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lachek
join:2007-11-14
Hamilton, ON
3 edits | [DSL] The REAL cost of upgrading to 25/7 In the interest of transparency, let me give a real-world example for you all of what I'm paying to upgrade my 5/.6/300 DSL service to 25/7/300, why those charges are incurred, and why that is wrong.
SWITCH-OVER COSTS
$95.00 activation fee
$19.99 dryloop activation fee
$52.99 + $9.10 + 4.00 + 8.00 for 1 month prepayment
13% taxes
TOTAL: $213.66
MONTHLY COSTS
$52.99 for 25/7/300 service
$8.00 for modem rental
$9.10 for Band B dryloop
$4.00 for MLPPP + Static IP
13% taxes
TOTAL: $83.72 / month
Okay, that's the example. What's wrong, you say?
#1: modem rental
After double-checking with two CSRs and one tech on three separate occasions in the month of January that the monthly charge of $52.99 / month was indeed correct, and that $9.10 for dryloop and $4 for MLPPP + Static IP was all I'd have to pay in addition (well, plus taxes) when switching my service on Feb 2nd, suddenly at point of order I was informed there was also a mandatory $8/month modem rental fee.
Teksavvy's excuse is that this charge is enforced upon them by Bell and that they also were not aware of it until Feb 2nd. That's fair, right? I mean, I still went ahead and did the switch. My choice.
Except when talking to those two CSRs on those two occasions in January, they both informed me they could/would not process my order, despite the plan being available at that time, albeit at a somewhat higher cost (which would be automatically reduced come Feb 2nd). It would be a smoother transition and financially beneficial for me, I was told, if I waited until Feb 2nd to order it.
It may be the conspiracy theorist in me, but I don't follow why two CSRs would refuse to take my order in the month of January unless they were fully aware that if they could make me wait for a few more days, they could squeeze another 15% profit out of my account.
FYI, no you cannot Bring Your Own Device (or at least, you cannot send back your old modem and have your monthly rentals waived). This is the case even if you can somehow acquire an identical modem, configure it to work with the service, and return your old modem. This monthly charge is recurring, permanent, and forever, and seemingly has nothing to do with the actual cost or use of the equipment. This may lead one to believe that it is, in fact, a charge which should be built into the advertised cost of the plan and not split out into its own line item.
#2: activation fee
This is a tie-in with the modem rental charge. Prior to Feb 2nd, we were told that the then-$99 activation charge was charged by Bell and included a new modem. This corresponds with Bell's one-time rental fee of $100 for the same modem on their own plan. It also corresponds with the fact that grandfathered clients are not charged a modem rental fee, since that cost is already paid.
But the post-Feb 2nd activation fee of $95 does not include a modem. For details on what it includes, see #4.
#3: dryloop activation fee
I questioned why I was charged $19.99 for activation of my dryloop, which I'd already paid for once when I signed up for my 5Mb plan - it's "active" already! But, it turns out, a Bell tech has to switch my line card and assign me a new dryloop # for the new VDSL2 service.
Okay, that sort of makes sense, although it wasn't mentioned anywhere that this would be the case. It was explained to me that anything 10Mbps or over is treated as a totally different product from 2Mbps or 5Mbps DSL, so the fact that I'm an existing client has no bearing on the cost. One might think that a mature company would eat this $20 charge for existing clients - think of it as "advance retention", if you must - but this is evidently not Teksavvy's policy.
(oddly, this is apparently not the case for those switching from 10+ Mbps packages to 5- Mbps packages - they only pay a $25 "speed change fee" despite the switch still being from a different product category altogether, and the line card switch cost would presumably still be incurred by TSI)
But:
#4: activation fee again
So if the service activation fee, which at $95 is suspiciously similar to the former activation fee of $99 which included the modem, does not in fact include a modem, what does it cover?
I was told it covers two things:
1. A Bell technician to change the line card
2. A Telecon technician to install a POTS splitter
$95 for two techs to come out and do installs? That sounds like a deal, right?
However, the perceptive individual will note that I'm already paying $19.99 for the line card to be switched, in the dryloop activation cost above. Since the cost for activating the dryloop is the same whether you are on legacy or 10+Mbps DSL, and that's all the Bell tech is doing, it would appear that the $95 installation charge only covers the Telecon tech to install the POTS splitter.
Now, the extra perceptive among you will note that if I'm paying for a dryloop - which by definition means I do not use "Plain Old Telephone Service" - why would I even need a POTS splitter?
