TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

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TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby jon » Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:07 am

Telus to begin charging Internet customers who exceed data allowance
Vancouver Sun
February 19, 2015. 11:32 am

B.C. cord cutters take note, Telus has announced it will begin charging Internet customers who exceed their monthly data allowance.

In a release posted on its website, Telus says, starting March 30, the company will automatically charge customers for additional “data buckets of 50 gigabytes as needed” if they zoom past their data allowance.

That first 50 GB “bucket” will cost you $5 with subsequent buckets costing $10 each up to a monthly maximum charge of $75.

The new Internet data fees are similar to those charged by U.S. communications giant AT&T, which charges customers $10 for each additional 50 GB data. AT&T, however, provides its users with two warnings and only charges customers when they exceed the monthly data plan a third time.

Telus’s new charges are not being received warmly on social media.

Telus already has monthly data caps built into their various Internet plans — but had never charged customers for exceeding them. The data allowances start at 30 GB a month for their Internet 1 service and go up to 500 GB for their top Internet 100 plan (See full chart on the right).

Shaw Internet has similar data allowances tied to their various plans but, at this point, do not penalize those who exceed monthly caps.

When you stream a Netflix movie in standard definition you are using about 1 GB of data per hour — or 3 GB per hour for high definition video.

Netflix provides information on how to adjust your data usage HERE.

Watching Optik TV does not count as data, but certain Optik applications, such as Netflix, TED Talks, Karaoke, National Film Board, Weather Network, TumbleBooks, Facebook, Twitter and Santa Tracker, do contribute to data usage.

The new charge means online gamers will need to keep a close eye on their data usage. Most of the downloadable games for the new generation of consoles — Xbox One and PlayStation 4 — are in excess of 25 GB each.

National Post game columnist Chad Sapieha explained in a 2014 column that a single game update — just a patch, not a full game — used 13 GB in data.

“We’ve entered an era in which the monthly caps of 50 to 60 GB that seemed almost limitless not all that long ago may not even suffice for a single download-heavy day,” said Sapieha.

Unless you’re already among the minority who’ve already switched over to a pricier plan with higher limits, a bigger monthly bill from your ISP is simply the new cost of using home game consoles. We’re going to need to get used to it. — Sapieha

Telus customers can pay $30 per month for the company’s Unlimited Data Usage plan. Customers who also subscribe to Telus TV can get the same deal for $15 per month.

The new MyTelus website allows customers to track their data usage and provides an overview on activities that consume a lot of data:

• Up/downloading very large files (over 100 MB)
• Video conferencing, e.g. Skype, FaceTime (200 MB / hr)
• Online gaming, e.g. Xbox, PlayStation (75 MB / hr)
• Downloading games or updates (Sizes vary. Check before downloading.)
• Downloading movies (700 MB)
• Streaming audio, e.g. Songza, Internet radio (Up to 100 MB / hr)
• Watching Netflix in Standard Definition (1 GB / hr)
• Watching Netflix in High Definition (3 GB / hr)

Telus customer service says notification letters will be emailed out to customers when they reach 75% of their monthly data plan.

ref. - http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2015/02/1 ... allowance/

TELUS press release - http://www.telus.com/en/ab/get-help/acc ... support.do
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby tuned » Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:07 am

Is anyone surprised by this? Telus, Rogers and Shaw WILL get your money one way or another. Don't think you can get away with not lining their pockets by cord cutting. They are entitled to your money....hundreds of dollars per year and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. I live in a building where my only options are Shaw and Telus. Telus offers only a 15mbs service so I really have no option other than Shaw. The big media companies own everything. They own the "channels", they own the programming and they own the infrastructure that delivers it so they can do whatever they want.
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby jon » Fri Feb 20, 2015 1:13 pm

I'm surprised that you cannot get TekSavvy or one of the other ISPs that provide service using Shaw or TELUS cables into your building. As I explored in a previous post, TekSavvy and one or two others have rates that are $20/month less than Shaw or TELUS for equivalent Internet service. Even more savings if you want unlimited data traffic.

Not sure about elsewhere, but here in Edmonton, if I dump Shaw, it will cost me at least $10 a month in additional smartphone "air time". ShawOpen provides Wi-Fi in a huge number of locations, many without reliable and trustworthy Wi-Fi. That could change as the City of Edmonton expands their public Wi-Fi network, which, ironically, Shaw is doing for free for them.
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby jon » Fri Feb 20, 2015 1:43 pm

The Edmonton Journal's just-posted article adds this piece: "Shaw Internet has similar data allowances, but at this point the company does not penalize those who exceed monthly caps."

