Earlier this week, Search Engine host Jesse Brown asked his listeners to connect with him and let him know why they signed the petition that was created by OpenMedia1 regarding usage-based billing in Canada.
I thought I’d do one better and tell everyone why.
First off, I am one of those that signed the petition that does understand that the CRTC’s recent decision to allow the larger ISPs to implement usage-based billing has no direct impact on me. I know that it really only affects a small percentage of the population that uses smaller providers like Teksavvy. That’s also why I signed it.
I’d love to see a provider like Teksavvy turn up around my neck of the woods. As fellow online writer Cheryl DeWolfe mentioned, we’ve got Shaw…and that’s pretty much it.2 So it’s highly unlikely that any decision on usage-based billing is going to help our cause right now. But if it does (or did) come into play, then it would essentially stifle innovation and growth in marketplaces that sorely need alternatives to the larger ISPs. There would be no choice, which is how things currently stand, so many of us are stuck with a provider that overcharges and under delivers.
Or do they? Without competition, no one can really tell.
So my signature is more of a sign of what I’d want to have happen down the road — a viable choice. Because right now I have none, and I wasn’t about to sit idly by and let that become a permanent thing.
1 You can sign the petition here.
2 Since Cheryl’s post, Shaw has announced they are “suspending” the implementation of usage caps…for now.