"Well", you say, "VDLS2 requires an RJ45 connection from the demarcation point to the modem, not an RJ11 which is what you have now - that's why you need the special VDSL2 POTS splitter".
But this is not actually the case, because according to any ISP (Bell and TSI explicitly included), their responsibility ends at the demarc point. You'll know this if you've ever complained about poor service and a tech comes out to do a line test - they'll do it at the demarc point, and if the line is clear there, they'll toss you a bill and say "not our problem".
So I offered to crimp my own RJ45 cable from the demarc to the modem (as it happened, I have a Cat6 cable with an RJ11 end hooked up already, to eliminate any potential issues with bad house wiring early in my DSL career), pay for the $19.99 dryloop activation fee, and have the $95 activation fee waived since it offers me no benefit. This was not acceptable to TSI, because "this is a charge incurred by Bell, not by us".
IMPORTANT EDIT: Everything I've written above about RJ45 is wrong. VDSL2 modems do not use RJ45 connections, it's still the same kind of twisted copper pair as ADSL and uses RJ11 connections. So a POTS splitter installed in the home appears even more useless for dryloop customers; it appears that I could just plug in my existing wire from the demarc to the modem as-is. If anyone has any info surrounding why Telecon's POTS splitter installation service would be required for Teksavvy's 25/7/300 VDSL service, please let me know in the comments below.
IN SUMMARY
If you're existing 5Mb DSL dryloop customer, understand that the activation cost for your upgrade will be higher than the $95 listed, and that very little value will be produced for you in exchange for your money spent. Understand further that your mandatory fee (with no options or dryloop fee included) for 25/7/300 service is $60.99 + taxes / month, not $52.99 / month, due to the additional modem rental.
Also note that my concerns have been "forwarded to management" for further clarification. If any of my interpretations and speculations above are proven incorrect as a result, I will be sure to let you know. | |
| what the hell are you whining about ?
bhell charges are $115 for activation (passed on by TSI), $8 for modem rental. you paid extra for a static ip and mlppp (wtf do you need it for ?). sales taxes are charged by the govt. bhell charges $8/mo rental + $9.15 dryloop.
tsi gets $52/mo from you out of which they have to pay their staff, bhell for data transfer and run their own servers at front st.
what is "wrong" is that bhell/crtc/govt takes $150+ out of your pocket for your 25/7 DSL connection and TSI the supplier gets $50 out of that. | | |
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| reply to lachek
Well done analysis as far as I can see.
Ignore fluffy he's an angry TSI supporter who feels the water getting deeper and deeper all around him. | |
lachek
join:2007-11-14
Hamilton, ON | reply to fluffy
Who's whining? I'm just being transparent.
But to break down your claims:
Prior to Feb 2nd, TSI charged $99 for activation, which included a modem and the POTS splitter installation (whether the line card change was included or not at that point is unknown to me). After Feb 2nd, TSI charges $95 for activation, which includes the POTS splitter installation only. Unless the modem costs TSI $4.00, that means the activation cost has gone up considerably.
Bell charges a one-time fee of $100 (which they commonly waive for new subscribers) for modem rental. Perhaps there is an additional "invisible" rental fee included in the package, but I can't see it anywhere, and if the fee is mandatory it is, IMNSHO, not "more transparent" to list it as a separate line item (read: "network access fee").
What I need static IP and MLPPP for is not exactly your business, but as you can tell, I'm not complaining about that. In fact, $4 for static IP and MLPPP is a deal. Go TSI, rah rah.
Similarly, unlike many others, I have no problem with paying sales taxes, and I recognize that the recurring monthly fee for dryloop - while ridiculous, given the general repair of our telephony network - is outside of TSI's control. You'll note I'm not complaining about that.
If I'm whining about anything, it'd be the terrible handling of communication - internally as well as externally - regarding these price changes. You'll note from my post that I double-checked the rates three times before making my order, ranging from a few weeks to a few days prior to the rates coming into effect, and they suddenly changed on me to a relatively drastic degree. As recently as a few hours ago, it was unclear to me - a moderately intelligent individual who had engaged in plenty of careful reading and double-checking - what my final bill would be and why. It's the purpose of my post to advise others in my position as to what the cost actually is and why. | |
Sanek
join:2006-08-10
Kanata, ON | reply to lachek
Don't pay any iteration to Fluffy. Great post and analysis!
