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New move blocks Canadians from affordable Internet alternatives, in attempt to force independent providers to raise prices in line with Shaw’s recent steep price hike
January 8, 2015 – Reports indicate that Shaw is attempting to abuse their control of key Internet infrastructure to artificially increase Internet prices for Canadians. Teksavvy CEO Marc Gaudrault posted on DSL Reports that Shaw is trying to force independent ISPs to pay a whopping 87.9% increase to access Canada’s Internet networks. The move comes right on the heels of Shaw’s unpopular Internet price hikes which forces Shaw subscribers to pay higher rates or accept slower speeds.
The pricing changes could make access costs nearly double for smaller ISPs. Community-backed OpenMedia.ca sees this as an attempt to block Canadians from the few affordable alternatives they have. Right now, large incumbent telecom providers like Shaw control 90% of the residential broadband market. However, Shaw’s proposed 87.9% rate hike still needs to be approved by the CRTC.
“Canadians should be outraged that Shaw is trying to abuse their power to crank up Internet prices across the board” says OpenMedia.ca Campaigns Manager Josh Tabish. “Canadians are already paying some of the highest prices in the industrialized world for service, and speeds have fallen far behind our global counterparts. And this at a time when Shaw’s customers just faced a 10% price hike – after the company reported record profits in the last quarter.”
Tabish continued: “Not content with hiking prices for their own customers, Shaw is now trying to force customers of alternative indie providers to pay more too. This is the type of treatment Canadians can expect until decision-makers at the CRTC change the outdated rules that allow telecom giants to block us from affordable services. We’ve seen synchronized price hikes from the likes of Bell, Telus, and Rogers – but this really takes the cake. Shaw is clearly trying to jack up prices, not just for their customers but everywhere they can.”
OpenMedia.ca recently presented the perspective of over 30,000 citizens at a crucial CRTC hearing designed to determine whether powerful telecom incumbents will be allowed to continue blocking Canadians from affordable, independent, high-speed Internet services.
OpenMedia.ca has laid out crowdsourced policy plans for both wired and wirelesstelecom service that aim to ensure Canada can catch up to its global counterparts. Canadians are speaking out to call on the CRTC to listen to citizens instead of Big Telecom lobbyists at
http://ift.tt/1qiO2LwAbout OpenMedia.ca
OpenMedia.ca is an award-winning community-based organization that safeguards the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy by engaging hundreds of thousands of people in protecting our online rights.
Through campaigns such as StopTheMeter.ca and StopSpying.ca, OpenMedia.ca has engaged over half-a-million Canadians, and has influenced public policy and federal law.
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About OpenMedia’s telecom campaigns
OpenMedia.ca has campaigned for years for action to improve choice and lower prices in Canada’s cell phone market. Early in 2012 OpenMedia.ca launched a campaign decrying the price-gouging poor customer service and lack of choice in the cell phone market at StopTheSqueeze.ca.
OpenMedia.ca then highlighted Canadians’ Cell Phone Horror Stories in a crowdsourced submission to the CRTC, and released a citizen-driven report entitled ‘Time for an Upgrade’ detailing their findings and recommendations. This citizen pressure resulted in a broadly positive new set of customer-friendly rules for wireless companies – national rules that reign in punitive three-year contracts, make it easier to switch to a new affordable provider, and impose caps on data roaming fees.
Contact
David Christopher
Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca
1-778-232-1858
You won't believe what Big Telecom is up to now.
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