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Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

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Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#31

Post by snowwindwaves »

nobody31415926 wrote: post #27
snowwindwaves wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why Skype In (Skype Online Number) - where people call a POTS number and get your skype account, isn't available in canada. What is stopping everyone from making calls from mobile phones over data networks? surely skype is available for iphone and android?

Data costs in canada are even higher than voice costs! skype is only available on some androids and charges calls against your voice minutes.

I had a t-mobile blackberry flip phone in the USA that could make calls over wifi. when it was connected to an access point I could turn off the carrier connection and just use the wifi, but it did still use my minutes and the quality was not good.

Does anyone know if a SIP soft phone app like X-lite and a smartphone that can use a wifi connection to so that at least outgoing calls could be made over data without long distance charges or ridiculous data rates?

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#32

Post by nobody31415926 »

snowwindwaves wrote: post #31
nobody31415926 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Data costs in canada are even higher than voice costs! skype is only available on some androids and charges calls against your voice minutes.

I had a t-mobile blackberry flip phone in the USA that could make calls over wifi. when it was connected to an access point I could turn off the carrier connection and just use the wifi, but it did still use my minutes and the quality was not good. Does anyone know if a SIP soft phone app like X-lite and a smartphone that can use a wifi connection to so that at least outgoing calls could be made over data without lon…

Haven't used the iphone/android versions but I use this http://www.3cx.com/VOIP/sip-phone.html on my office PC instead of a 'real' voip phone.

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#33

Post by mmphosis »

JonLim wrote: post #24
FreeKill wrote: post #2

I doubt anyone who has ever had to deal with one of the big 3 in Canada (Rogers, Telus, or Bell) would argue against this point. Canadians really need to push for an open system that allows foreign competition to enter the marketplace. Until we do, the status quo is simply going to continue to press the advantage they have at the expense of the Canadian consumers.

I would love to have an idea of what we CAN do. This is the one thing in my life where I can't vote with my wallet. I only really have three viable choices for wireless right now: Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

I would propose opening up your wireless network, adding to the mesh, and creating more networks. Build out as much fiber and cable locally, close to home. Link up your community with like minded individuals seeking another choice for internet. With enough big community networks in place, there is no need to pay big phone/cable corporations.

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#34

Post by masklinn »

diab0lic wrote: post #20
masklinn wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Canada has BY FAR the most expensive cell phone rates in the world. New Zealand is 19th according to this list. Technically, the graph is not about rates though, it's about average bill. So countries with higher prices who don't use cells much (on population averages) would have a "better" ranking than countries with lower prices where cell phone use is ubiquitous and permanent. > Canada plans are almost always reg…

From the bell website: "Additional local minutes and Canadian long distance minutes are $0.45/minute" And yeah I'm paying that for any call made to outside the current city in which I am located. Cell to cell its both ways (so I'm told), and the fact that I have a number from a different city means OH WAIT -- Everything is long distance. I don't change my number because I'm a student and to change my number is $20 at…

> From the bell website: "Additional local minutes and Canadian long distance minutes are $0.45/minute"

Heh. That's close to what I pay to call other EU countries (exact rate is 0.50€/mn, or 0.69CAD) (not that the rates are entirely sane, I pay less to call from an other EU country to an other EU country than from my "home" country to an other EU country: falls to 0.42/mn — 0.58 CAD)

> I don't change my number because I'm a student and to change my number is $20 at the store + $35 on my bill, twice a year since I go home for the summers.

I guess you can't get a prepaid SIM for when you're home or something? (that's what I do, although I change country so it makes sense that I have to, especially if I want to keep a data connection as roaming data is NOPENOPENOPENOPE)

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#35

Post by shinratdr »

masklinn wrote: post #17
pokoleo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue against that - the required plan for the iPhone 4 starts at 50CAD/month, and the phone isn't free either. That's for a plan with: 200 minutes + 500 mb of data.