I wanted to get a 25/7 connection as well to see if it would perform better overall than my 24/1 cable connection - just to be surprised by the $8 modem rental fee (a modem that I cannot buy)!
I'm thinking it's too big of a price difference now between my 24/1 and 25/7, so I won't bother doing anything until things calm down. | |
Bhruic
join:2002-11-27
Toronto, ON
kudos:1 Reviews:
 ·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to lachek
I'm confused about the "refused to process order" part of that. What you wanted to do is quite similar to what I wanted to do, and while we chatted for a bit about how to get my order done, at no point was there a recommendation to wait, and at no point was there even a hit that I couldn't make the order.
The only issue was the tech making sure that I understood I'd be charged at the current rate ($67.99 I think it was) for the first month, rather than the $52.99. That was acceptable to me, so the order got processed and accomplished. So what exactly was different about your situation that got you not 1, but 2 techs refusing to process your order? | |
1 edit | reply to lachek
Let's be even more transparent.
The REAL cost of upgrading to 25/7 with Bell
quote:
Pricing details
From $51.95 /mo.
Includes:
Fibe 25 $66.95 /mo.
Bell Bundle for Internet -$5.00 /mo.
$10 credit for months 1 to 12 -$10.00 /mo.
Security Advanced Included
Upload Speed Upgrade Included
Wireless Home Networking (N) Included
One time modem rental fee $99.95
One time modem rental fee discount -$99.95
Get a complete and customized installation:4
Bell Install included (value of $49.95) Included
Activation Fee $29.95
That looks like a good deal compared to TSI, doesn't it? Until you compare the caps and surcharge fees.
quote:
Available to new customers and current dial-up customers who subscribe to the Bundle with Internet Fibe 25 and at least one other select service; see bell.ca/bellbundle. Monthly rate is $66.95 (subject to change), less $10 credit for months 1 to 12, less $5 Bundle discount. Modem rental required; one-time modem rental fee waived for new customers. Usage 90 GB/mo.; $2.50/additional (max. $80/mo.), rounded mathematically to the nearest 10 MB increment.
Since TSI doesn't offer a bundle discount, we'll use a price of $56.95 for comparison from here. And this price is only valid the first year. After that, it's $66.95.
So, if I use 300GB with Bell, the maximum surcharge is $80 above 90GB at $2.50/GB. 300GB - 90GB = 210, I'm already way past the maximum surcharge. If there was no maximum, that would come up to $525. OK, Bell gives you a great deal by charging you only $80 surcharge. Still, Bell's total price for same usage as TSI goes up to $136.95. If you simply want to match TSI's price by counting Bell's surcharge, you can use Bell's 25/7 a whopping 6.85GB per month more than the 90GB cap.
If we also include all activations fees for the first year, we get another super whopping 2.83GB. The actual total usage you can do with Bell's 25/7 before you match TSI's price the first year is a ear shattering, belly busting, head asplodin, 99.68GB. Not even a goddamn 100.
If you don't care about doing some math, then you can just go with full unlimited TSI 25/7 instead and compare it to Bell's max surcharge. I include activation fees in the prices below.
First year:
TSI: $108.67
Bell: $139.45
Second year:
TSI: $99.09
Bell: $146.95
The REAL cost of upgrading to Bell's 25/7 over two years is $949.68 more than upgrading to TSI's unlimited 25/7.
Otherwise, it was a nice analysis.
(using QC pricing) | |
 pat2008I'm IncognitoPremium
join:2008-11-19
Mississauga, ON
·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to fluffy
said by fluffy :what the hell are you whining about ?
bhell charges are $115 for activation (passed on by TSI), $8 for modem rental. you paid extra for a static ip and mlppp (wtf do you need it for ?). sales taxes are charged by the govt. bhell charges $8/mo rental + $9.15 dryloop.
tsi gets $52/mo from you out of which they have to pay their staff, bhell for data transfer and run their own servers at front st.
what is "wrong" is that bhell/crtc/govt takes $150+ out of your pocket for your 25/7 DSL connection and TSI the supplier gets $50 out of that.
Lol, you're fluffy alright. Did you even read his post? | |
| reply to lachek
If we use ON pricing instead, TSI wins again.
