Cogeco Unveils 50Mbps Tier - Though it's expensive, capped, with slow upstream...
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Cogeco Unveils 50Mbps Tier
Though it's expensive, capped, with slow upstream...
05:04PM Tuesday Jul 14 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: competition · business · bandwidth · cable · world · caps
Canadian cable broadband carrier Cogeco hasn't exactly been popular around these parts lately, given the company recently implemented metered billing, applying caps as low as 10GB per month and overages as high as $2.50 a gigabyte on top of existing tiers. Adding a little insult to injury, the carrier insisted that move wasn't about making money, then turned right around to raise prices on customers for good measure. Our users have also indicated that the supplied meters don't always work. On the positive side, the company this morning announced that the carrier is unveiling a new "Ultimate" 50Mbps tier:
Beginning today, customers in Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton, Ontario, may subscribe to this brand new package that enables them to achieve a download speed of 50 Mpbs, 1.5 Mbps upstream and a monthly capacity of 150 GB download. Compared to the Pro package, the Ultimate HSI package offers a downloading speed which is three times faster and a monthly download capacity exceeding 50%.
As with the recent announcement by fellow Canadian cable operator Rogers, the tier comes at a very high price point ($150 CA per month), a rather weak upstream component at 1.5Mbps, and a 150GB cap. The high prices, slow upstream speeds and low caps (for that price) speak to the fact that Canadian consumers are seeing less and less competition, preventing them from voting with their wallets.

Related:
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  4. Indie Canadian ISPs Fight For Their Life
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  6. Virgin Media Testing 200Mbps Cable
  7. Customer Battles Time Warner Overages
  8. What Network Neutrality Is REALLY About
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Forums »

dan991199 @ 14th Jul 04:06PM:
positive side?

how is this tier in any way a positive?
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funchords @ 14th Jul 04:12PM:
Absolutely boneheaded

Anyone willing to part with their money for this deal deserves to be broke.

Shame, cogeco, shame.
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HoboJ @ 14th Jul 04:15PM:
Re: positive side?

It isn't. It's a money grab and a pitiful one at that.
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anon @ 14th Jul 04:20PM:
I feel your pain

Well not right now, but knowing how the cable co's in the US are looking into this type of metered/low cap/high priced tiers...it won't be long that we will be like our neighbors up north - disgruntled/angry/sad/irritated and no where else to go.

Now I'm piling up on my supply of KY so I'll be ready once the cable co tells us to bend over and take it. :-P Bleh!!!
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Hindenpeter8 @ 14th Jul 04:27PM:
cable co-existance

Two cable companies cannot co-exist in the same geographical area.

This courtesy of the good folks at the CRTC.

Yet another bit of legislative fail preventing us from voting with our wallets.
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sbrook @ 14th Jul 04:40PM:
The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

Well, that's Bell, Rogers, Cogeco ... they've all increased bills, cut caps, cut services, throttled, and introduced higher tiers.

Canadian consumers are really getting taken to the cleaners!
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strange_69 @ 14th Jul 04:43PM:
Re: positive side?

WOW, 1000Mbps speed with a 1GB cap and a 10$ per GB overage, that is what I really want. Speed is everything and I will just shut off my brain to all the rest. How F-ing stupid do they think we are? Standby US cause it is coming our way (if we let it).
--
Vonage user since Mar 2004.
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Wizeguy @ 14th Jul 04:44PM:
It's a jungle out there

Wireless ISP's need to start popping up and taking their business. Until then they will try to squeeze every last nickel out of you without blinking a eye. Any time a business raises their prices usually they give something value added. In this case you get nothing and pay more. Just ask yourself what are you getting for your $150.00 CA? Wireless is a little slower on the DL but when it's so much cheaper you will see lots of folks jumping ship.
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backness @ 14th Jul 04:50PM:
And don't forget...

You can have all of this and a company that lies to you about throttling! (unless they are questioned by the regulator CRTC)

There are plenty of members of this community who were privy to this information and lied about it repeatedly in the forums for years at a time.

They singled out users and called them "crazy" or blamed their computers. Never admitting that it was in fact a management accounting trick to save on upgrading nodes.

