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Rogers High-Speed Internet customers not impacted by CRTC decision
February 2nd, 2011 a 3:31pm
Over the past couple of weeks, there’s been a lot of talk about Usage Based Billing and a recent CRTC decision involving Bell Canada.
You – our Rogers High Speed Internet customer – want to know how you will be affected by this decision. The short answer: you won’t. Your rates and the amount of Internet bandwidth you’re provided each month remain unchanged. And we offer a number of plans that provide the vast majority of our customers with more than enough bandwidth to suit their needs.
The CRTC decision relates to a very specific question about the economics of how larger Internet Service Providers (ISPs) sell bandwidth to smaller providers. More on that later.
I’m writing here because there is considerable confusion around the issue. Our customers are asking us questions about Usage Based Billing in forums, blogs and Twitter. In these online discussions, a very specific CRTC ruling about wholesale billing rates has led to a broader philosophical debate about how customers should be charged for Internet services.
Some people say you should pay the same no matter what you use – that casual Internet users should pay as much as those who download movies and music around the clock. (According to one study the top one per cent of Internet connections is responsible for more than 20 per cent of Internet traffic.)
Others say it’s more fair for customers to pay for the amount of bandwidth they actually use. We agree with this approach. It’s in line with the way other services are billed including heat, electricity and water. We use a similar model in selling long distance minutes because we think a customer who doesn’t make long distance calls shouldn’t have to pay extra to subsidize the heavy business user who spends hours on long distance calls each day.
Rogers invests approximately $2-billion each year on capital investments. This includes a significant investment in our broadband networks to accommodate Internet traffic that is growing at 40 per cent each year. In order to maintain fast reliable service and prepare for ever increasing demands for bandwidth, we are continually laying new fibre and rolling out new innovations such as DOCSIS 3.0.
That’s why we think it’s more fair to charge customers for the amount of Internet bandwidth they actually use.
For years, we’ve offered a variety of Internet tiers to meet the needs of all our customers. For a casual customer, our Ultra-Lite plan offers 2 GB of Internet bandwidth each month. That’s enough to send and receive approximately 50,000 e-mails, download 100 songs from iTunes (5MB each) and upload/download 500 photographs (2 MB each).
On the opposite end of the spectrum, our premium tier provides you so much bandwidth (175 GB) that you could watch streaming video on YouTube every day from 7 a.m. in the morning until midnight without reaching your cap. Customers who go over on this highest tier pay just 50 cents more for each additional GB.
And while business customers pay a little more, their bandwidth entitlements are higher – allowing them to drive innovation without having to worry about overage charges.
Not only are customers using far more bandwidth than they did a few short years ago, they’re expecting faster speeds. And we’re delivering. Here’s one example. In 2006, customers on our premium Extreme Plus tier paid $99.95 per month for top download speeds of 18 Mbps. Today, they get top download speeds of 25 Mbps for just $69.99. We offer tools on Rogers.com to help pick the plan that’s right for you. And you can check your usage by logging into the MyRogers section of the site.
Now back to the CRTC decision, which related to the question of how larger ISPs sell their services to smaller ones. The CRTC said ISPs can bill according to the same usage based billing principles they use to charge their own customers but with a 15 per cent discount.
The CRTC decision continues to generate debate with Industry Minister Tony Clement saying he’s going to look into the decision. What’s important for us is that regardless of what happens, we want our Rogers High Speed Internet customers to know they will not be impacted by this decision.
Keith McArthur is Senior Director of Social Media at Rogers
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Except that bandwidth is a rate, not a quantity. Usage based billing to curb “hogs” is akin to saying “you are only allowed to drive on the highway for 2 hours a day” in order to stop traffic, people will just drive those two hours a day at rush hour to go to and from work, and then neglect to go to the stores after work in order to spend the money they earned at work because they’re not allowed to use the highway anymore. Water, gas, electricity, etc. are all quantities. Sure there is a rate that they can be delivered at, but that rate depletes a finite resource.