First year:
TSI: $108.67 (unlimited)
Bell: $114.97 (180GB)
TSI: $83.67 (300GB)
Bell: $114.97 (180GB)
Second year:
TSI: $74.09 - $99.09
Bell: $144.95
By the way, TSI DSL QC taxes is 5%, not 15%. | |
| reply to lachek
It's pure BS for Teksavvy to claim they didn't know about the $8 modem rental fee until Feb 2 when they now claim it's in the tariff! Obviously they knew about it before Feb 2. This is classic Bell behaviour, tell the customer one thing and do another! The lack of any replies from Marc on this issue speaks volumes, the silence is deafening. | |
Guru
join:2008-10-01
kudos:1 Reviews:
·TekSavvy DSL
| said by eots:It's pure BS for Teksavvy to claim they didn't know about the $8 modem rental fee until Feb 2 when they now claim it's in the tariff! Obviously they knew about it before Feb 2. This is classic Bell behaviour, tell the customer one thing and do another! The lack of any replies from Marc on this issue speaks volumes, the silence is deafening.
Well said! | |
| reply to lachek
One more detail. Anybody remember what the interim price was for TSI 25/7/300GB?
$67.97
What's the price now with $8 modem rental?
$60.99
The REAL cost of upgrading to 25/7/300 with TSI is $6.98 cheaper than it used to be. Sure, $14.98 would have been better, but how could we know and what can we do about it now? Cheaper and better than before, cheaper and better than Bell. I'll take that thankyouverymuch. | |
2 edits | What you're missing is that existing customers were told in advance that the new price would be $52.99 starting on Feb 2, there was never any mention of the $8 modem rental for customers who upgrade after Feb 1, and the fact that customers who requested the upgrade before the new prices came into effect were told to wait until Feb 2, again no mention of the extra $8 rental fee! Customers who were paying $67.97 are now paying $52.99 and no modem rental fee. This is what has customers ire up.
Did Teksavvy deliberately mislead customers by telling them to wait until Feb 2 to upgrade to 25/7? It certainly looks that way. | |
2 edits | I didn't miss that. I wrote:
quote:
Sure, $14.98 would have been better, but how could we know and what can we do about it now?
But the OP missed everything else I wrote.
Another thing the OP missed. Customers were also told prices were subject to modification. Did you miss that too?
And yet another thing we all missed. Remember how much it used to cost if we wanted to get 25Mbps using MLPPP? We'd have needed at least 5x5Mbps at $31.95+dry loop+MLPPP: $200.00. Now it's $72.24 including MLPPP, $127.76 cheaper. A much more appropriate example is 2x5Mbps (which I used to have for a time), $82.40. Now, we can get a full 10Mbps/1Mbps for $56.24, that's $26.16 cheaper. $1 more gets you 16Mbps, $64.36 cheaper than 3x5Mbps.
But maybe you're right. Customers should be pissed that they were told to wait, when waiting means paying $8 more than they thought. | |
NBomb
join:2007-01-23
Etobicoke, ON | reply to lachek
I'm still waiting for some official word before I pull the trigger on anything.
This pricing uncertainty is not inspiring confidence in me. | |
lachek
join:2007-11-14
Hamilton, ON | reply to Bhruic
said by Bhruic:I'm confused about the "refused to process order" part of that. What you wanted to do is quite similar to what I wanted to do, and while we chatted for a bit about how to get my order done, at no point was there a recommendation to wait, and at no point was there even a hit that I couldn't make the order. I have to paraphrase a bit, but I'm happy to explain.
First call was around the 2nd week of January. I explained I'm an existing 5Mb DSL customer and that I'd like to upgrade to the new 25/7 service as of Feb 2nd. She said the package was not yet available and that I'd have to call back in a few days, maybe up to a week, for them to be able to process my order. I told her I thought they already offered the same service, albeit at a higher cost, and that I understand that as of Feb 2nd the price will drop anyway. She said that no, it's a new package, for which they have no information in the system yet, and they could not register an activation onto the new plan for Feb 2nd. I asked again if I could not switch to the existing 25/7 service at this point, paying a slightly higher rate up until Feb 2nd. She informed me again that it'd be much better if I waited until the new package was available in the system and to please call back in about a week's time and they should be able to help me then.
Second call was on Jan 30th - I gave TSI ample time to get their new package info "into the system". The fellow I spoke with gave me me the same initial line, the package is not yet available and I'd have to call back on Feb 2nd. I said "can't I just switch over now, it'll take a few days before activation anyway?" and he said I could not, that I needed to wait for a couple of days until Feb 2nd.
