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Bell Canada Offers Unlimited Data
If You're Willing to Pay a Price Premium

Bell Canada today announced that the company would give users of its fiber to the node (and in some instances FTTH) "Fibe" service an unlimited connection free of data caps -- if users are willing to pay a price premium. According to the company's press release, users tired of dealing with caps and overages can return to the joys of unlimited data for an additional $10 on top of existing triple play service, or $30 on top of existing double play or standalone Fibe service.

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In addition to this limited promotion, Bell also appears to have introduced new 25/10 and 50/10 usage tiers for Fibe. The telco may be trying to lock users into contracts ahead of an expected UBB/AVP/CBB ruling by Canadian regulators that could lower service prices for users.

Interested users can find some additional discussion about the offer in our Bell Canada forums.
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en103
join:2011-05-02

en103

Member

What happened to...

All of the capacity issues ?
This sounds likes more like a 'we beat up/killed our competition', now we can offer 'unlimited' again... but for a premium.

DemonicMembe
@bell.ca

DemonicMembe

Anon

Re: What happened to...

I called today, no mention of a contract or a cap after 1tb traffic or anything and i could remove the $25 i was paying for an extra 125gb
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25 to en103

Member

to en103
If you pay $10-30 more all those capacity issues suddenly disappear clearly showing this had absolutely nothing to do with capacity.

They are just hoping the smart ones like us dont take notice.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT
·StarLink

SimbaSeven to en103

Member

to en103
said by en103:

All of the capacity issues ?

Like with most providers, it was never about capacity issues. It's just another way to gouge the customer and get away with it.

anon anon
@charter.com

anon anon to en103

Anon

to en103
Where is the congestion going to come from when no one takes them up on this "deal"?

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

SimbaSeven

Member

Re: What happened to...

said by anon anon :

Where is the congestion going to come from when no one takes them up on this "deal"?

It'll magically appear once again.

Dones
join:2008-02-14
Toronto, ON

Dones

Member

...

"additional discussion about the offer in our Bell Canada forums."

Links to Teksavvy forum. lol
gpmoo7
join:2009-01-03
Montreal, QC

gpmoo7

Member

Requires to keep paying for Bell TV & phone services

And it requires you to keep paying for Bell TV and phone services, even if you don't use them because you prefer services such as Netlfix, YouTube, Skype...
taraf
join:2011-05-07
Ottawa, ON

taraf

Member

Re: Requires to keep paying for Bell TV & phone services

No it doesn't. I had 15/10 installed today on a dry loop, and they were quite happy to add the option on my service. They charged $30/mo for it, where they'd charge $10 if I had a triple play, but this with Netflix still works out to significantly less than I'd pay for actually getting TV from Bell.

I used to have Bell TV, but there's only one set of channels I miss, and I'm not paying $70/mo to get 4 channels. (EQhd, OasisHD, RadX, and Hifi)

digiblur
Premium Member
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana

digiblur

Premium Member

Could see this working...

With Cox's way overpriced phone and archaic stone age DVRs with 160gig hard drives that record 4 hours of HD I'm sure they could get lots of people to switch to triple plays if they didn't have a cap and upped the speeds.

ChuckcZar
@teksavvy.com

ChuckcZar

Anon

It has to be a trick

I haven't figured this one out yet but it will be so simple when Bell "hoodwinks" the people who sign up for it. They can't start throttling again because of a pending class action lawsuit. They could bring back the famous surf no synch issue which was gone for about 10 years but has started to be talked about again. It obviously has something to do with Netflix super HD and 3D but Telus out west is looking to enforce caps which would spell the end of Netflix for most of their subscribers. This isn't an easy one but will look so simple when Bell backstabs the people who sign up for this.
HeadSpinning
MNSi Internet
join:2005-05-29
Windsor, ON

HeadSpinning

Member

Re: It has to be a trick

said by ChuckcZar :

They could bring back the famous surf no synch issue which was gone for about 10 years but has started to be talked about again.

Um really? How can one "surf" with no "sync"? The issue used to be a "sync no surf", not the other way around...
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

You aren't paying a "price premium", whatever that is

Those who manage their use are getting a discounted rate.

