Bell Gigabit Fibe

[tvaddict]

Hello,

This may be too soon to ask, but would VMEDIA also be able to resell this new internet service being rolled out by Bell?

http://www.bell.ca/Gigabit-Fibe-Internet

[MattVMedia]

Hi,

The CRTC released a key policy decision earlier this week concerning high speed FTTH/FTTP access for independent ISPs, and we will have access to sell these types of services moving forward.

This decision is very new though, and there will be extensive work required on the backend by both the incumbents and independents to facilitate access to this service. At this point, we are unable to provide an ETA on when access to these plans may be available. It is very good news though.

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2015/2015-326.htm

http://business.financialpost.com/fp-tech-desk/crtc-says-big-telecom-companies-must-open-fibre-networks-to-smaller-providers

[tvaddict]

Thanks for the links Matt.

It is good news. It seems like the CRTC is finally doing some useful things for Canadians, when pressure is applied to them :-).

I'm not really concerned with my speed right now, 15M has been very good for me. I heard they are starting to roll out this Bell Gigabit in my area first, I may consider moving up when VMEDIA is able to have a plan.

[tvaddict]

Here is another article with a good conversation going on in the comments. In the end it is a difficult conflict for the CRTC to resolve, but I think their decision was the best for customers in Canada, and getting us access to Fiber.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crtc-says-big-telecoms-must-share-high-speed-networks-with-competitors-1.3163132

But the ruling also contains some solace for the big providers. The CRTC said it will allow the big telecoms to charge fees for sharing their cables in order to make a profit on their investments. The pricing model will be worked out with each company on the basis of actual cost, plus a markup of about 30 per cent.

Hopefully that is reasonable.

Under the new rules, any smaller company that wants access to the high-speed fibre optic cables must agree to a "disaggregated" model of service, where they are required to plug in much closer to the final consumer, at a regional point of access. There are dozens of these regional interfaces in Ontario and Quebec. The smaller companies would then have to arrange transport of the signal from that regional interface to their own offices, either by installing their own fibre optic cable, or by leasing it from an existing company.
The CRTC said this is designed to discourage smaller competitors from acting as mere resellers of existing bandwidth, rather than contributing to expand the total amount of bandwidth available.

I like the idea of letting other independent ISPs help build the network out around Canada. But this may be too expensive... Maybe some ISPs can team up since they will have customers in similar areas?

Companies that prefer to continue to operate under the old aggregated model will have their internet speed capped at 100 megabits per second. While that is considered a fast internet connection today, the CRTC believes that any company that remains capped at 100 mbps will become increasingly unattractive to consumers as internet speeds increase across the board.
Bell, Bell Aliant, MTS, SaskTel and Telus, which today are the main installers of fibre optic cable in Canada, have argued that being forced to share the cables will eliminate their incentive for building them.
But the CRTC said big telephone companies in practice have no choice but to continue installing fibre optic infrastructure, or risk losing market share to big cable companies like Rogers and ****. That's because without fibre optics, the telephone companies are stuck using copper cables that can only offer a maximum of about 50 mbps. The coaxial cable used by Rogers and **** is already capable of carrying 100 mbps.

[Dogg64]

Does anyone know about how Bell delivers fibre to the neighbourhood / home? Cable speeds REALLY fluctuate in my area so I jumped on the opportunity when Bell/Vmedia offered the upgrade package a few months back since Bell had just upgraded the lines in my area. Bell was SO bad before they would only offer me a 512k package.. now I can get the 50/10 package

Anyway, the tech doing the install said that it was a fibre line on the pole in my back yard and that he had to go up and connect a wire between the fibre and a copper converter.. then we ran a copper line to the house. What I'd love to do eventually is pay to run a fibre line from the house to the pole and unlock higher speeds. Does this sound like a possible reality over the next year?

[MattVMedia]

Hi,

On Bell's gigabit site there is no mention of pricing, or even specific availability dates, but I would imagine this information will be imminent in the coming weeks/months.

There was a CBC article a week or so back that mentions the price as being around $150, but I would take that with a grain of salt until something is officially released.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bell-gigabit-fibe-internet-service-launched-in-ontario-quebec-1.3187499