Note that at no point did I insist on getting the discounted rate for a January activation, and on both occasions did I bring up the possibility of simply going onto the old plan initially and getting transferred onto the new rate automatically by Feb 2nd, and was shut down on both occasions. Every indication I received from TSI's CSRs was that the 25/7 package post Feb 2nd was internally a totally new product that was fundamentally different from the 25/7 package pre Feb 2nd, despite the automatic transition between them, and that I was causing them much distress by insisting on being activated onto the old plan so close to the switch-over date. Being a fairly reasonable fellow, I cooperated, to my subsequent financial detriment.
If that doesn't correspond with your experience, I'm not particularly surprised. It's entirely possible I was talking to two CSRs who hadn't gotten the memo (=that if someone asks to sign up with 25/7, get them onto the existing 25/7 plan and tell them their cost will decrease on Feb 2nd), or maybe it was you who spoke with a CSR who hadn't gotten the memo (=that clients need to wait for Feb 2nd so they'll end up paying 15% more). Or maybe there was no memo. Either way, it was handled poorly. | |
lachek
join:2007-11-14
Hamilton, ON
2 edits | reply to JonyBelGeul
said by JonyBelGeul:TSI is still cheaper than Bell for subscribers whose monthly bitcap usage exceeds that included by default in Bell's typical offerings, otherwise, it was a nice analysis. You'll note that my post is not entitled "Cost of TSI 25/7 vs Bell 25/7". There is no doubt in my mind that for you and I, TSI is still a better deal. I did sign up, after all.
Nevertheless, two wrongs don't make a right. After all of these fees, which TSI blames on Bell (maybe rightfully, maybe not - I've been digging through the forums and have yet to see any conclusive statement that e.g. the modem rental is incurred by Bell and simply collected by TSI on their behalf), the cost is higher than initially advertised and higher than what is currently evident from a casual read-through of the price list, and it's still unclear to me why that is the case.
Let's pretend for a moment that various spurious charges:
1. $8/month modem rental fee
2. $95 activation fee
3. $19.99 dryloop re-activation fee
not to speak of the hitherto-unmentioned
4. $1.50 / month "activation fee" for legacy DSL
are all incurred due to Bell's policy of charging an arm and a leg for whatever-they-feel-like-at-the-moment. It's still TSI's responsibility to communicate these fees to their clientele. It's still TSI's decision whether or not to eat some of these fees to retain customers or encourage them to upgrade to higher-profit packages. It's definitely still up to TSI to clarify and negotiate these proxy fees they're collecting with the service provider they're buying them from.
Let's say I sold you a custom-built computer. In addition to line items for motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive etc, I also include a line "Ontario Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment Program Charge" with an additional fee. When you call me up to ask what that is for, I better be prepared to explain what that charge is for, what the reason is that that charge is incurred, what service that charge provides me with, and the reason it is not something I can opt out of paying.
If I'm not prepared to explain all that to my clients, I have another option - I can built the cost into a bundled package price as a "cost of doing business".
You wouldn't expect me, for "transparency's" sake, to include line items for electrical to my office (incurred by HydroOne), business insurance (incurred by State Farm), employer taxes for my QA staff (incurred by the Government of Canada), etc. And if I did, I better have a good handle on what those charges are for when you call and complain. | |
rik5
join:2008-05-25
Vanier, ON Reviews:
·Acanac
1 edit | reply to lachek
Give Bell(lines) some time. They are licking their wounds right now. (stupid pride).
The only reason Rogers/Cable is cheaper to deal with - with teckksavy's, acanac's,... is becuase the crtc/gov't allowed it to happen.
Bell with HAVE TO soon lower their prices a bit in line with this change to remain competitive.
UBB screwed us all anyway, no matter what, but that's another story -Lol. | |
3 edits | reply to lachek
Correct the quote. I did not write what you quoted me for, even if you're just paraphrasing ("for high bandwidth users"). Unless you want to argue that a high bandwidth user uses 100GB-180GB per month, and unless you want to argue that $114.97 is less than $83.67? Furthermore the paraphrase you quoted me for makes it look like you're now arguing only about light users which you didn't do in your original post.
