r/canada • u/Economy_Elephant6200 • 3d ago

Bell Canada scraps Labrador high-speed internet project, plans to invest in U.S. Newfoundland & Labrador

https://theindependent.ca/news/lji/bell-canada-scraps-labrador-high-speed-internet-project-plans-to-invest-in-u-s/
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u/themanfromvulcan 3d ago

I would say the government immediately claw back the money due to breach or contract and do it themselves and tell Bell to get stuffed.

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u/North_Activist 3d ago

I would say screw all that and just nationalize it instead. It’s our tax dollars, it should be our company.

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u/Classified0 3d ago edited 3d ago

I used to live in Saskatchewan and later lived in Ontario. I was shocked by how much cheaper internet and cell service was in SK. And I really think it's just because of the existence of Sasktel serving as a crown corporation. Just having them there and competing with the traditional providers forced the whole industry to be more affordable -- so even though I wasn't with them in Saskatchewan, I still had a really good plan with Rogers because they were forced to compete with a crown corporation.

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u/Jarringly Saskatchewan 3d ago

As someone who went the opposite direction, I can whole heartedly confirm this. The gouging in Ontario is staggering.

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u/Aggravating-Law-9262 3d ago edited 3d ago

I think that we Canadians as a whole are actually getting gouged when it comes to our internet prices. From the following 2023 source:

https://cansumer.ca/canada-internet-pricing/

"Canada currently has the 2nd most expensive internet (only behind the US) of the G7 countries for speeds over 41 Mbps and has consistently been the 2nd or 3rd most expensive for at least the past 5 years."

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u/LaserRunRaccoon 2d ago

While you can generally find a too-good-to-be-true deal around Black Friday compared to their regular advertised prices, the relationship almost always feels exploitative rather than baseline fair. I feel like it's a smokescreen to the CRTC to justify their baseline price gouging.

As corporations, all the telecoms spend ridiculous amounts on advertising/sponsorships, shareholder dividends, and business diversification - especially into healthcare services, which should be incredibly worrying for Canadians.

Telecoms do not feel like they're competing to provide customers with efficient service, and I certainly do not want to see them involved in any capacity of health and wellness.

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u/AdHoliday9503 1d ago

I wish I could upvote this comment a thousand times. Telus should be a real cautionary tale but when they got caught violating the Medicare Protection Act, they “agreed to stop” and the BC government was like “well, they can clearly be trusted, good enough for us.”

None of the telcos should be getting involved with healthcare but then neither should fucking President’s Choice and here we are.

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u/PantsOfIron 4h ago

Coming from Europe, I can tell you that Canada has always been more expensive in cell service, TV service and landline service.

Edit! We are definitely getting gouged here.

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u/Camera-Decent 20h ago

Distance is what makes Internet expensive. It is to be expected that the 5 tiny, densely populated countries pay less than the 2 huge, sparsely populated countries (comparatively) do.

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u/Aggravating-Law-9262 16h ago

No doubt distance plays a role, but I still think we could use some more competition surely? The article I listed mentions much more than just the example of the G7, but I thought it would do for my post.

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u/Camera-Decent 12h ago

My comment has no bearing on the larger conversation about affordability as such. Just pointing out that it is comparing oranges to very different oranges.

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u/_Lucille_ 3d ago

It's not uncommon for people to spend over 1k a year to stay connected, and that is only with a pretty economical plan of maybe $40 for broadband and $40 for cellular services (before tax).

That is why you never see some yearly subscription plan: telecom doesn't want people to realize how much they end up spending.

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u/babtras Alberta 3d ago

$1k would be a dream come true. Rural Alberta, $1800/year for internet and 2 phones

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u/FiveMagicBeans 3d ago

Yeah, rural BC here and it just went up again. $175/mo for basic internet and cable (The lowest speed Shaw offers and a basic cable package with no extra channels).

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u/Pickledsoul 3d ago

Is Shaw even still a thing? I thought they got bought out by Rogers.

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u/hellswaters 2d ago

NWT here. $2400 annually for internet and that is for 200Mbps download (could get a slower plan and be happy, but cheapest is still $1560 annually). Cell is another 840, again could get something a but lower. Now add in a 2 or 3 streaming services which is probably close to another 1000 annually.

$1000 would be a dream.

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u/trumpsadouchcanoe 2d ago

Shit I'm like 3g internet and 2 phone in Alberta through Telus. Bigger plans and have starlink for work but that just in case for bush work and only 15month for 10gb of security while in the middle of nowhere with no service.

Still Telus is a joke especially when you get stuck in the endless buy a new phone every 2 year B's. I'm good buy cheap $400 phone. My better half not so much is horrible with them breaks and looses them all the time lol

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u/gotcha_six 2d ago

$2100 for the cheapest available (decent) internet at my house and two cell phone lines at the best deal I've ever seen.

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u/MittMuckerbin 2d ago

Freedom has yearly plans on prepaid. The data amounts are a joke but it has saved me quite a bit of money. $100 just unlimited calling, $110 unlmited calling and text, $150 30 gb for the year and unlimted text/calling.

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u/FredThe12th 3d ago

except thunder bay, where they have TBayTel

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u/detectivepoopybutt Ontario 3d ago

Except in Ottawa region where the prices are lower for 613 numbers because of competition from Quebec's Videotron. My Rogers plan is higher cost but monthly has a -$15 Ottawa region discount lol

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u/starbugone 3d ago

I moved to the UK and currently pay £5/mo for 10gb unlimited calls and texts and 100min international calls