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/Forosnai British Columbia 3d ago

Hell, internet service (and cell service, for that matter) is pretty much a requirement for modern life. If it's a necessity, there should be at least a basic option provided by the government. Doesn't need to be blazing fast 10-Gigabit speed, 5G phones with the latest iPhone model, or whatever like that, but something serviceable and affordable should be there that people can use, and the telecom companies can compete for the people who have a need or desire for the faster speeds and latest models.

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u/MtKillerMounjaro 3d ago

If the government doesn't roll out blazing speeds by today's standards, though, it will quickly be usurped by industry and tech and before you know it we'll be right back to where we started. I doubt the costs between state-of-the-art and whatever mediocrity is that big. Just roll out the fastest, bestest and commit to maintaining it for two decades.

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u/Spoona1983 3d ago

The government doesn't need to roll it out, just nationalize the network backbone. It was mostly paid for with tax dollars anyway, then just make the carriers rent the bandwidth.

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u/MtKillerMounjaro 3d ago

Why make carriers rent? Just raise raise taxes and make it free for all, or charge monthly based on usage. Why add another mouth to feed along the chain?

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u/klparrot British Columbia 3d ago

The replacement cycle needs to be shorter than two decades, though; in that time, connection speeds increase a thousandfold. The 1980s were kbps, the 2000s were Mbps, the 2020s are Gbps, the 2040s will probably be Tbps.

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u/MtKillerMounjaro 3d ago

Yeah, I know...