Usage based billing is always a cash grab, if you want to reduce traffic on your servers, curb people’s speeds after they’ve used a certain amount of bandwidth per day. Charging them extra but continuing the provide the service just proves that the bandwidth is available and usage based billing is just attempting to drive up the prices by creating a psuedo-shortage
Hey Alex. Thanks for the comment. Don’t want to quibble over the use of the term bandwidth, but my point is that when customers send or receive more bits, we need more fibre to send those bits and the newest technologies to ensure we continue to provide fast, reliable service. We just believe it’s more fair that the customers who use more should pay more.
So then we are to assume that those who use almost nothing will pay FAR less than they do now right? Those users will see a BIG drop in their bills right? (Cough cough)
If Rogers (and Bell) are so in favour of UBB, why not credit my bill for the amount of bandwidth I *don’t* use under my cap, since I’m apparently preserving fibre capacity?
Agreed. I use just 3GB of the possible 60GB in my package. I have that package because of the download speed it provides, not because I need that amount of bandwidth. With electricity and water, if I use less, my bill is less. Not so with Internet, and I don’t expect that will change anytime soon… although I’m sure Rogers will gradually lower the bandwidth limit. Thankfully they’ll have to lower it a fair bit before they’ll get more money out of me for my usage.
RogersKeith,
Why US customer can enjoy 200GB-300GB per month without congestion? Are you saying Rogers has worse infrastructure?
Why Canadian Internet access is officially listed as one of the most expensive ones in the world?
Why Rogers has decreased the bandwidth caps just last summer? Fear of Netflix?
Don’t compare gas to bandwidth or I will fall down from my chair from laughing.
Technology is not domain of the geeks anymore and general public understand much more these days so do not blind us with your mambo-jumbo, just say Rogers is after our wallets since we are getting away from TV sets, and using VoIP, Skype to make calls.
Canada sucks when it comes to broadband access and overall technology!
I think the hope is will will be impacted. We want more competition and better service. It sucks that I cannot enjoy ROD online or Netflix to the extent that I would like as I have a increasingly smaller limit on how much bandwidth I can use.
If there is no competition in the industry we will continue to get less and less service. Users such as myself don’t necessarily want faster speeds (yes I will welcome them) but not at the cost of unlimited bandwidth.. Whats the use of a 25meg connection if I will max out my cap in a matter of hours going at that speed. I find no use for speed of connection when it is throttled whenever Rogers feels it is a detriment to the system. Don’t sell something you can’t support.
Yes as a Rogers customer this might not affect me directly but it really does indirectly.
Thanks for the comment Chris. The vast majority of customers do not hit their caps, but even for those that do, it’s important to note that these aren’t hard caps – they just result in additional charges. On the highest tier this charge is only 50 cents per GB.
What about your customers that go over after the first 10 days of their monthly allotment? Yesterday alone I downloaded nearly 10Gigs, all legitimate content business related. With streaming services like live.twit.tv, large software downloads and updates like Apple and Adobe’s developer programs, file transfers between home and business servers for work-from-remote users there is nothing that you provide that is viable. If I am wrong, please contact me (through website or twitter), I am open to talk about this. Even in person, I live 2 blocks away from the Rogers building in Toronto.
Hey Matthew. Happy to chat about this stuff any time. If you’re in the hood we can chat over a coffee or beer.
But if you’re going through 10GB in a day for business, then our consumer plans probably aren’t right for you. You should consider biz plans with larger allowances.
I’m also a big fan of the TWiT network, by the way. Did you hear Sunday’s show where Leo Laporte and his guests discussed Rogers Internet network outperforming U.S. networks?
Yes I did hear that and read it in the report put out by Netflix. The report says that Rogers is the highest sustained quality for broadcasting video throughout all regions that they service. But that just shows that your network can handle the traffic without much problem.
As for the coffee, what are you going tomorrow? There is a Starbucks kiddy corner to your office downtown or the Fionn MacCool’s there too. We can talk about this and other tech relevant topics. (similar to TNT)
Did you see the recent twit.tv episode where Leo was video conferencing with a guy from Canada? The video stream cut out and Leo said “oh, well I guess he reached his Rogers data cap!”
“Outperforming” does not exactly relate to the issue we are discussing, does it?
They sure are hard caps if I can’t afford the overage fees!
I don’t hit my cap because I am too afraid to pay the overages. I would go way over it if I were to use my connection as I want to which is to stream HD content with 5.1 or better sound. Sadly I can’t take advantage of this wonderful service Netflix has been nice enough to bring to Canada.
