unlimited or $30/month Premium (what we have now)
- ADSL2: Up to 16Mbps, $50/month Unlimited or $35/month Premium (guaranteed faster than ADSL1 services)
If it turned out I could get 16Mbps for an extra $5, I would be all over it. I doubt it will be that cheap, though. |
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bandsavvy
@teksavvy.com | reply to BarterFrost
Bell has already offered 7M... |
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Black Moon
join:2005-02-01
Scarborough, ON
·TekSavvy Solutions..
| reply to BarterFrost
So once more it looks like Bell should introduce a two- or more tier system in which different profiles have different prices. Right now people are paying for 'up to' 5 Mbps but those that can only get 1 pay the same as those that can get 5. I still do not understand why Bell doesn't have a pricing vs speed system.
Maybe what Moonlight said - or something similar - is probably best.
That said, does anyone know what the new ADSL2+ profiles are/will be and if it will ever reach us before 2027? If it's 16Mb/1Mb then it surely sucks on the upload side. |
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bbuchanan
Premium
join:2004-02-05
Peterborough, ON
| said by Black Moon :That said, does anyone know what the new ADSL2+ profiles are/will be and if it will ever reach us before 2027? If it's 16Mb/1Mb then it surely sucks on the upload side. We can only assume that it'll be the same as what Bell is offering as it's OptiMax service (ie 16/1 as their top-end service).
On regular ADSL2+ the maximum upload is still only 1.2Meg, unless you go to Annex M (and your modem must support it to), and then your max upload is theoretically 3.5 (you would need to live inside the CO to get those speeds though). |
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Gruesome
join:2007-10-18
Milton, ON
·Cogeco Cable
·TekSavvy Solutions..
2 edits | reply to Black Moon
said by Black Moon :So once more it looks like Bell should introduce a two- or more tier system in which different profiles have different prices. Right now people are paying for 'up to' 5 Mbps but those that can only get 1 pay the same as those that can get 5. I still do not understand why Bell doesn't have a pricing vs speed system. This is something thats been broken with the ISP business model for quite some time.
I don't think that the providers are ready for this but at some point the market should break down like this
ISP Service (One Speed) say 16meg
29.95 up to 2Gb
$10 per GB After that
These pricers are just examples, the price is not important just the way in which users will be charged
Business models are breaking down
Phone Line
Television(media)
The Web
This is all the same and eventually we'll end up getting charged by how many bits we consume and nothing more
It'll be like filling your car up at the Gas Station
Who really needs the GAS to flow faster once you hit a certain speed?
TekSavvy is actually ahead of other ISP's that haven't figured out they're selling more than just speed but transport of something that has volume
An ISP telling me I've exceeded mu Limit and am cut off
...good thing my Natural Gas Provider doesn't do that
Gruesome |
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jfmezei
Premium
join:2007-01-03
Beaconsfield, QC
·ELECTRONICBOX
| reply to BarterFrost
I disagree with the concept of Bell charging more for ADSL2.
ADSL2 is an attempt at milking a bit more out of the ugly kludge that DSL is. And those who currently can't get 5mbps might be able to get 5mbps under ADSL2. Should they be charged more for finally getting the speeds that they should have been getting under ADSL ?
Don't forget CABLE.
Now, if Bell starts to deploy fibre to the homes to stay alive, then I agree that the pricing could be different. Then again, Bell would finally be able to compete against cable, and that might help keep prices down.
If Bell changes some router in its network to increase throughput, should it charge us more ? ADSL2 is just a change of a card (or perhaps just software changes) in some box. It isn't totally new service. Most customers don't need to change modems or lift a finger.
CABLE is capable of far more than what the cable companies give their customers. They marketing dept restricts speeds in order to provide different services at different prices.
DSL on the other hand is now at a "marketing only" stage. When they increase speeds, it benefits a smaller and smaller proportion of the customer base. Bell can brag about "7 mbps" or whatever, but what percentage of the installed base will actually get it ?
