bev fan said:
Not necessarily true, some providers have just increased the prices without increasing the download limits, they have just increased the speed a bit. To get unlimited bandwidth on teksavvy will costs additional $20
It's true, you're just nit-picking small, specific changes. I'm talking about the general trend. That trend won't be a straight line for all ISPs for all packages - you may get the odd saw-tooth reversal, but the general direction is undeniable.
Back in the early days of Shaw's internet service, the declared "bandwidth cap" was ~1GB a month in 1998 for $40/month, and the speed provided was less than 5mbps. They didn't really enforce the bandwidth caps back then, just as they haven't gotten around to doing their "bump up" program now - but whatever, we're comparing what is offered in the plan.
Checking the Bank of Canada's inflation calculator, $40/month in 1998 is about the same as $55/month in 2014.
In 2014 for ~$55/month ($30 for the first 6 months) Shaw offers 125GB/month of data (at 10mbps).
So, during that period (1998-2014) we've seen a 125x increase in the amount of data offered to the user at the given price.
4 years ago (in 2010) the Shaw high speed "Warp" package that offered 50mbps of speed and cost ~$107/month and provided 125GB of traffic (depending on when you looked). Now Shaw's BB50 (50mbps) package is ~$80/month and it offers 400GB/month of bandwidth.
From 2010-2014 the price dropped ~25% and the data volume allotted went up 320%.
Contrast this with cable TV services and you'll find you really are paying substantially more. I bet if we were to go look at cable TV packages from 1998 and 2010 we would see
substantially worse deals today than what was available back then.
I think it's abundantly clear that cable TV is a bloated business, build around CRTC rules and legislation, increasing prices at a rate much higher than inflation, using old technology and slow to change.
The Netflix model is much more nimble, consumer friendly, and technology savvy. While cable companies are amoung the most hated companies in North American, the customer satisfaction rating for Netflix are
pretty good.
Shomi is a good move on Shaw/Rogers part because:
1. It can go after all Canadians, not just Canadians who are in their local "service zone". Indeed, there is no real reason to restrict themselves to Canada. If they're smart they'll try and play in Netflix' league and go international. (Alternatively, they can think small and stay small. Whatever.)
2. It offers content at an attractive price, which is apparently something cable TV companies can no longer do. While it's clear that Netflix destroys what cable companies offer from a content-per-dollar viewpoint, Shomi may be competitive by this measure. To be determined.