To Cogeco, the customer is the enemy
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travisc @ 14th Jul 04:55PM:
Re: cable co-existance

Erroneous. Competition is allowed, it just makes little economic sense for cable companies to do so.
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XNemesis @ 14th Jul 05:07PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

Do Canadian consumers actually not give a damn that they're getting hosed? This is depressing
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me1212 @ 14th Jul 05:08PM:
Re: It's a jungle out there

I agree I think WISPs are about to see a boom. wimax can currently do 6/1(some reviews of clear's wimax has 9m+ speed tests though) and a wimax 2.0 is under development that meets 4g standards[if anyone wondered the speed standards are:A nominal data rate of 100 Mbit/s while the client physically moves at high speeds relative to the station, and 1 Gbit/s while client and station are in relatively fixed positions. and
A data rate of at least 100 Mbit/s between any two points in the world]

Ok so 1g fixed but if it is like current wimax[wimax cannot deliver 70 Mbit/s over 50 kilometers (~31 miles). In reality, wimax can either operate at higher bitrates or over longer distances but not both: operating at the maximum range of 50 km increases bit error rate and thus results in a much lower bitrate. Conversely, reducing the range (to 1 km) allows a device to operate at higher bitrates] then it will not be able to do 1g everywhere, but you never know it may be able to I hope it can it would be cool. even if it can only do 90m-1x0. it way beats a metered ISP.

I know a WISP will most likely not be able to do these speeds right off the back, but even if the only do 1 or 2m for $50 when they start up if it is uncapped it can beat a metered ISP. And if(hopefully when) enough people subscribe to said WISP the speed can increase and the price can drop.
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travelguy @ 14th Jul 05:18PM:
It's Capacity, not Cap!

I like how they are trying to spin a negative (cap) as a positive (capacity)...
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Hpower @ 14th Jul 05:20PM:
Re: positive side?

I don't see a positive side. People need to wake up. 150gb cap for a 50mbps connection is crazy. At least 400-500gb cap would be reasonable yet still that will be hit easily if the connection gets used with that insane speed on a regular daily basis.
--
The Internet is about to go down....it is actually.
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Mashiki @ 14th Jul 05:24PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

They don't have a choice because they refuse to pressure the regulating bodies. Most canadians are apathetic.
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PapaMidnight @ 14th Jul 05:28PM:
This is pitiful

This is so sad, it's pitiful. I can't believe Comcast, of all cable companies, is the only one that gives its users a reasonable cap right now.
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DataRiker @ 14th Jul 05:35PM:
I feel bad for canada

I remember when Canada had great dsl service speed and availability compared to the US.

I remember the cable there has always been "iffy" in terms of bad practices
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innoman @ 14th Jul 05:40PM:
The only way to change things...

The only way things will change is through legislation (yeah, unlikely) or by people getting together and forcing these operators to change. It's very simple, if a large percentage of the customer base canceled their service at the same time and made their reason for doing so clear, the operator would be a little more likely to work for the consumer.

At one point in time, competition was the main tool for preventing companies from taking advantage (well they still did, just a little less maybe) of the consumer... These days, operators are just enacting the same absurd practices at the same time so consumers are left without much option.

I guess another alternative would be if enough consumers got together and push for some sort of anti-trust case, but still the key idea is consumers working together.

I digress... I canceled my Road Runner (TWC) service when the decided they were going to start pushing CAPs, solely based on principal. The irony is that I switched to AT&T who is also investigating caps. They aren't pushing them that hard right now and I get 18/2 (more like 16/1.5) so I found some justification... ;-).
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dan991199 @ 14th Jul 05:51PM:
Re: The only way to change things...

the problem here is the duopoly is the coverage regions. you cancel cogeco you have no other cable solution. so you go to DSL if you want anything faster than 5Mbit you have to go with bell who just announced even worse caps. if you can live with 5Mbit you can go with a wholesaler but then they are fighting bell right now on a number of fronts such as throttling, and capping speed.

right now Canadian isps have most Canadians over the coals and its not going to let up any time soon.
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hayabusa3303 @ 14th Jul 05:51PM:
Next in the news.

Cogeco losses money. :D
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sbrook @ 14th Jul 06:02PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

There is some of that mashiki, but not entirely. What unfortunately is currently going on is that we are suffering from the effects of free enterprise. The same kind of problem that got AT&T split up all those years ago, where AT&T said "We're the phone company and we can do what we damned well please".

In the US, the regulators finally came along and told AT&T to dismember itself, which it did into the baby bells, which still maintained the "we're the phone company and do what we damned well please ... just to fewer subscribers". And now, like the Terminator, AT&T is reassembling itself to live again and continue the well known mantra "We're the phone company ..."

The problem right now in Canada is that we have had governments that want to promote free enterprise or corporate greed based capitalism, supposedly letting the corporations self regulate and let free market competition set the rules. As a result our regulators ... the CRTC are playing laissez faire and ignoring the telecommunications act, and the Competition Bureau who supposedly handle consumer protection and anticompetitive behaviour for corporations at this level are passing the buck to the CRTC.