Remember that Bell is *trying* to catch up, it isn't really in a position where it can raise prices. |
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HiVolt
30
Premium
join:2000-12-28
Toronto, ON
clubs:
·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
| said by jfmezei :Remember that Bell is *trying* to catch up, it isn't really in a position where it can raise prices. Sure they can, and they have been. The vast majority of Bell Sympatico customers are not computer/internet savvy, and don't visit websites like DSLR to find out that they've been screwed all this time. To them it's just an increase in pricing of service, just like everthing else, TV, Phone, Electricity, Gas...
Two weeks ago I was helping a friend moving some of the furniture from his apartment to his parent's garage, and we took a break and he was checking his email on his parents computer, they have Sympatico. He was like damn this is slow, I had a glance and it was indeed terribly slow. I checked the modem stats and the line was 1184/160. He asked his parents if it's been slow like this and they said it was like that for maybe 1 year. They called support but they were told by some script reading monkey that its their computer. The computer was a Pentium 3 800mhz. Not a speedster, but since when is a computer responsible for the sync rate? The parents not being computer geniuses just accepted it. And they are paying $48.95/month. My friend called tech support on their behalf a few days later and OMG, magically your computer isn't slow anymore! the profile was upgraded to 6016/800 and the computer keeps up no problem!
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GO LEAFS GO! |
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Moonlight_x
@videotron.ca
| reply to Black Moon
said by Black Moon :So once more it looks like Bell should introduce a two- or more tier system in which different profiles have different prices. Right now people are paying for 'up to' 5 Mbps but those that can only get 1 pay the same as those that can get 5. I still do not understand why Bell doesn't have a pricing vs speed system. Because the costs of operating a POTS/ADSL1 line are roughly constant regardless of what speeds or overall quality that line will deliver: shorter/better lines have lower maintenance costs but higher peak network load costs and vice-versa. If the infrastructure costs to provide the 'last mile' link is nearly invariant on a given technology, it makes little economic sense to offer more than two or three speed tiers based on the same technology - look at TSI Basic VS TSI Premium: $5 difference between something barely usable (nice alternative to dial-up for extra-light users) and the full Monty.
By simply offering "Up to 7Mbps" for ADSL1, Bell can remap lines to new remotes and upgrade their speed profiles at its leisure instead of having to contact customers about billing changes or new speeds availability whenever lines are remapped. |
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Comment
@teksavvy.com
| reply to Gruesome
said by Gruesome :TekSavvy is actually ahead of other ISP's that haven't figured out they're selling more than just speed but transport of something that has volume Not quite sure of that.
I see Teksavvy 'clinging' to their "Unlimited" model, even as they see that this "light in the tunnel is an on-coming train", trying to sustain it with a jolting price increase and then compounding things by 'giving away' 100GB to the Premium side.
I agree that speed is one component and volume is quite another, but there is also 'spread' or 'load balancing' as a third factor. What is needed is a mechanism whereby certain elements can be directed to a "background" service.
IMNSHO, the 'ideal' would be a system where one had a "foreground" immediate-response service for browsing and real-time downloads and a "background" service for large downloads without the factor of immediacy. Yes, this would require the customer to be "connected" for greater periods of time.
In my dream world, there would be a "basic" charge covering say $15 of data at say 1MB/s. This would be the minimal "background" service. This "background" service could be "upgraded" to a higher speed at additional cost. Essentially, this service would be high-latency (lower cost) and "throttled" to provide a "load-balancing" capability.
Available would be a second higher-speed low-latency "foreground" service, with price according to speed selected. This would be for interactive needs.
Note that the cost of data would vary with the speed of the service using it.
(It might turn out that things could be simplified to a 'standard' connection charge, with the customer selecting a service 'pair'.)
Customers could then tailor the service pair that best suited their needs, and not carry the costs of the 'heavy (ab)users'.
It would be left to the customer to ensure that they always had funds on deposit to cover their usage, with automatic suspension if the account drops to zero. Yes, this means there WOULD be 'carry-over'.
No, I don't know of a mechanism by which this could be done (port usage? proxy? local protocol?) - I'm just dreaming of a way to satisfy everyone's needs.  |
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