O Canada! > Canadian > Telus > [BC] Shaw and TELUS in bed together - Anti-competitive conduct

[BC] Shaw and TELUS in bed together - Anti-competitive conduct

Re: [BC] Shaw and TELUS in bed together - Anti-competitive condu

reply to Foggy
Already started to check out teksavvy and the hardware I need for using them on their unlimited GB plan. I generally don't exceed 130GB a month(me no file share), but screw me huh..

If the generic remarks on this whole B.S. situation is that I may start getting a email notifying me of going 'just over' my 100GB(formerly 150GB max) every month or every second month(big updates for programs/gaming), screw that shit. And who knows what September brings with maybe over cap charges being implemented after a decade or more of not enforcing.

I can see it now.... Telus and Shaw meeting in that big board room and saying that Telus has got enough shaw TV users, so time to make peace and match prices and caps for 1 year to slow the bleed.
The Telus Investors are kept happy and Shaw makes a few bucks on their 'bump up plans' that hopefully have accurate bandwidth meters to make sure that tons of customers don't 'accidentally' get bumped up in the last three days of the month.

I was in exactly the same boat. Been with Telus since the mid 90s for Internet, rarely over 100GB per month, but to heck with them. It's completely BS. Received my teksavvy modem Friday and new service supposed to start Tuesday. Even if there is a couple MB difference in upload speed, fine by me.

reply to Foggy
Exactly. It is price fixing. They both offer the same 'switch to us and get a 6 month discount' BS maintaining virtually the exact same pricing. And the government isn't doing anything about it. They claim that industry can look after itself.

Years later we will hear about a review of 'price fixing' just like those concrete companies did in Ontario...but again nothing will be done. All that money they stole gone.

The mafia...the CRTC in bed with those same corporations they are suppose to regulate, Here is their real name..

Canadian
Radio-television
Telecommunications
Cartel

reply to Foggy
So has anyone looked into the possibility of whether or not this falls under the Competition Act? IANAL so I'm not quite sure.

»www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/···148.html

Telus and Shaw are not the only even priced businesses its everything in Canada .Look at the trainers .I was athletic road runner for many years and I think I ruined my feet .The really expensive trainers with loads of gell are the only shoes my feet feel comfy in.
Apart from a huge difference in price for the same model over the border the price is fixed in Canada.Look at the gas stations when one price goes up in a certain area all seem to match.
We are Canadians and most accept all this unfortunately while the minority like we are get so frustrated and steamed up.
Telus and Shaw are certainly not on their own if they do price fix now.

Oh the gas stations forgot about that one and am totally baffled as to how this price fixing even resembles Competition. If anything it remembers Reverse Competition.

reply to Foggy
It's not price collusion, is the effect a duopoly (or oligoply if count the smaller players.. ie the resellers).

When you only have two competitors:

1) There's no advantage to lowering prices. You know to compete your competition will lower their prices to match rather quickly. As a result price reductions tend to hurt the bottom line of both companies, so that's why you don't see them.

2) Price increases. If one of the two firms decides to increase prices, the other firm will adopt a wait and see approach. They will usually follow suit as it increases their bottom line.

Telus/Shaw are basically following textbook play for a duopoly. It's not price fixing, it's how a market with limited competitors plays out. A duopoly isn't much better than a monopoly.

I guess it bugs me when people go ranting about it being price fixing or collusion, when it really looks to be like the textbook definition for a duopoly/oligopoly and high barriers of entry into the sector (IE the cost of laying down fresh cable/fibre prohibits true competition in the telecommunications sector).

If you only have two players this is what you get. There business' and have no true incentive to out do each other (because the other one will just match there prices).

From what I understand about Gasoline its a similar issue. The Gas comes from refineries and there aren't that many different companies that operate refineries.

If Canada (the crtc?) hadn't already intervened we wouldn't even have the options we do (independant ISPs like Teksavvy). I call it artificial because the government has to force that competition, by forcing the telco/cableco's to share their equipment. I also don't consider it to be true competition because their product heavily relies on the companies they are trying to compete against.

Until the cost of laying down cable becomes cheaper, or internet goes completely wireless, you won't see true competition in telecommunications.

Well in tat case Our tax payers dollars went to layout fiber for the duo it may be time to start to lay tax payers funded Fiber so the smaller guys like TekSavvey can start to build infrastructure and compete with the demons we have here.

Telecommunications are regulated by the Federal Governments not the local ones.
In one way it would make for more competition out West if the two Companies had not merged.
On the other hand I was told that BC Tel was the money maker and Telus was loosing money at that time.
It sems ignorant of me but I never heard the reason why the two Companies merged.After all the Oil and Gas Industries of the two Provinces are still seperated.
Still its too late to delve on that one now.

reply to zod5000
Duopoly or price fixing, it's like debating the sex of the angels isn't it? Meanwhile, Shaw and telus are laughing all the way to the bank. From the customer's perspective, what's the difference? You yourself said that company B will look up Company's A price and match it. It is what's happening.

These days, I think that the Internet is a more like a utility, like water, gas and electricity, not much of a luxury anymore. It should be publicly regulated accordingly. In this case (and many others), the market left to the market philosophy does not work, especially since the deck is so obviously stacked against the newcomers.

They fire up the printing presses for any other good excuses so why not now? Money Is in infinite supply no mater how much they try to tell you other wise. What if all the gold just disappeared over night would the world just crumble with out currency?

a State of the art National Fiber Network is a worthy investment there should be no doubts about.

Better yet Charge the assholes at shaw and Telus a Fiber tax and make sure they cant raises their rates for a good 50 years as punishment.

The free market is a load of crap when there are no plans in place to protect the little guy from COnstantly being tipped upside down from everyone and shaken until every last piece of lint falls out.

These companies must realize the little guy is what keeps them in business. Why is it a small company respects their customers but once they get big its like screw them its all about the Benjamins

reply to Foggy
holy f**k whats with these prices?

6mbps is $50 now?

Teksavvy is $34.99 month (plus dry loop band rate if DSL only) for unlimited bandwidth on the 6meg plan.

reply to South_of_22