I really don’t see why it’s important to note that they aren’t hard caps your are capping my ability to use the internet at full speed for the entire month. I used to be able to do that. I never signed a new contract for that to change.. Suddenly I find myself with only 60GB. That 60GB can go very quickly.
A movie a night for 20 nights.. A few itunes updates operating system updates, download a steam game or get updates for it. There are tons of examples.
The real problem is we are moving backwards.. Stop the soft caps or at least set them to a point where only extremem users would hit them.. That might be at 250GB right now but next yeah it might be at 500GB.. Your moving the wrong direction… When netflix was announced rogers should have announced larger buckets to help users enjoy the rich internet speeds you provide..
Server hosting companies pay for bandwidth based on speed not on amount of bits they push, why can’t regular consumers buy their internet that way?
Also to compair to gas and electricity… Those things are pay as you go. Internet is pay for the month very different.. Also Rogers is not creating the bits and content that we are consuming you are just providing the delivery method.
I could go on and on but no one’s listening..
We’re always listening Chris :-)
I have no doubt you’re listening Keith, but your company isn’t. Moving backwards while the rest of the world is moving forward doesn’t feel so good from a consumer’s point of view.
I know your listening.. I just feel Rogers as a company is only listening to the bottom line and how to make more money not offer customers the best services. We all know that it’s not about bandwidth it’s about stopping users from finding an alternative delivery form for their media consumption. If Rogers was smart they would get rid of cable and switch to being an internet provider and offer IPTV. ROD doesn’t work on my cisco digital box so I have to find my on demand content elsewhere. I chose Netflix but alas cannot use it due to low bandwidth caps. If I wanted to watch a season of Hero’s on Netflix it would take my entire 60GB.. If I could use ROD I wouldn’t be able to watch a season of Heros as the selection is too limited. Please try to compete instead of stifle the competition.
I think if Rogers didn’t seem as it was playing dirty Customers would be much more accepting that they are trying. (Seriously lowering the caps at the same time Netflix announces their coming to Canada… It’s pretty lame either way if thats a coincidence or not…)
So it should be worth pointing out to everyone here that, if you’re on the Ultra Lite plan, the overage charge is $5/GB.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/gadgets-and-gear/hugh-thompson/what-is-a-fair-price-for-internet-service/article1890596/
Wow, that’s incredible exploitative given that those with the least means would opt for this plan. It’s incredible.
That’s only a 10,000% markup
Well Keith? You don’t see you quote this stat. In fact, once many arguments are made you seem to abandon the discussion. Why would you not credit my account if i didn’t reach my bandwidth cap?
I agree with other replies above “why not credit my bill for the amount of bandwidth I *don’t* use under my cap, since I’m apparently preserving fibre capacity?” If Rogers is going to charge when I go over my bandwidth limit, then when I am under I should receive a credit, this only seems like the fair and honest thing to do.
I really didn’t like the fact that the cost per GB went up 100% for our “Express” package (60 GB) bandwidth cap. It went from $1 to $2 !! That is “criminal”.
Watching YouTube from 7am-12am is of course a totally useless statistic. How would those same users fare streaming HD movies via Netflix?
Hey rm – according to a recent research report from Credit Suisse, 1 hour of Netflix takes up about 1GB in SD and 2GB in HD – so even in HD, you could watch a movie every single day and still be well under this cap.
Assuming 30 days in the month, a two hour movie every day at 2GB per movie at the end of the month a person would hit a 60GB cap without having done anything else. So I guess a person is fine as long as they make sure they have either more cap space, watch short movies, only watch SD movies and do little else that is bandwidth heavy.
The Credit Suisse report you mention actually said:
“Not surprisingly, our case study finds that an OTT (over-the-top) service like Netflix can lead to a material increase in broadband data usage – in this case, ~20 GBs of data for the month, or ~1GB per hour of standard definition online viewing,” Wang concluded after testing Netflx Canada for one month over an Internet access account with Rogers Communications, the country’s largest cable operator.
“In turn, based on Rogers Communications’ data pricing structure, this would have resulted in a $12 per month increase in broadband for our test home,” the Project Canada study found.”
Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/study-canadian-internet-users-pay-69858
I have always watched my bandwidth, but since Netflix has been around, with a combination of my regular internet use, and netflix I have gone over my cap 3 times, for a total of roughly 100$ in 3 months, I was on the 60GB plan.
I have since upgraded with rogers, but my initial plan was to switch to an unlimited provided. Now that it appears that will be an option again I will be able to switch without issue. Unfortunately with TV and Internet I spend 150$ a month, I don’t want to have to worry about more costs, I want to use my internet as I do, some months I use very little, others I use alot this should be available, and spending 100$ per month for it is just insane.
I do like my rogers service, I haven’t had issues with it, however switching unfortunately isn’t an option at this point.
That’s really nice and all… but Rogers speeds have started to dip during primetime hours… down to under a 1Mbps. I feel like Rogers is trying to stop Netflix from eating into their TV Business.
You currently provide one of your resellers, TekSavvy, with an unlimited bandwidth option. That’s great. Will it change? Are you saying beyond any doubt that no rates will be changing in the next few years if the UBB policy is not repealed?
Hey Gavin – I’m not making any commitments about wholesalers. My comments here are specific to Rogers High Speed Internet customers.
But Keith, I think that’s why all this fuss happened in the first place. It just happens to be that Bell moved first and Rogers is scheduled for the summer.
How about taking a look at how some of these decisions can effect the consumer in a consumer benefit? Providing higher bandwidth capabilities and raise or even remove caps for businesses or consumers who run businesses out of their home?
I currently work for a Montréal based company in the tech industry and constantly hit your current caps. I have tried to find a better solution in the GTA area but unless I live in Montréal (Vidéotron as a provider), I cannot get a sufficient account type to suite my needs as a developer of technology.
If Rogers can provide packages and partnerships worthy of the future in the telecommunication industry, you will get the support of those that pave the curve, otherwise you will continue to get the fear laden media that has occurred after the CRTC’s new announcement.
Granted, your new policy on addressing users one on one to find technical solutions is great (@rogershelp for instance, and I want to specifically thank @Rogers_Elise here) but where is the solutions for advanced users who want to work with you on building solutions for problems that you don’t currently have?
First Matthew – thanks for the kind words about @RogersHelps and @RogersElise.
You provide some good suggestions for us to take away. One thought: If you’re hitting caps because you’re a business user, it sounds like a business plan may be better for you. As I note in the post, these cost a little more but they come with higher bandwidth entitlements so guys like you can continue to drive innovation without having to worry about overage charges.
Figures, that you for the response, I was posting my last comment above when you had posted yours. I would like to actually sit with somebody at rogers and find a solution that works and that would possibly be a basis for future for opportunities for Rogers users. Something that can combine Business grade internet to consumers who have a higher level of competence then average user. One that would be less hassle for Rogers to manage on the service end yet provide higher value for those who will use the service to it’s full extent.
Speaking of overage charges, our account roll-over date is the 21st of every month and we are already at 64gigs. Ironically, this is completely legitimate content too. It’s been 11 day. At 31 days at this rate I will be over 180Gigs which is more then your current highest monthly usage allowance and this isn’t even a big month for me as it is the slow time of the year.
When I lived in Montréal I had this and it was great, granted it wasn’t as fast as some of your services but the bandwidth allotment was unlimited up and down:
http://goo.gl/Z5qRs
I would personally like to have this and have it include my basic cable since it is no extra effort on your part in fact it is more hassle for your NOT to include it since you need to have the filter put on the line:
http://goo.gl/4e8nl
My dream is to have this but I know I don’t need it. It is what my office in Montréal has. It is a bit expensive and there is a cap with it but the speed is amazing:
http://goo.gl/e4O8v
Please, I am asking Rogers directly. Contact me. Have somebody set up a meeting to discuss possible options. You business lines boast message attachment sizes, anti-virus email, pop-up blocking, spam protection, @rogers accounts… All of which NEVER apply to a multitude of business people since they already have business email accounts.
