An hour ago a couple tech's from a Videotron contractor came in and disconnected my Bell Canada line. Within a few minutes, they replaced my ancient cable modem with a new one. This new modem connects like the old one to my computer as well as to my home phone.
So why did I switch off Bell Canada?
It seemed odd that I was paying $28.69 / month for a telephone land line. So I examined the bill a little closer:
- $5.95 for "network access" - very creative, Bell.
- $ .19 for 911
- $ .47 for 911 (municipal charge)
- $2.80 for "touch tone" service - 1970 says "Hello"
- $19.28 for a residential line.
What's going on here?
- The $5.95 is a simple money grab. I guess Bell copies this from the cell phone world. Frankly I just don't get this one and my only basis to complain about it is that it was never there before...
- The $2.80 for touch-tone services is an insulting profit pad. The days of mechanically switched dialing are long, long, long in the past. The equipment today is the same whether rotary dialed or tone. Bell should be ashamed of themselves for this petty thievery. How many people have rotary phones today? Bell has 13 M landline subscribers pretty much all using touch tone, so this equates to a stunning $500 M per year in profit for something that does not cost any more to operate than 'old' rotary dials.
On the flip side, Videotron charge me $16.95 for the same service. Including the 911 charges.
That's $11.74 before tax every month saved. $160 per year with tax.
I'm finally 100% satisfied. Like a fast growing number of Canadians I completely disconnected Bell Canada. Good riddance.
1 comment:
If you want a really cheap phone or a second phone for the kids, get a *Magic Jack* voip type phone. Its 39.99cad to purchase(with 1 year service inc.) and $20 yearly after that for USA numbers $59.99 for Canadian numbers. Free calling to all of north america all the way down to Puerto Rico. Ive had mine for nearly a year now and it works nearly as well as my land line. Canadians don`t need to purchase a Canadian number you just pick any USA number available that suits your fancy and use that number even though your located in Canada-LOL.
Heres the link:http://www.themagicjack.ca/
And say goodbye to long distance charges.
Post a Comment