Hah. For the exact same price, Vodafone NZ provides the same 200mn and half the data[0]. 2500 texts though, I don't know what you get on the plan you quoted. Although technically, to qualify for any phone rebate you need 24 months, which includes a rebate on the plan as well, so you would take the $85 plan for 24 months ($400 off of the phone and $15 off of the plan), yielding a $60 plan (same as the $65 one previous…

> 2500 texts though, I don't know what you get on the plan you quoted.

You get zero texts in the plan he quoted. A texting add-on is a minimum of $5 for... wait for it... 125 texts. Oh, and unsolicited/solicited incoming texts are subtracted from that total, if you don't have a texting plan you pay for them at a rate of 15c each.

No, I'm not kidding.

> Belgium has cheaper prices (e.g. 40€ prepaid with 285mn, 2000 SMS and 2GB data[1]) but absolutely no phone subsidies (they're pretty much illegal) so an iPhone costs you the full price, 529€[2] (~730 CAD)

I'm only a year and a half into my 3G contract, which is three years long and provides no early upgrade. I had to pay $750CDN for my iPhone 4 anyways. Upgrading in Canada is a joke.

Everyone wonders why Canada was one of the first countries to get officially unlocked iPhone 4s without a law in place requiring it. It's no big mystery, Apple saw the situation and realized that without the unlocked option on the table, many people would simply refuse to upgrade because their carrier wouldn't let them for another couple years.

I'm sure someone else already covered the fact that mobile long distance is a concept exclusive to Canada and still exists in the year 2011.

Honestly, besides some token niceties (the 6GB/$30 plan, free tethering, and one of the lowest subsidized prices for the iPhone in the world, $159) we are completely screwed. It's genuinely sad.

However, on the flip side, I have little sympathy for the guy who also owns and operates the North Korean cell network for the political and business elites in that country. WIND is not exactly the moral choice in my eyes IMO.

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#36

Post by amalcon »

alsocasey wrote: post #22
nobody31415926 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did it because they made motor insurance mandatory and it would be unfair to force someone to have something that the market didn't have to provide. In europe it's essentially impossible for anyone under 21 to get insurance ( without tricks like being listed on parent's cover ) even though the law says you can drive at 17. Typical rates for liability-only on a 17 year old are $10K/year Imagine living in a rural…

Hold the phone, motor vehicle insurance isn't mandatory in the US?

No. It's mandatory for residents of most individual states, but (for example) New Hampshire does not require it of its residents.

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#37

Post by KaeseEs »

alsocasey wrote: post #22
nobody31415926 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did it because they made motor insurance mandatory and it would be unfair to force someone to have something that the market didn't have to provide. In europe it's essentially impossible for anyone under 21 to get insurance ( without tricks like being listed on parent's cover ) even though the law says you can drive at 17. Typical rates for liability-only on a 17 year old are $10K/year Imagine living in a rural…

Hold the phone, motor vehicle insurance isn't mandatory in the US?

Varies from state to state, with almost every state requiring at least liability coverage.

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#39

Post by jbarham »

zmanji wrote: post #13

I've never understood why in many western industrialized countries telecommunications has not been regulated the same as sewage, roads, electricity, etc. It is a vital piece of infrastructure in the 21st century and it should be the responsibility of the government to manage such infrastructure.

You're evidently too young to remember when AT&T had a government granted monopoly. Suffice it to say that it was not an era that was known for innovation and value.

Re: Canada's Telecom Market is Rigged, says Wind Mobile backer Naguib Sawiris

#40

Post by freejack »

zmanji wrote: post #12
wmougayar wrote: post #10

This definitely sucks for Canada. The Telco's and the antiquated regulation that protects them are big gatekeepers to progress and innovation. How do we break out of this deadlock?

One has to fix the prime example of regulatory capture that is the CRTC. This can be achieved by either changing the current management or drafting more legislation.

IIRC, there are only a few commissioners who don't come from Canada's media/telco industries. i.e. the commission is mostly populated by insiders from the industries that the CRTC purports to oversee and regulate. Fox, henhouse, etc.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/about/commissioners.htm

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