Interesting, as I know Shaw stated nearly 5 years ago that they were starting to charge for exceeding the monthly data allowance "next month" at that time. But a lot of things changed soon after that as Shaw "changed brothers" from older to younger Shaw son as head honcho.

A quote from a TELUS rep. in the Edmonton article indicates that a full 20% of TELUS Internet customers exceed their monthly data limit each month.
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby Howaboutthat » Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:13 pm

At the risk of saying 'well duhhh!'
There's a simple way not to be charged for going over the data limit in the plan you purchased.
Don't go over the limit.
Why should Telus or the others give away something for free?
Do other for-profit companies, in any sector do that?
Suck it up buttercups and live within your plan, or get a new one.
Houston, We're dealing with morons!.
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby Mike Cleaver » Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:21 pm

Teksavvy.
Overnight downloads unlimited.
My plan, 15/1 with 300gb monthly is $49.95, taxes in.
It's DSL so it doesn't slow down.
They have their own fiber pipe from Toronto to Vancouver.
Had Shaw cable internet when I first hooked up in Vancouver in the early 2000's.
They immediately threatened disconnection for going over the paltry download limit and did not allow you to add gigs.
Needless to say, I told them to shove their laggy crappy overpriced service.
Tried Telus, slow, laggy, minimum downloads, lots of outages.
Been with Teksavvy for 6 years now, TWO outages of which they informed me ahead of time by email.
Customer service and real techs based in Chatham, Ontario.
Mike Cleaver Broadcast Services
Engineering, News, Voice work and Consulting
Vancouver, BC, Canada

54 years experience at some of Canada's Premier Broadcasting Stations
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby ve6bc » Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:11 pm

Folks,

Uniserve has been excellent for me for longer than I can remember. It's been 16 or 18 years now... I forget. I started when they were Interbaun here in Edmonton, before Uniserve went on their buying spree and bought every DSL access provider they could in BC and Alberta.

There are no data caps (at least not on the service I am buying, which is their slowest offering). It's DSL so you will need a land-line and your maximum speed will be dependent on the length of your local loop.

For network geeks who want to run their own servers they'll do static IP's and a bridged (rather than routed) network connection so you can run your own router/server/whatever rather than using the thing they provide.

I've had only one outage and that was not Uniserve's fault. It was caused by a TELUS tech that cross-connected our land-line to another home that had just been built and occupied.

They offer service in many cities and towns but not everywhere.

The one time I had to call their support folks, for a modem upgrade several years ago, they were very good. And they do more than just Internet access if you need more than that. I don't so I can't comment on any of their other offerings.

Network-wise they are well-connected.

They buy/lease/rent/whatever DSLAM ports from TELUS and use TELUS copper to get to your house/business so TELUS is in the picture to a degree.

See http://uniserve.com for more info.

Doug
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby jon » Fri Feb 20, 2015 6:10 pm

Changing providers can be a challenge. The basic problem is that, in most situations, you will have at most two ways to get service into your home: cable (CATV) and telephone connections. No matter who you get your service from, it will be going through one of those two wires, owned by your local telco (typically TELUS in Alberta and B.C.) or cable company (Shaw in most of The West). The service providers generally run their own network devices on that telco or cable company wire, but the telco or cable company is still responsible for fixing things if the wire breaks.

The main issue is that only one service provider, including Shaw and TELUS, can use each of those two connections to your house, at any given moment in time. Yes, that means "cold turkey" changes are usually required, rather than the overlap in service that would be nice to have until all the bugs are ironed out.

More important, it means that you must carefully think through the services you want. For example, if you switch to TekSavvy for Internet, and you want to keep your Shaw cable TV service, TekSavvy has to use ADSL technology, because your Shaw cable TV service needs exclusive use of your cable connection. Since TekSavvy offers neither cable TV nor telephone service, at least in Alberta or B.C., that means you have to go with Shaw for true landline service, or compromise on the less reliable home phone services that use the public Internet (like Vonage) or cell (like Rogers).

Alternatively, you could run TekSavvy Internet on your Cable connection, and then use TELUS Optik TV which only works on ADSL. Your landline telephone would then have to be TELUS on ADSL.

