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In Toronto, here's a small and non-exhaustive list of affected services: - Point of sale machines. Supermarkets are accepting only cash. - ATMs. Several banks

In Toronto, here's a small and non-exhaustive list of affected services: - Point of sale machines. Supermarkets are accepting only cash. - ATMs. Several banks are incapable of dispensing cash. - Public transit ticketing systems. The TTC is effectively running for free, today. - Public bicycle rental stations. - Public parking locations. How long before the public realizes that we are not Rogers' customers, but its hostages?

dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
>How long before the public realizes that we are not Rogers' customers, but its hostages? Won't happen. The average Canadians are one of the most sheep like docile people out there.
- KMnO4 4y ago
  Remember when we all banded together to prevent Verizon from introducing competition into our market because it would “take Canadian jobs” and “give our hard earned dollars to the states”? That happened because of a hostile attack ad campaign by the big 3.
  - AlexandrB 4y ago
    I'm not sure an aggressive astroturf campaign is the same as "us banding together". There was even an anti robellus site[1] set up. [1] https://realfairforcanada.ca/ https://realfairforcanada.ca/
- voisin 4y ago
  What actionable steps can Canadians take?
  - dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
    Well, elect politicians who encourage free markets, and have the least govt in our personal life as much as possible. Easier said than done. Canadians (like most other people) are too stupid to gauge what policies/politicians are good for them.
    - r00fus 4y ago
      Good intention. How do you keep markets free?
      - dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
        Like I said, Canadians (like most other people) are too stupid to gauge what policies/politicians are good for them. So true free markets will never happen in practice. Yes, I'm being pessimistic, but it's the way things are.
Victerius 4y ago
> Point of sale machines. Supermarkets are accepting only cash > ATMs. Several banks are incapable of dispensing cash Back to bartering.
- StayTrue 4y ago
  At my local supermarket debit was down but credit card (Visa) was working.
  - jonny_eh 4y ago
    That would make sense, since only Interac relies on Rogers, and it processes debit cards, not credit cards.
    - Scoundreller 4y ago
      Could be one of two things: 1) the site has connectivity so only Interac is down 2) the site has no connectivity and can process credit transactions offline and queue them (don’t tell anyone their expired card will work), but not for debit.
      - jfim 4y ago
        > don’t tell anyone their expired card will work The expiration date is stored on the card, so expired cards wouldn't work. Revoked cards (eg. ones replaced by the bank) would, though. Keep in mind that the merchant sets terminal limits for what transactions are allowed to be processed offline, so one might be able to get a burger without connectivity, but not a new TV.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
ehsankia 4y ago
Has any of the big cities ever considered its own municipal internet? I would vote for any politician that has that as a platform immediately.
- goatcode 4y ago
  You must know that it'd run on Rogers infrastructure though.
  - ehsankia 4y ago
    Not those kind, I'm wondering if any city has considered making their own infrastructure. The Ebox and Teksavvy are great, but like you say it's hard to survive on other people's infra, that's why big cities need to make their own.
    - goatcode 4y ago
      I have a feeling that to do it right, it'd have to be a collaboration with an enthusiastic private partner, if for no other reason than available expertise. One city, Hamilton, Ontario, years ago tried out free public wifi. Great idea, but this was way back before smartphones were as big, so basically everyone used computers to access the internet. Not a huge deal, but the city rolled it out so poorly that the end result was signal strength that was only usable outside. Since few, again because of the time in which this happened, use an internet connection outside, few people were able to use the service, and it eventually just went away. A week of testing would have found this issue, but nobody in the city thought of doing so, likely because nobody technical enough with enough time was involved in the entire project -- it was simply a great idea, but nothing to back it up.
- jeromegv 4y ago
  City of Toronto has done some work on it but the mayor of Toronto is also on some Rogers board with a pay for $100k a year
  - noelherrick 4y ago
Zachsa999 4y ago
Alright, when do we start carrying chickens to buy our gas?
Kluny 4y ago
Also, the CRTC helpline and Service Canada and CRA account logins. We were unable to access government services.
bonestamp2 4y ago
I was in Whistler today -- a lot of multinational retailers running cash only businesses today.

dennis_jeeves1 4y ago

>How long before the public realizes that we are not Rogers' customers, but its hostages? Won't happen. The average Canadians are one of the most sheep like docile people out there.