Let's not pretend anything. The fact is what TSI charges its retail customers is entirely TSI's doing. They could waive any fee they themselves incur if they so chose, and adjust the monthly fee to compensate. And they can remain silent about any cost they incur. That they tell us why they charge what they charge is done for the sake of transparency towards its retail customers. That you can argue any of it today is a direct result of this transparency. TSI has zero obligation to tell us anything about their business except as it applies to the business between TSI and us. If TSI didn't tell us anything, you'd have zilch to argue with. And the only thing left for you to be pissed about is the total price because you wouldn't know a thing about the $8 modem rental fee or the activation fees since it would all be included in the price. TSI could do like Bell and say "All monthly fees included" and that would be it for that.
In fact, if you want to be pissed about something real, you could take a look at the itemization that TSI does before sending out a bill to anybody. When you compare prices, you don't compare the price of individual components of each service, you compare the total price right below the line where it says "Total" because that's the real price you pay. TSI does send out a bill that includes this total price, but it doesn't advertise this price. Instead, TSI advertises only the price of a component of the service. In this case, it's related to the modem rental fee and the network access fee which they do not include in their advertisement. As others have pointed out in another thread, giving more emphasis to a component of the service is illegal in QC. TSI does give more emphasis to a component of the service by omitting the $8 modem rental fee and the $1.50 network fee from their advertised price list. That is something you have the right to be pissed about. If TSI wanted to comply with QC laws, they'd list the prices of 25/7 services as $60.99 and $85.99 on their QC price page, not $52.99 and $77.99. Then, if they so chose, they could still itemize these prices below for the sake of transparency. If TSI felt that complying with QC laws made it look like their prices weren't competitive, they could simply add a comparison chart to show that they are in fact competitive, like I did right here in this thread. In fact, doing such a comparison to make one's product shine is a common marketing practice. TSI can take a hint from me.
I get it, you're pissed that you were told to wait Feb 2nd, and when Feb 2nd came around the price you have to pay is higher than the price you expected to pay. You expected to pay less because you were given no indication that the price would be higher come Feb 2nd at any time each time you were told to wait for Feb 2nd. You did not expect the price to be higher because the common practice of telling customers to wait until a certain date before buying is intended to offer the customer a better deal at that date. A correlated practice is to tell the customer to buy now before a certain date, again to offer the customer a better deal now before the new higher prices come into effect at that date. I'm not a lawyer but I advise you to consult one if you feel that you have reason to believe were told to wait specifically for the purpose of making you pay more when the date came around. However, I point out that you were fully aware that the price you expected to pay was stated as "subject to change without notice" because that notice was printed in full on the same page where the price you expected to pay was printed. In other words, if you expected to pay a certain price based on that page, you should also have expected that price to change without notice. I also point out that any effort you make has the potential to enable you to pay the original expected price for just one month, at which time TSI can send you a notice telling you the price just went up by $8, unless you can make the case that had you known the price would go up Feb 2nd you'd have signed up before Feb 2nd therefore you'd have been an existing customer come that date and enjoyed the grandfather clause concerning the $8 modem rental fee. | |
lachek
join:2007-11-14
Hamilton, ON | JonyBelGeul  , good points all around. I've adjusted the quote, which was for brevity only; please let me know if you feel I'm still paraphrasing you incorrectly. Feel free to suggest adjustments. Just want to make sure my reply is in context.
"Pissed" is a strong word, and not exactly descriptive of my state of mind at the moment. "Let down" is a better descriptor. I expect this kind of underhanded behaviour from Bell, or Rogers; that Teksavvy pulled this stunt is reflective either of a drastic shift in their approach to customer relations, or incompetence in their communications department. Either way it's disconcerting, and I hope in the weeks to come they rectify how they're advertising their services.
You're half-right that they're splitting out the costs the way they do in order to be transparent. The other interpretation is that they're splitting out their cost so they can continue to blame these charges on Bell. While it may be fair to do so, it's unclear to me if this is actually the case. Is Bell charging Teksavvy $8 / month for each modem they deploy, with no option to pay a one-time fee instead? Is Bell charging TSI $114.99 for activation of dryloop clients, and there's no way for TSI to opt out of this on behalf of the customer who only needs a line card switch? To what degree is it fair that TSI and the squadron of fanbois can continue to claim that these fees are solely due to Bell/CRTC collusion?
I don't have the answers to these questions, and my honest suspicion is that TSI has been strong-armed to some degree into accepting terms which are less than ideal for their customers. But since the details of this is something TSI has been less than transparent about to date, I'm satisfied to feel that my role in the matter is to provide as much transparency regarding these prices as I am able to. Which, as I said, was the purpose of my OP. | |
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