So, the corporations get away with murder. The public is totally disillusioned with the lawmakers and the regulatory bodies who won't stand up to the corporations.

Standing up and complaining is utterly pointless.
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sbrook @ 14th Jul 06:04PM:
Re: And don't forget...

They lie to the CRTC too ... Bell did it last year saying that they don't look at the content of packets when throttling.

To all our residential telecom companies, the customer is the enemy.
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cpsycho @ 14th Jul 06:28PM:
Capitalisum at its best.

This was not a huge issue when the liberals were in power. The only reason why the companies are trying to move fast is because the conservatives are in power.
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sphilp @ 14th Jul 06:43PM:
what a deal!

sweet. so you can use your connection at full speed for ~13 minutes a day!
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innoman @ 14th Jul 06:46PM:
Re: The only way to change things...

Yeah... it's a little ridiculous...

I was in Toronto for a business trip and had to deal with Rogers support... They seem to be pretty terrible all the way around.
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Pete_64 @ 14th Jul 07:00PM:
I feel lost

I feel lost and helpless when it comes to my internet choices.

I consume more bandwidth then the average user and yet if I continue to do so I will have to pay more money then grandma checking her email.

No competition is effecting our choices. Currently the only choice is to continue getting raped by Cogeco, or switch to dialup, or cancel my internet all together.

The sooner DSL gets to my area the sooner I am switching to teksavvy.
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anon @ 14th Jul 07:32PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

Free enterprise? Where? You do realize it is government that made these companies as large as they are. Look up the word "subsidies". Keep yelling for more regulation and government intervention. It just means they will get more subsidies and perks to become bigger and bigger. Maybe even more ex Bell and Rogers employees well get to be members of the CRTC. Everyone here complains about no competition but don't understand how that came to be. Your comment is beyond absurd, there is nothing "laissez faire" of the current system. There is no free market capitalism in Canada. When the government created these monopolies in the first place what you have is corporate socialism, that's the system in Canada.
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tmc8080 @ 14th Jul 07:25PM:
BLAME CANADa!

Well, government regulation or lack there of.. the monopoly / duopoly really gets to run the show with the consumer twisting in the wind! It's time for government to take of the reigns and legislate good service offerings or open the market up to REAL competition. There's no reason why 2 companies cover a majority of Canada footprint with the rest left hanging with the USA equivilent of QWEST.
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chronoss2009 @ 14th Jul 07:36PM:
HAHA 150GB cap

try going over a cogeco cap and see how it works for you
can you say canceled

and none of you listened ot me that unless we all say cancel for a month everywhere inprotest they wont listen

goto piratepartyofcanada.com and lets get something organized

IF a million or two people sad stuff your pricing you bet them shareholders will also revolt
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sbrook @ 14th Jul 08:10PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

The companies became as large as they are because they were allowed to do so in the name of the free market.

Time after time, we see evidence of what happens when we open the door to a "free market". All those free market players in the US LD industry have vapourized. The VoIP industry rocks back and forth. The energy industry suffered Enron. GM's nearly bankrupt. Chrysler is now owned by Fiat because nobody can keep it afloat. Eastern Airlines bought and sold in pieces at the expense of the creditors while the owner sneaks away with millions.

Time after time self regulating industry fails itself due to greed.

The collapse of the banking industry in the US should show what is happening. Free market capitalism doesn't work due to people's greed. Our government is trying to recreate the US mess in Canada.
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anon @ 14th Jul 08:14PM:
50Mbps tier that comes with a 150GB cap

I needed a good laugh today :D
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Mashiki @ 14th Jul 08:48PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

said by sbrook :

Standing up and complaining is utterly pointless.
Lazy faire I agree with to a point, the problem really comes down to that these guys in the CRTC are using the buddy-buddy system more then anything.
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sonicmerlin @ 14th Jul 10:45PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

Actually if you look at the details of mergers, acquisitions, and policy making of Canadian broadband, you will quickly notice it was a lack of any real regulation that destroyed the small ISPs and eliminated competition for the big incumbents. Essentially the CRTC failed to follow its own rules and approved every decision, however questionable, requested by the incumbents.

Liberals tend to support socialistic policies. They do not support allowing big businesses to do whatever they please.

Honestly libertarians drive me nuts. Like rapid ultra conservative Christians they dogmatically follow an ideology without thinking of the realities around them.

