4 ms·

Yes, every major ISP has bandwidth caps, some of which are prohibitively small (20GB). Even the smaller upstart ISPs, like TekSavvy are forced to have a cap (th

Yes, every major ISP has bandwidth caps, some of which are prohibitively small (20GB). Even the smaller upstart ISPs, like TekSavvy are forced to have a cap (though at 300GB) due to wholesale laws. At least they offer unlimited for a reasonable amount of money. Canada is definitely behind the US for internet access, it's even behind many (if not most) third world countries.

adventured 13y ago
I've seen a lot of complaints about the caps (wasn't sure if they were widespread or not). What keeps the caps in place if they're universally disliked? I've always thought of Canada as a fairly responsive democracy.
- fidotron 13y ago
  Canada is a land where a lot of the big businesses maintain their position by wheeling and dealing with the government under the guise of economic protectionism. i.e. they'll protest that without these limits Canadian jobs will be lost. The most productive stuff here is the resource extraction going on in the west, and a shocking proportion of the rest of the country is subsidised by this, so the gov are incredibly sensitive to any noise about jobs. The excessive regulatory environment of the telecoms sector is a side effect of this larger picture.
- nousernamesleft 13y ago
  >I've always thought of Canada as a fairly responsive democracy. Nope. We elect one group of corrupt assholes to run things, and then complain about them being corrupt assholes. We keep re-electing them till they do something so hugely scandalous that we elect the other group of corrupt assholes instead. And then keep re-electing them until they fuck up so badly that we switch back to electing the first group of corrupt assholes again. Our government is currently pushing for more restrictive drug laws, including for weed. They are pushing for mandatory minimum sentences for non violent crimes, and for privatized prisons. These things are almost universally opposed by Canadians. It simply doesn't matter, we re-elect them anyways.
  - x0054 13y ago
    > Our government is currently pushing for more restrictive drug laws, including for weed. They are pushing for mandatory minimum sentences for non violent crimes, and for privatized prisons. WTF!?! Is it that US is trying out National Healthcare, so now Canada is going to try out some of the worst American ideas? I don't know much about Canadian politics, but the things you listed are some of the worst policies United States ever implemented. Why on earth is Canada trying those things, I can assure you, private prisons and mandatory minimum sentences are NOT working here in US.
soperj 13y ago
No they don't. Only out east. I'm on Shaw. No caps.
- dubcanada 13y ago
  Not sure what package you have, but Shaw has caps. http://www.shaw.ca/internet/plans/ http://www.shaw.ca/internet/plans/
  - soperj 13y ago
    Don't know why they put that on their website, maybe so people get used to it?? They suspended all caps.
orbitur 13y ago
I have BellAliant 80Mb/30Mb in NS. No cap.
- CountHackulus 13y ago
  You don't have an explicit one, but they have an "excessive use of bandwidth" clause in the contract, which is similar to the early days of Rogers Cable.
bakedjake 13y ago
I've had Cogeco (180down/20up) in the suburbs and currently have Rogers (250down/20up) in downtown Toronto without caps. Rogers charges a bit extra for it, but no-cap plans are definitely available. > Canada is definitely behind the US for internet access, it's even behind many (if not most) third world countries. I completely disagree with this. Cogeco kicks the pants off of the options available in downtown SF in my experience.

adventured 13y ago

I've seen a lot of complaints about the caps (wasn't sure if they were widespread or not). What keeps the caps in place if they're universally disliked? I've always thought of Canada as a fairly responsive democracy.

fidotron 13y ago
Canada is a land where a lot of the big businesses maintain their position by wheeling and dealing with the government under the guise of economic protectionism. i.e. they'll protest that without these limits Canadian jobs will be lost. The most productive stuff here is the resource extraction going on in the west, and a shocking proportion of the rest of the country is subsidised by this, so the gov are incredibly sensitive to any noise about jobs. The excessive regulatory environment of the telecoms sector is a side effect of this larger picture.
nousernamesleft 13y ago
>I've always thought of Canada as a fairly responsive democracy. Nope. We elect one group of corrupt assholes to run things, and then complain about them being corrupt assholes. We keep re-electing them till they do something so hugely scandalous that we elect the other group of corrupt assholes instead. And then keep re-electing them until they fuck up so badly that we switch back to electing the first group of corrupt assholes again. Our government is currently pushing for more restrictive drug laws, including for weed. They are pushing for mandatory minimum sentences for non violent crimes, and for privatized prisons. These things are almost universally opposed by Canadians. It simply doesn't matter, we re-elect them anyways.
- x0054 13y ago
  > Our government is currently pushing for more restrictive drug laws, including for weed. They are pushing for mandatory minimum sentences for non violent crimes, and for privatized prisons. WTF!?! Is it that US is trying out National Healthcare, so now Canada is going to try out some of the worst American ideas? I don't know much about Canadian politics, but the things you listed are some of the worst policies United States ever implemented. Why on earth is Canada trying those things, I can assure you, private prisons and mandatory minimum sentences are NOT working here in US.

soperj 13y ago

No they don't. Only out east. I'm on Shaw. No caps.

dubcanada 13y ago
Not sure what package you have, but Shaw has caps. http://www.shaw.ca/internet/plans/ http://www.shaw.ca/internet/plans/
- soperj 13y ago
  Don't know why they put that on their website, maybe so people get used to it?? They suspended all caps.

orbitur 13y ago

I have BellAliant 80Mb/30Mb in NS. No cap.

CountHackulus 13y ago
You don't have an explicit one, but they have an "excessive use of bandwidth" clause in the contract, which is similar to the early days of Rogers Cable.

bakedjake 13y ago

I've had Cogeco (180down/20up) in the suburbs and currently have Rogers (250down/20up) in downtown Toronto without caps. Rogers charges a bit extra for it, but no-cap plans are definitely available. > Canada is definitely behind the US for internet access, it's even behind many (if not most) third world countries. I completely disagree with this. Cogeco kicks the pants off of the options available in downtown SF in my experience.