Bell Crumbles to Public Pressure, Revises Usage-Based Billing As Election Looms

Looks like working together can make a difference. Bell has revised their controversial plan to implement usage-based billing (UBB) for their wholesale customers, such as TekSavvy. Here are Bell’s revised plans:

Instead BCE, which operates under the Bell brand, says it will aggregate the amount it charges wholesalers that lease bandwidth on its network based on the total amount of data they use. It will also lower the access fees it charges them to use its newest fiber network.

Bell will charge $200 CDN per TB, or $0.195 cents/GB to wholesalers.

OpenMedia.ca’s campaign appears to have had success. Canadians have spoken up against giant telcos, but the fight is not over:

“We’re pleased that Canadians will now have the option to use indie ISPs like Teksavvy and Acanac to access the unlimited Internet,” said OpenMedia.ca’s Executive Director Steve Anderson. “This is a giant step forward for the Stop The Meter campaign, and a victory for those who support competition and choice in Canada’s Internet service market.”

With a Federal election around the corner, is Bell just trying to get out of the limelight?

[Reuters/MSN, thanks Stéphane!]

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