Back in 2009 Canadian cable operator Cogeco decided to impose overages up to $2.50 a gigabyte -- but insisted to customers that the several thousand percent price markup on bandwidth wasn't about making money. Cogeco has subsequently consistently struggled to provide a usage meter that works properly, yet users in our Cogeco forum recently noted the cable company planned to increase the maximum overage fees from $30 to $50 on a number of their Internet plans while removing maximum payment caps on other plans altogether. A letter to subscribers insisted that the looming price hikes (which are up to $22 on the standard plan should users often cross the $22 cap) are about "enhancing" subscriber broadband services to create "a better Internet experience."

A user in our forums notes that the promised price hikes have now arrived -- unless you live in Quebec, where the rate hikes are smaller than in Ontario, with no change in the cap set on how much Cogeco can charge users for the overages. Why do Quebec users get to pay less? Price discrepancies like this are almost always due to one market seeing slightly more competition than another, with prices jacked up when and where a carrier can get away with it. Though users in our forums note that the Head Offices of both Cogeco and Bell are in Quebec, and some of our users believe the higher rates could be tied to the Quebec sovereignty movement.

Still, it seems more likely the higher rates are a result of regulatory/tax differences or competition, and not because Ontario dwellers aren't fluent in French.