KMnO4 4y ago
Remember when we all banded together to prevent Verizon from introducing competition into our market because it would “take Canadian jobs” and “give our hard earned dollars to the states”? That happened because of a hostile attack ad campaign by the big 3.
- AlexandrB 4y ago
  I'm not sure an aggressive astroturf campaign is the same as "us banding together". There was even an anti robellus site[1] set up. [1] https://realfairforcanada.ca/ https://realfairforcanada.ca/
voisin 4y ago
What actionable steps can Canadians take?
- dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
  Well, elect politicians who encourage free markets, and have the least govt in our personal life as much as possible. Easier said than done. Canadians (like most other people) are too stupid to gauge what policies/politicians are good for them.
  - r00fus 4y ago
    Good intention. How do you keep markets free?
    - dennis_jeeves1 4y ago
      Like I said, Canadians (like most other people) are too stupid to gauge what policies/politicians are good for them. So true free markets will never happen in practice. Yes, I'm being pessimistic, but it's the way things are.

Victerius 4y ago

> Point of sale machines. Supermarkets are accepting only cash > ATMs. Several banks are incapable of dispensing cash Back to bartering.

StayTrue 4y ago
At my local supermarket debit was down but credit card (Visa) was working.
- jonny_eh 4y ago
  That would make sense, since only Interac relies on Rogers, and it processes debit cards, not credit cards.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    Could be one of two things: 1) the site has connectivity so only Interac is down 2) the site has no connectivity and can process credit transactions offline and queue them (don’t tell anyone their expired card will work), but not for debit.
    - jfim 4y ago
      > don’t tell anyone their expired card will work The expiration date is stored on the card, so expired cards wouldn't work. Revoked cards (eg. ones replaced by the bank) would, though. Keep in mind that the merchant sets terminal limits for what transactions are allowed to be processed offline, so one might be able to get a burger without connectivity, but not a new TV.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]

ehsankia 4y ago

Has any of the big cities ever considered its own municipal internet? I would vote for any politician that has that as a platform immediately.

goatcode 4y ago
You must know that it'd run on Rogers infrastructure though.
- ehsankia 4y ago
  Not those kind, I'm wondering if any city has considered making their own infrastructure. The Ebox and Teksavvy are great, but like you say it's hard to survive on other people's infra, that's why big cities need to make their own.
  - goatcode 4y ago
    I have a feeling that to do it right, it'd have to be a collaboration with an enthusiastic private partner, if for no other reason than available expertise. One city, Hamilton, Ontario, years ago tried out free public wifi. Great idea, but this was way back before smartphones were as big, so basically everyone used computers to access the internet. Not a huge deal, but the city rolled it out so poorly that the end result was signal strength that was only usable outside. Since few, again because of the time in which this happened, use an internet connection outside, few people were able to use the service, and it eventually just went away. A week of testing would have found this issue, but nobody in the city thought of doing so, likely because nobody technical enough with enough time was involved in the entire project -- it was simply a great idea, but nothing to back it up.
jeromegv 4y ago
City of Toronto has done some work on it but the mayor of Toronto is also on some Rogers board with a pay for $100k a year
- noelherrick 4y ago

Zachsa999 4y ago

Alright, when do we start carrying chickens to buy our gas?

Kluny 4y ago

Also, the CRTC helpline and Service Canada and CRA account logins. We were unable to access government services.

bonestamp2 4y ago

I was in Whistler today -- a lot of multinational retailers running cash only businesses today.