1171 replies to this topic

[Holden West]

Even starship captains can't get decent cable service.

https://twitter.com/...7232256/photo/1

[sebberry]

Continued from... http://www.vibrantvi...23/index28.html

I switched to Optik TV a few months ago. You can get Discovery Channel and National Geographic in the same theme pack.

I think Shaw has a "Best Of" pack but you can only get that with their "personalizer" TV plan which I think forces you off the older internet connections and onto the new ones too.

[Lorenzo]

So Shaw now tells me that I have to have a digital box for each of the TV's in my house in order to receive their "upgraded" service, (i.e. additional channels). In addition to my main set (and digital box), I have three other smaller TV's in various rooms. They only get 2-13 now. Am I supposed to buy three more of their digital boxes. That is ridiculous. I refuse to give them any more money than they are getting now.

Does anyone using Telus, or any other service, have this coming their way?

[Mike K.]

Telus already requires every TV to have it's own box and so do satellite providers. Shaw is playing catch-up.

If all you're after are older digital boxes they won't cost you too much if picked up used.

[Lorenzo]

Telus already requires every TV to have it's own box and so do satellite providers. Shaw is playing catch-up.

If all you're after are older digital boxes they won't cost you too much if picked up used.

Thanks for the update Mike.

[sebberry]

It's part of Shaw's "Digital network update" where they're taking analog channels from tiers 1, 2 and 3 and moving them over to digital. It's so they can stop broadcasting 60+ analog channels and free up significant amounts of bandwidth for expanded digital services.

Analog channels consume bandwidth whether they're being watched or not. For every analog channel removed, Shaw can provide 10-12 standard definition digital channels or 3 high definition digital channels.

[LJ]

Shaw was giving the boxes out for free. I didn't need any but my inlaws went down to the Shaw office and were given three of them, free. Just so there is no confusion, these are the digital boxes, not the high def boxes.

[sebberry]

I don't know if they're still giving them away, but the digital box is $48 on their website or rentable for $3.95 per month...

I don't know. I'm getting tired of Shaw. It seems like endless rate increases and programming that leaves more and more to be desired.

[Mike K.]

Telus has begun sending letters to its Internet customers notifying them of data usage reductions by as much as 50%. Subscribers who currently pay for packages with 500GB per month will soon only receive 250GB and those paying for 150GB will get 100GB.

This change comes as consumers are growing more concerned with existing data caps imposed by Canadian Internet providers as data-heavy services like Netflix, far cheaper than alternatives offered by Canadian telecoms, become more and more popular.

Telus says this is merely a matter of network optimization.

[jonny]

I just switched to Telus last month. I had the archaic old modem and pvr, and Shaw was making it more difficult than it should have been for me to swap these for newer models. I thought I'd give Telus a try.

My only real complaint so far is that the channel numbers are a bit odd, but I've gotten pretty used to it now. The on demand offerings also seem slim, but I haven't gotten much of an urge to really go through those yet.

The Telus PVR is great. The channel interface is good. Being able to record shows from my phone is awesome. Customer service so far has been excellent. I've called a few times to change up what channels we want, and the service representatives have all be curteous and fast.

The installation guy was great. He came right on the scheduled time, he actually called 15 minutes ahead of time to say he would be on his way. The installation took a bit of time, but he set up the wireless network (apparently Shaw now does this too, but when I had originally setup service with them ~5 years or so ago I had to do it myself) and walked us through how to use everything as well as some tips and tricks with the TV interface.

The internet so far seems fine.

[sebberry]

Telus has begun sending letters to its Internet customers notifying them of data usage reductions by as much as 50%. Subscribers who currently pay for packages with 500GB per month will soon only receive 250GB and those paying for 150GB will get 100GB.

Wow. I wonder if that's grounds for contract termination by the customer?

[Mike K.]

^I'd certainly like to think so. But you can bet Telus won't be making that known to its customers.

@jonny, good to hear you're happy. Stick with what you like. Luckily there's a bit of competition now so both Shaw and Telus are working harder to attract and retain their customers.

[martini]

Telus has begun sending letters to its Internet customers notifying them of data usage reductions by as much as 50%. Subscribers who currently pay for packages with 500GB per month will soon only receive 250GB and those paying for 150GB will get 100GB.

This change comes as consumers are growing more concerned with existing data caps imposed by Canadian Internet providers as data-heavy services like Netflix, far cheaper than alternatives offered by Canadian telecoms, become more and more popular.

Telus says this is merely a matter of network optimization.

http://www.huffingto..._n_2245422.html

Users of the Telus High-Speed service will see their upload and download cap reduced to 100 gigabytes per month from the current 150 gigabytes. Users of its highest-level service — Telus High Speed Turbo 25 — will see their download caps halved, to 250 gB from the current 500 gB. (A complete list of the new bandwidth caps is available at the Telus website.)

Telus senior communications manager Shawn Hall told The Huffington Post the changes are being put in place “to better manage internet investment,” and added the company’s bandwidth caps are high enough that even the heaviest bandwidth users “have more than enough.”

Ok so isn't this just affecting the heaviest users?

[Mike K.]

It doesn't take much to use up 100GB per month. Let's say you spend 2 hours a day watching streaming shows via Netflix or similar services. That's roughly 1GB of data. Add another user in the same home doing the same, which is often the case, and you're at 2GB of data -- just for streaming medium quality video (high quality or HD is well in excess of 1GB per hour). Add regular browsing and you're at 2.25 - 2.5GB per day with only two individuals using a connection. If there are three persons in a home using a connection you can see how a 100GB cap quickly becomes a way for Telus to start charging lucrative overage fees.