Price Chart: (prices are on contract terms)
$99.99 Residential Ultimate: 50Mbps with 175GB Cap
$–.00 No comperable business package
$69.99 Residential Extreme Plus: 25Mbps with 125GB Cap
$124.96 Business High Speed: 30Mbps with ???GB Cap
$59.99 Residential Extreme: 15Mbps with 80GB Cap
$109.99 Business Internet Fastest: 12Mbps with ???GB Cap
If you’d like, I can finish this list but as you can see, WHY would I switch to a business line when the prices are higher for slower speeds and unknowns? In your documentation, you have a section at the bottom that says that these are recommended for up to 10 users.
PLEASE contact me. I know I am repeating myself here but I NEED to find a solution that will work and quite frankly, the more I look into this, the more I am getting upset. I want to help. RogersElise is following me (last I checked) on twitter and can DM me. Instigate a conversation and you have me.
On a side note, please stop with the ridiculous names of your internet:
Fast -> Faster -> Fastest -> Speed Internet LS… wait, how is “Fastest” not the fastest?
ultra-light -> lite -> express -> exteme -> extreme plus -> ultimate
How about:
Very Low Usage -> Low Usage -> Average Usage -> High Usage -> Very High Usage -> Power Usage
This gives you the same amount but puts it into perspective for the user. Where would they consider themselves to be when it comes to usage.
Thanks Matthew. Check your e-mail. :-)
It should be worth noting, though, that most people signing petitions to stop UBB want unlimited access (which Rogers and other providers advertised as offering for years, and only noted usage-caps in the fine-print), with no caps at all. 50 cents per gigabyte is rather steep in a world where Online Content Delivery systems (Steam by Valve, for example) can easily chew through tens of gigabytes for a single download. Windows Updates on a new install of Windows (plus Service Pack upgrades) account for hundreds of megabytes (not to mention updates from Apple, Linux updates, etc…), as well as other programs/services that *require* monthly updates.
There are many things can cause users, and not just ‘power users’, to burn through a cap in no-time. Watch a few hours of HD streaming video over Netflicks, run your updates, grab the latest games through Steam, and then sit back and do nothing the rest of the month through fear of overages.
Saying that the CRTC decision doesn’t impact current Rogers customers is a small comfort, as it does mean there is little other choice (as smaller ISPs that buy bandwidth wholesale have to raise their prices and lower caps, making them little alternative), and lack of competition in any industry is a bad for consumers.
Just putting in my two cents (before overage charges take those, too).
Shame on you: Ultra-lite – 27$ per month for 2GB / 256Kb???????? Are u serious? I’m getting unlimited 5megabit for 25$. I’m still wondering who’s taking this plans?
Please, reconsider you plans/caps (and offer no caps for a reasonable price)
I’m curious what ISP offers these rates =)
http://www.broadbandreports.com/shownews/Canadian-Caps-Arent-Economically-Justified-112535
If you are acting so innocent about the entire thing, can you explain why you raised the monthly overage to $50 from $30 the day after Netflix came to town?
I switched to tek savvy right after you made this decision, and I think a lot of people did. How will my bill be affected with tek savvy cable? From the sounds of it, you are trying to squeeze their heads.
Hi Wes – I appreciate your comment, but it’s important to note that these same changes apply to our own Rogers On Demand Online service. It’s simply incorrect to imply they had anything to do with the Netflix launch. Also note – the changes only applied to our Light and Extreme tier plans.
I appreciate the answer.
Seems a little fishy that you would up the charges the day after a competing (and significantly better) product enters the marketplace. Do a google search for “Rogers Netflix”. You’ll see the CBC and the star both agree..
Also, please answer my question re: TekSavvy
Very fishy, what does Rogers care if it effects their RODonline? They don’t charge for it, in fact it’s a loss leader. A product made to draw people in but they lose money on it and hope that people pay for other services to get it but end up not using it.
Hi Wes – Any changes we might have made to the way we bill smaller ISPs are obviously on hold now with CRTC review.
1) It does affect current Rogers customers:
The day Netflix entered the market by GB/month allotment went down. No reduction in cost to me of course.
I will be paying $4/GB if I go over, when you pay pennies for it.
Do you really expect me to believe that once you eliminate the competition being posed by the SMALL ISP’s, that you will not raise my costs again? I have seen no decease in Internet bills in the years that we have seen great improvements in the technology.
2) You can’t compare bandwidth to things like electricity, gas.