If it weren't for the independents sucking away votes from the Democrats, Bush wouldn't have been elected in the first place.

Can you imagine how much better off we'd be if Al Gore, the creator of the internet and a staunch supporter of environmentalism, had been elected President?

We'd all be driving in sub-20k EVs right now and connecting to 100mbit/sec internet connections at home. Extremely idealistic, I know, but you get the point.
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sonicmerlin @ 14th Jul 10:51PM:
Re: This is pitiful

There is NOTHING REASONABLE about any cap whatsoever, especially not a 250 GB cap.

Caps DO NOT MANAGE NETWORK CONGESTION that may or may not occur during peak hours.

Bandwidth is insanely cheap for the large incumbents. We're talking about $1/person/month. Every network is created based on the idea of oversubscription. So even if one person "abuses" the network, there will be another one or two who almost never uses it.

All you need to do is look at countries with competitive industries. The ISPs there DO NOT HAVE CAPS, and wouldn't dare instituting them for fear of losing customers to their competition.
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anon @ 14th Jul 11:32PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

Free Enterprise is when businesses and individuals interact with themselves without ANY government involvement. The government only protects the companies and consumers with fundamental laws of property, privacy and contract.

The fact there is the CRTC proves that this is NOT a FREE Enterprise system which you blame. The problem is two part. One that we believe the people in government should control us and know what is better for the millions of people, the companies and their interactions. Secondly the government, preaching morals and fairness, actually does the opposite because it doesn't have a value system. We the customers vote with our dollars, they the government order business and consumers for possible kickbacks and bribes but are directly affected by any of these changes.

This is a moral and philosophical issue, and the people who believe in regulation or believe that we live in a free market are hypocrites, because they are free to put in regulations but do not allow others to do the same and choose for themselves.

It's that simple.
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sonicmerlin @ 15th Jul 07:34AM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

Without government interference the baby bells reconstituted themselves into AT&T. Without government regulation all industries would be consolidated, and we'd end up living in a world controlled by gigantic conglomerates who stifle innovation.

Changes would only occur every century or so through bloody revolution.

Hardly a paradise.
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Hangmn @ 15th Jul 09:26AM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

said by sonicmerlin :

Without government interference the baby bells reconstituted themselves into AT&T. Without government regulation all industries would be consolidated, and we'd end up living in a world controlled by gigantic conglomerates who stifle innovation.

Changes would only occur every century or so through bloody revolution.

Hardly a paradise.
Um we do live in a world controlled by giant conglomerates...too late
--
»davescustompc.com
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sbrook @ 15th Jul 10:51AM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

That's what Free Enterprise SHOULD be, assuming that businesses and individuals act in a morally and socially acceptable manner. History has proven time after time that they do not. Corporations attempt to control the governance of the nation for their own ends.

I do agree with you JGE that the government preaching morals is like putting a wolf in the henhouse to guard the chickens, but at least we have the opportunity to CHANGE those in government. We have NO way to change those controlling corporations.
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anon @ 15th Jul 10:38PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

And yet government has shown itself to be so moral time and time again? You socialists amuse me in a twisted way, you claim to be against violence, and then put all your trust into organized violence known as government, the very organization that brought you the holocaust.

Some of us will remember, as worldwide economies continue to crumble, how you blamed those who do business on a voluntary basis. Yet you will give more power to the likes of whom are capable of genocide and world wars. I wonder if your family will be among the victims of your violent ideology?
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sbrook @ 15th Jul 10:42PM:
Re: The Blood Letting for Consumers continues

hahaha ... that's a good one.

Why are worldwide economies crumbling? Because of the greed of corporations and individuals who are the same kinds of people who caused wars and genocides trying to dominate over others. It's no different.
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PapaMidnight @ 16th Jul 07:35PM:
Re: This is pitiful

said by sonicmerlin :

There is NOTHING REASONABLE about any cap whatsoever, especially not a 250 GB cap.

And I would never suggest there was. I would say, though, that by comparison with what was stated in the article....
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z0diac @ 8th Sep 10:43PM:
Cogeco = Treasure trolls

I'm on 16Mbit downstream, 200GB/month cap (SOHO package)

Now they release 50Mbit down, 150GB cap.

So all they want is you to hit your cap faster so they can start charging you through the nose !!!!!

And for those of you that posted above ^^ saying "they'll cancel your account" if you go over... HAH! Try "they'll take you to collections and permanently ruin your credit history if you don't pay them everything". And that's after they cancel your account...

Net Nazis... I wish I had a better choice between just Cogeco and Bell.
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