Those who buy the 500GB package are likely gamers, heavy users of services like Netflix and/or large households that have multiple internet users (mom and dad, three kids, a Netflix connected TV, online gaming, etc).

If it were me I would be demanding a cancellation of my Telus contract. That's not to say I would leave Telus, but that I would be able to leave as soon as another provider offered a good deal.

[martini]

It doesn't take much to use up 100GB per month. Let's say you spend 2 hours a day watching streaming shows via Netflix or similar services. That's roughly 1GB of data. Add another user in the same home doing the same, which is often the case, and you're at 2GB of data -- just for streaming medium quality video (high quality or HD is well in excess of 1GB per hour). Add regular browsing and you're at 2.25 - 2.5GB per day with only two individuals using a connection. If there are three persons in a home using a connection you can see how a 100GB cap quickly becomes a way for Telus to start charging lucrative overage fees.

Those who buy the 500GB package are likely gamers, heavy users of services like Netflix and/or large households that have multiple internet users (mom and dad, three kids, a Netflix connected TV, online gaming, etc).

If it were me I would be demanding a cancellation of my Telus contract. That's not to say I would leave Telus, but that I would be able to leave as soon as another provider offered a good deal.

Interesting. I guess I need to figure out what our usage is.

They aren't charging...yet.

Hall said that, unlike some other internet providers, Telus doesn’t actually charge customers overage fees for exceeding their caps. Users who exceed their caps are encouraged to switch to a higher service plan.

[slinkyo]

FYI, I switched to Optic TV from Telus recently. I didn't realise that now, I don't get the Shaw Victoria Community channel. I miss getting this!
I find it ironic that now I get what seems like hundreds of channels, but most of them are repeats and they show the sames shows over and over again. Although, this is probably the same as Shaw.

[martini]

It doesn't take much to use up 100GB per month. Let's say you spend 2 hours a day watching streaming shows via Netflix or similar services. That's roughly 1GB of data. Add another user in the same home doing the same, which is often the case, and you're at 2GB of data -- just for streaming medium quality video (high quality or HD is well in excess of 1GB per hour). Add regular browsing and you're at 2.25 - 2.5GB per day with only two individuals using a connection. If there are three persons in a home using a connection you can see how a 100GB cap quickly becomes a way for Telus to start charging lucrative overage fees.

Those who buy the 500GB package are likely gamers, heavy users of services like Netflix and/or large households that have multiple internet users (mom and dad, three kids, a Netflix connected TV, online gaming, etc).

If it were me I would be demanding a cancellation of my Telus contract. That's not to say I would leave Telus, but that I would be able to leave as soon as another provider offered a good deal.

Aside from The Huffington Post...what other news sources are there for this story?
I contacted Telus and they know nothing about it!
They asked me to call back with more information.

This is all I could find on Telus' website:
http://www.dslreport...-to-Shaw-114771
Telus Bumps Usage Caps In Response to Shaw
Highest Level Cap Shifts From 250GB to 500GB
by Karl Bode Friday 17-Jun-2011
•The cap for Optik High Speed Turbo / High Speed Turbo 25, is increasing from 250GB to 500GB
•The cap for Optik High Speed / High Speed Turbo is increasing from 125GB to 250GB
•The cap for the standard "High Speed" tier is increasing from 75GB to 150GB
•The cap for "High Speed Lite" is increasing from 13GB now 30GB

[Mike K.]

Here's a story from Techvibes

One of the major gripes most Canadians have about home internet are the unfairly low download limits service providers impose. Telus now appears to be making the situation even worse: we've learned that the Vancouver-based telco is sending out notifications informing customers it's reducing upload and download limits for home internet by up to 50%.

Telus Highspeed users will see their bandwidth cap drop 33%, from 150 gigabytes to just 100. And Telus Highspeed Turbo 25 users will see their bandwidth cap drop a staggering 50%, from 500 to only 250 gigabytes.

It looks like they're starting to send out letters.

Actually Telus customer service not knowing what the left hand was doing relative to the right hand was one of the major reasons I switched back to Shaw. I guess that's one of the issues they have with a technical support centre in southeast Asia and billing call centre somewhere here in Canada.

[sebberry]

Telus is really just bringing their caps in line with Shaw's...

[B]Plan       	 Price	Down	Up	Old Cap	New Cap[/B]
High Speed Lite	 ?	 1	?	30?	 15 GB
High Speed 	 $37.00	 6	1.0	150	100 GB
High Speed Turbo $47.00	15	1.0	250	150 GB
H/S Turbo 25 	 $57.00	25	2.5	500	250 GB
High Speed 50?	 $75.00	50	10	500	?
Optik High Speed $42.00	15	1.0	250	150 GB
Optik H/S Turbo	 $52.00	25	2.5	500	250 GB
Optik Turbo 50?	 $70.00	50	10	500	?
					
[B]SHAW[/B]					
High Speed 10	 $50.00	10	0.5	N/A	125 GB
High Speed 20	 $55.00	20	0.5	N/A	200 GB
High Speed 25	 $60.00	25	2.5	N/A	250 GB
High Speed 50	 $75.00	50	3.0	N/A	400 GB

[martini]

It looks like they're starting to send out letters.

Actually Telus customer service not knowing what the left hand was doing relative to the right hand was one of the major reasons I switched back to Shaw. I guess that's one of the issues they have with a technical support centre in southeast Asia and billing call centre somewhere here in Canada.

Telus now appears to be making the situation even worse: we've learned that the Vancouver-based telco is sending out notifications informing customers it's reducing upload and download limits for home internet by up to 50%.

Who is Telco?

From what we understand, it (currently) only affects Telus customers who also use the company's landline service.

What do they mean 'landline'? Compared to what?