Bandwidth does no exists “physically” it is infinite. What exists is the cables that deliver that said bandwidth & the last time I checked … cables are cheaper to make than fossil fuel.
3) Roger’s investments.
Yes, but how much of that investment did you make back due to tax cuts that you receive from the government? 30% as per class 46 – http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/slprtnr/rprtng/cptl/dprcbl-eng.html#class46
In conclusion, I don’t think your listening to Canadians on this. We’re feed up with your bad service, over inflated prices & anti-competitive stances. We took with the mobile bills but we won’t take it with the internet.
For a real informed view of this issue please read Michael Geist’s excellent article. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5611/125/
While we’re at it we SHOULD NOT take it with mobile either. Look at how cheap the mobiles are in the US and how much better service they get for it. (Speeds etc) Canadian telecom and the CRTC would love to talk your head off about keeping things competitive, but in reality all the telecom companies keep their prices all very close to eachother to collectivly suck every penny they can from you for as long as possible. Its crazy the difference in price for what you get between here and the US. Canadians just sit and take it… NO MORE… I don’t envy Keith here trying to defend this crazy stance on UBB… It has to be the toughest job in the world right now because there really is NO defence.. Just come clean Keith and let everyone know about the MILLIONS made every year by Rogers and how they just want MORE.
Rogers customers aren’t impacted by the most recent CRTC decision, but we have been under Usage Based Billing ever since bandwidth caps have been introduced.
Extreme Plus has 125GB of bandwidth for $70 a month, which is approximately $0.56 per GB of bandwidth.
How much does it cost for Rogers to provide that bandwidth, including all of the operational costs? Probably not anywhere near $0.56.
And don’t get me started on anti-competitive actions taken by Rogers.
Hi Jon – For competitive reasons, I can’t disclose our costs per GB at this time, but I can say that the estimates that have been suggested are far lower than reality.
Hi Keith, thanks for responding.
However, I can believe that costs per GB are nowhere near the “1 or 2 cents per GB” that is being thrown around – because I believe that is just straight transmission costs. If you take into account all the operational costs thrown on top to support that infrastructure.
However, when you have the president of TekSavvy claiming that, at most, cost per GB is $0.30, the markup on top of that is ridiculous.
I understand, internet usage is growing at an unbelievable manner. Here’s a solution: stop bringing on new customers if you can’t handle it. Fix and upgrade your network first, and offer us a decent price.
Oligopolistic behaviour helps no one.
What competition? Bell?
I think it would be in your best interest to disclose the cost. People are pissed off & people are speculating. The longer you avoid the issue, the more damage it will do to you.
Rogers & Bell are not going to walk away from this unscathed anyway.
You will lose customers.
But if you show transparency in this issue, you may come out of better than Bell. That’s all you can hope for really.
That was intense Kate Potter.
What I’m most upset about is the rates for the rocket stick compared to regular Internet. I pay close to $80/month for 2GB. While there is an 80GB plan for $59.99 for regular Internet.
I live 40km north of Oshawa and don’t have the luxury of having an option for high speed.
Anytime I try to update the software on my iPhone, I get to about halfway and it times out and I just lost about 200+ MB that I cannot get back
My sympathies. I thought in the stimulus package that cable was going to be run to the smaller communities. Those rates are astronomical…
It really is. I understand that the stick is mobile and I can use it anywhere, but it’s primary use is for home.
If I had the money, I could go to satallite internet, but it costs $500 to install.
It’s 2011! I feel like I am using 1999 technology and dial-up.
Hey Chase,
Have you heard of the Rocket Hub? I think it’s a better option for someone who uses a rocket stick soley for home use.
I don’t understand how you’re paying 80$ for 2 gig’s on a rocket stick? the 2 gig plan on rogers is 50$/month (I wish it was more bandwitdh too of course) but not 80?
also maybe take a look at the HUB, MUCH better deal @ 35$/3 gigs and bumps up to 50$/gigs then 60/10gigs.
I think unlimited internet is a thing of past, and the infrastructure cost to maintain everyone unlimited all the time would be crazy. But I too think the caps could be more generous, comcast @ 250gig seems to be reasonable.
I do think people who use more should pay more, but they already do with higher/faster levels of internet.
