25 GB? 50 GB? 60 GB? How much bandwidth do you use per month? Do you know? If you want to save money, and not soon be hit with outrageous charges from your Internet provider, you should.
It was just this morning that we talked about how Bell Canada is in the middle of controversy with the attempted acquisition of Astral Media. And now, they may soon find themselves in another one that they unknowingly started when they asked for usage-based billing to be introduced on its network.
As it stands, many Internet providers will provide you with unlimited bandwidth, which means that you can view and download as much as you’d like online and not be charged any additional fees for it. However, usage-based billing keeps track of all that activity and if you go over a certain amount, you’ll be billed for it.
How much bandwidth you have will depend on who your provider is.
Primus Canada, a provider that currently offers unlimited plans, will no longer do so as of February 1. Not even to those customers that are already signed up for an unlimited plan. After February, Primus will offer a straight 25 GB/month plan. Should a customer exceed that amount, they’ll be charged $2/GB up to a $60 maximum per month. Another plan will be offered for customers who are online a lot, for which they can pay extra to have an additional 40 GB/month allotted to them.
Valerie Dixon is a Primus customer that just found out her bill will be increased by $5 a month, after she signed up for unlimited.
“How is it possible that a contract can be changed so arbitrarily?” she asked.
Primus’ head of residential services, Rob Warden, said that most customers don’t ever reach the cap limit in a month and so, the majority won’t be affected. When speaking with another Primus customer, Margaret Bradley, he pointed out that her usage was only 1.65 GB a month approximately; and so he couldn’t understand what her concern was.
“I usually complain when I don’t receive what I think I purchased,” she said in reply.
But Primus isn’t the only one making the move. Shaw Internet, who mostly has customers in Alberta and BC, will also use the February 1 date to start imposing usage-based charges on their customers. And Rogers, with many customers in Ontario, has already put one very similar to Primus’ in place.
Chief executive of Teksavvy, a small firm based out of Chatham, Ontario, said that the new method of billing will hurt small firms like his that are trying to compete with the big guns, and that it’s going to be consumers that are going to feel it most – especially as more Internet-based TV viewing experiences such as Netflix Canada continues to become more popular.
“Consumers are really going to feel the financial pain over this as time passes,” he said. “Four hours per day of viewing [online,] using one television, can consume upward of 60 GB a month. This means an additional $70 of usage for one TV.”
So if you’re not aware of how much bandwidth you’re currently using, it’s time to get out your bills or speak to your provider and figure it out. With just about every provider putting new charges on usage, it’s likely that consumers won’t be able to avoid getting hit with extra fees altogether. But it will end up paying to know how much you’re using and viewing now, and perhaps taking measures to try and cut back, and save you some money.