Those of us in the States were to have such an opportunity, until Karl and Loud Howard shouted down TWC's proposal before the ink was dry, such that the 30% who use very little data, continue to pay higher rates and subsidize the data hogs.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

Re: You aren't paying a "price premium", whatever that

said by elray:

Those who manage their use are getting a discounted rate.

LOL, that's not a discounted rate. That's a rip off with the pathetic caps the service has. It is a price premium when it requires having 2 or 3 services from them costing you at least $60 or more for the triple play option.

There is no such thing as a data hog. There is no shortage of bits on the Internet.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: You aren't paying a "price premium", whatever that

said by 34764170:

said by elray:

Those who manage their use are getting a discounted rate.

LOL, that's not a discounted rate. That's a rip off with the pathetic caps the service has. It is a price premium when it requires having 2 or 3 services from them costing you at least $60 or more for the triple play option.

There is no such thing as a data hog. There is no shortage of bits on the Internet.

There most certainly are data hogs. Ask yourself why VMUSA had to throttle their $40 Unlimited Broadband2Go.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

Re: You aren't paying a "price premium", whatever that

said by elray:

There most certainly are data hogs. Ask yourself why VMUSA had to throttle their $40 Unlimited Broadband2Go.

capacity != amount of consumption. throttling does not stop people from downloading a lot.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: You aren't paying a "price premium", whatever that

said by 34764170:

capacity != amount of consumption. throttling does not stop people from downloading a lot.

Throttling does stop people from downloading a lot.
Moreso, it stops them from burdening the network when the rest of us want to use it.

When VMUSA announced their service, "StopTheCap" types were bragging that they intentionally downloaded 400GB before being capped, only to protest, and get uncapped anew. That consumption led to the recission of the unlimited terms for the rest of us, and brought the network to its knees in the interim.

I'm all for industry offering "high capacity" service with a volume discount where they can to those who want it, and indeed, that's what Bell is doing. But I don't want to pay more for my nominal use to underwrite someone else's consumption habits.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

Re: You aren't paying a "price premium", whatever that

said by elray:

Throttling does stop people from downloading a lot.

Yet I can still download a lot when throttled. I must be working magic.
said by elray:

I'm all for industry offering "high capacity" service with a volume discount where they can to those who want it, and indeed, that's what Bell is doing. But I don't want to pay more for my nominal use to underwrite someone else's consumption habits.

Except it isn't what Bell is doing or what other carries do. Their pricing has never been about what is right or fair for low volume users. They're ripping off the low volume users. Yet you are paying more and that will never change.

The only reason they're offering these options now is to crush their competition and stop people moving to their competition for reasonable options. They have been losing a lot of customers.
HeadSpinning
MNSi Internet
join:2005-05-29
Windsor, ON

HeadSpinning to elray

Member

to elray
said by elray:

Those who manage their use are getting a discounted rate.

Those of us in the States were to have such an opportunity, until Karl and Loud Howard shouted down TWC's proposal before the ink was dry, such that the 30% who use very little data, continue to pay higher rates and subsidize the data hogs.

Not really - the cost differences between the different usage levels are negligible. This is about offering differentiated services in order to capture different spending level tolerances of consumers.
Cloneman
join:2002-08-29
Montreal

Cloneman

Member

corrections to article

The 25/10 package is not new, but the 50/10 over FTTN is new.

For most customers, I believe this will be offered without a contract, although there is incentive to subscribe to FibeTV which usually comes with subsidized hardware.
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM

Member

Re: corrections to article

Wow. Isn't it funny how Bell Fibe in the remote and sparsely-populated country of Can-ada can offer 25/10 and even 50/10 packages over FTTN / FTTU, but AT&T U-verse in metro areas of the US of A can only offer at most 18/1.5 on FTTU or 24/3 on some non-bonded VDSL2 circuits?

And most AT&T technicians even claim that higher upload speeds cannot even be supported for most customers? Even though Bell.ca seems to be doing just fine with the exact same tech?!

I should move back to Canada! If these plans are now unlimited, it sounds like Bell.Ca's FTTU service may finally be useful!

ChuckcZar
@teksavvy.com

ChuckcZar

Anon

Re: corrections to article

I can guarantee you with 100 percent certainty it's a blatant trick on the part of Bell Canada. It's just a matter of how soon they backstab all the unsuspecting test-tube lab rats.