What I find most telling about the UBB issue is that Rogers, Bell Shaw, or Telus have not publicly responded to claims (e.g. from Netflix, Teksavvy) that their marginal cost to deliver a gigabyte of data across the last mile is 1 to 3 cents. I’m guessing that’s because the claims are true.
And this while even the cheapest per-GB overage charge Rogers offers (on the Ultimate tier) is 50 cents – a markup of 15-50x – and the highest charge (on Ultra-Light) is a staggering $5/GB – for a markup of 150-500x!
(Apparently slower gigs cost more.)
Even if we generously assume that your per-gig cost is closer to a quarter then you’re still marking up bandwidth on your lowest tier by an insane 20x.
Now, you might want to say at this point that your actual costs are higher than a few cents per gig because you need to cover other overhead – marketing, network expansion, improvements, etc. But those costs are supposed to come out of the flat monthly fee every customer already pays. So there’s really no other conclusion we can come to, except that UBB is a cash grab, designed to take advantage of well-meaning customers who don’t know (or care) how many YouTube videos they can watch with 175GB.
The bottom line is this: you guys have costs, and you’re in business to make money. We, as customers, get that. But don’t jerk us around with markups that even Monster Cable doesn’t approach. Price your product fairly and the PR problem you are trying to defuse with this blog post will be gone.
I think you’ll be astonished at the amount of goodwill you’ll generate among your customers simply by treating them with respect and giving the disingenuous, “our customers will not be impacted” act, a rest. They will be impacted, right in their wallets.
Hey Bryson – sorry you feel I’m being disingenuous. We’ve seen a lot of confusion on this issue. Some very smart people have the perception that Rogers customers will see changes to their monthly bill as a result of the CRTC decision. I’ve tried to clarify here that this is not the case while being open about how and why we charge the way we do.
Unfortunately, I can’t share details about our actual costs per GB at this time. As I mention in response to another comment, the estimates that have been floated are much lower than reality.
Keith, it’s not personal – I’m sympathetic to the position you’re in. I just hope you aren’t the only one reading these posts!
RogersKeith,
400,000 are not confused.
You are right, in the short term this will not affect the Rogers Customers.
But it will in the long term – in the long term it will affect everyone and that is what we’re upset about & what we’re fighting for.
Yes this is about our pocket book, but we’ve been gouged the Telecoms for years & we are taking a stance now. We’ve the change we can accomplish.
Bad long term planning Rogers – if you price more Canadians out of being able to afford your services, in the long run you’re only running yourself out of business.
Rogers over the past couple of years has done nothing with there high speed Internet other then increase the price and lower the data caps. You want to talk about being competitive then please explain this pricing difference to me:
Rogers Extreme Plus Internet Plan: 25Mbps 125GB cap for $69.99 month
Telus Optik High Speed Turbo: 25Mbps 250GB cap $50.00 month
So how come Telus can offer the same bandwidth, twice the data cap for $10 less a month? Of course your customers won’t be affected your already taxing them to death. I can’t wait till you lower your data caps again, perhaps if Hulu comes to Canada?
It’s just sick the way Rogers treats their customers.
Incumbents have repeatedly stressed that UBB is merely an ITMP: Internet Traffic Management Practice. They claim this is a network congestion management, not related to costs.
Logic dictates that the punitive level of a UBB scheme should be proportional to the odds of a user contributing to congestion problems.
The incumbent’s UBB rates implement the exact opposite: more punitive pricing and limits on users with the slower speeds which are far less likely to create congestion. The 640kbs service is to have a microscopic 2gigabytes limit and very high $2.50/gig charge while the 5mbps service, far more likely to cause congestion due to higher speeds has a 60 gig limit with $1.50 per gig fee thereafter.
Therefore, the pricing is not set according to network congestion parameters but rather by marketing parameters. The near duopoly situation results in each of cable/telco incumbents following each other like a dog trying to catch its tail.
Too bad they (your customers) won’t be impacted… in reality they should probably be paying a whole lot less overall! I feel for them. I use to be one of them. But I opened my eyes.
KeithRogers statements are not true. Your customers ALREADY have been affected.