Of course, using Netflix or satellite TV is another alternative that would give you greater flexibility with your landline phone and Internet choices.

The point of all this is that it often looks easier to switch than it really is.

And I haven't touched on what I mentioned earlier, loss of ShawOpen for Wi-Fi if you leave Shaw Internet, and the loss of e-mail going to your old e-mail address. Even for those of us who have made a concerted effort to not use our service provider's e-mail address, there are still a lot of places to change it, and significant chance that e-mails will come to it after we've left.
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby ThisIsNotCBC » Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:30 pm

tuned wrote:The big media companies own everything. They own the "channels", they own the programming and they own the infrastructure that delivers it so they can do whatever they want.


Sounds like it's long overdue for the CRTC to do an AT&T/Standard Oil-style breakup of Big Media then.
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby Tom Jeffries » Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:44 pm

We pay way too much for bandwidth, in Canada, already. The rip off is monopolies with their hands in our pocket.
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby xwdcatvb » Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:00 pm

ve6bc wrote:Folks,

Uniserve has been excellent for me for longer than I can remember. It's been 16 or 18 years now... I forget. I started when they were Interbaun here in Edmonton, before Uniserve went on their buying spree and bought every DSL access provider they could in BC and Alberta.

There are no data caps (at least not on the service I am buying, which is their slowest offering). It's DSL so you will need a land-line and your maximum speed will be dependent on the length of your local loop.

For network geeks who want to run their own servers they'll do static IP's and a bridged (rather than routed) network connection so you can run your own router/server/whatever rather than using the thing they provide.

I've had only one outage and that was not Uniserve's fault. It was caused by a TELUS tech that cross-connected our land-line to another home that had just been built and occupied.

They buy/lease/rent/whatever DSLAM ports from TELUS and use TELUS copper to get to your house/business so TELUS is in the picture to a degree.

See http://uniserve.com for more info.

Doug


Well, non-geek-wise, their 15GB download/1GB upload is the same price as Telus, once you add in the five smakeroos/month to rent the modem.

I've just locked into Telus' bundled landline/Optik/'Net for another three years... the concession from them was to treat me as a new subscriber for six months with $15/month discounted.

Upload is still 5GB... listed 15GB download is consistently close to 17GB... so supposedly the major change will be policing of the datacap, which for me will be 150GB.

With regular Netflix and 'Net usage by two users, we consume mebbe 100GB/month now so....

And in well over15 years with Telus ADSL in the Central Park area of Burnaby, I can recall just two lengthy outages (i.e. more than an hour or so): one, years ago when a contractor killed the major fibre-optic link along Kingsway near Knight, and the other when a Telus techie didn't correctly plug in a module affecting only a few lines/circuits in our street junction box a couple of years ago. That did take a bit of grumbling to get investigated, but a direct call to a service rep sorted it out.

Happy camper? Well.... TV works... phone works... dirty pics still appear on the PC.... <grin>
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby xwdcatvb » Sat Feb 21, 2015 8:25 pm

xwdcatvb wrote:
ve6bc wrote:
See http://uniserve.com for more info.

Doug


Well, non-geek-wise, their 15GB download/1GB upload is the same price as Telus, once you add in the five smakeroos/month to rent the modem.

I've just locked into Telus' bundled landline/Optik/'Net for another three years... the concession from them was to treat me as a new subscriber for six months with $15/month discounted.

Upload is still 5GB... listed 15GB download is consistently close to 17GB... so supposedly the major change will be policing of the datacap, which for me will be 150GB.


(sigh) The MG was in overdrive last night... upload obviously is 5Mbps... download is 15Mbps... and close to 17Mbps.

Now back to driving the Yugo...
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Re: TELUS Starts Billing for Too Much Internet Data

Postby Tape Splicer » Mon Feb 23, 2015 1:44 am

Reading about this new charge made me check my bill to see how many GB I was using per month. The first month on telus , when we moved to the Valley was 40.5G ... the last couple of months have been in the 95 GB to 97GB range, well below the 250GB limit of my telus plan. So it looks like I'll be OK as far as avoiding charges are concerned. Mind you if I was streaming Netflix or other such services or playing online video games I could be paying large... Some one I was talking to about the bill made the point that if you were going to go over, get your moneys worth .. get as close to the nearest 50GB possible ...
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