While your current plans may not be affected by the UBB decision. this is because you already cut your caps a year ago – so really the reason why current customers aren’t affected is because you’ve already been enjoying increased revenue from your internet packages for the last year.
I left when you cut my cap from 60Gb to 25Gb / month on the Lite package? The names are irrelevant since all your caps and prices are uncompetitive.
If you business rookies want to save money:
A. Stop sending me junkmail 3 times a week.
B Get rid of the brick and mortar video stores. No one wants to waste time and gas in the hopes that your movie/video game is in stock. Then drive back to return it (how convenient).
Thanks for comment Phil, though I don’t think it’s fair to say the post is untrue. While the post is specific to the fact that our Rogers High Speed Internet customers won’t be affected by the CRTC decision, I tried to be open in the post about how and why we charge the way we do.
I find it offensive when I hear the line that internet is some rare resource and customers need to be very careful to avoid hitting the low ceilings for punitive charges imposed on us.
I understand it’s important for Roger’s business model that everyone only sends email and quickly gets off the computer to watch tv. You say the vast majority of people don’t hit the caps, but everyone I know who uses your service lives in fear of massive bills.
I’d love to see how much the average person who is allowed no cap would download and how much this average person would be charged according to your plans…
Consumers aren’t as dumb as you think we are. We’re tired of these ridiculous caps when the amount of digital content we consume is constantly going up. The only honest companies in this entire thing are TekSavvy and Netflix which have both called you out on your bull.
Follow up to my last comment and to anybody who is interested, here is my quick Google doc of the 3 major ISP Pricing breakdown per speed and caps (sorry, no Shaw just yet).
http://goo.gl/aQaSN
It would also be VERY interesting to compair cost and data rates/bandwidth with some major US providers to see how crazy and out of sync the Canadian companies are with companies in the US that actually have some form of competition…
Would you like to help me with the document? I would love to have those in here as well. This could perhaps be something we take a look at global ISPs.
We’re about to see a fundamental shift on what we watch and how we watch it. By Christmas 2012, many of us will want a tablet (Ipad 2, Android tablets, etc,) and most of us will probably get one for the ‘grandparents’ too.
Soon, we will watch our ‘shows’ from these highly portable, highly convenient consumer devices, and we’ll flip data-streams from digital TV to wi-fi (and eventually IPTV). The TV will be an afterthought, or just a big screen for our PS3/Wii/Xboxes. Those of us who adopt these tablets will certainly over-reach our 25/60/80Gb’cap’ much in the way most of us extend our cell phone plans.
What will be our solution? In the short term, we will ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’; we will reduce or sacrifice our other Rogers services (TV specialty packages, VOIP) in order to pay for our new internet-derived data habits. It is quite possible that your internet ‘cap’ decision may adversely affect the revenue & margins of your other business units!
This is true. I cancelled my cable so I could get a better internet plan
So, we recently exceeded our montly internet usage and we upgraded mid-month to try and “fix” the problem. I too, decided to downgrade my cable from the VIP package down to basic cable to allow for my internet upgrade cause God knows I can’t afford much these days. Now with all that said, our cell phones, internet, home phone, and television is provided by rogers and much to my surprise, somehow, I ended up receiving a $500 bill for the lot. $190 of that bill was for my internet specifically. I would like to consider myself one of the uneducated victims of a low GB cap and a new netflix technology that apparently screwed everything up and now rogers is going to make me pay money that I don’t necessarily have available to pay for these overage charges. If it wouldnt cost so much to cancel ALL of my services with Rogers, I would have done it by now. Also, according to many different newpapers and television stations, Rogers is a complete monster when it comes to their annual profits. Stop gouging me Rogers, I upgraded already and yet I am past %75 already with my new usage and all I do is watch netflix, check my mail, every once in a while stream Tosh.0 on the laptop, and play MAYBE 2 online games of hockey a month. So apparently I will still have to rent my movies from Blockbuster to avoid these outrageous costs cause I sure can’t afford using Netflix.
Sorry to hear that Devski. Streaming is an easy way to eat away at your usage. I don’t see how your bill for Hi Speed could be $190 though because there is a maximum overage fee of $50 – even on the highest tier, Ultimate, you’re looking at $150 after the overage, plus perhaps a modem rental, then taxes, you’re still under $190.