Fido puts per-second billing into the doghouse.

Canada, home of the three-year mobile phone contract, “service access fees,” high activation fees, unlock phone fees, $10 for 10MB of data, and $8 extra for “caller-ID” has had one thing going for it that American cell phone companies don’t offer — per-second billing.

Not anymore.

Our regular reader Alex writes to inform us that Fido (owned by Rogers Communications) has joined the parade of Telus’ Koodo and Bell’s Virgin Mobile Canada eliminating the money-saving billing feature for all new activations starting yesterday.

These prepaid customers will now pay by minute when they start new service or change an existing plan.

Mobile Syrup reached out to Rogers and obtained official confirmation and their explanation:

“Fido will adopt the common billing practice in Canada: per-minute billing beginning July 4th. This means that calls are rounded up to the nearest minute. This change will apply to new customers signing up with Fido. All customers who are on current plans with per second billing will retain this feature unless they change their monthly plan. The majority of customers should not notice any impact to their monthly bills. Fido offers several great plans with various call, text and data allowances that are designed to meet any need.”

The billing change further discourages Canadian consumers looking for a better deal in the prepaid market. It is the best alternative available from the handful of national carriers that charge considerably higher prices tied to an extra-long service contract and expensive data pricing.

Maybe not

Alex notes per-second billing was one of the great advantages Telus’ Koodo offered, and other competitors were initially forced to match that innovative pricing.

“Koodo’s new plans are simply the old plans, but with a $5/month increase for two calling features,” Alex notes. “Koodo found another way to gouge their customers: per-minute billing. They also removed 50 minutes from the $30/month (previously $25) plan, which used to have 150 minutes. At a time when Internet is the main demand, while talk and text cost virtually nothing to provide, Koodo is gouging.”

Koodo, Fido, and the other carriers are probably noticing that cell phone customers are talking on their cellular phones less than ever, and per-second billing can save an average of 25% off per-minute billing, especially for short conversations.

Alex has a petition up on Koodo’s website asking them to reconsider, but we’re doubtful they will. Rogers’ is not well-known for responding to customer desires for better, more cost-effective service.

Cogeco Cable is mailing flyers to residents in eastern Canada promoting the company’s ‘value’ option:

• 4Mbps download speed
• 12 Month Contract with $75 early termination fee
• Increases to $32.95/mo off contract
• “Generous” 15GB usage cap with $1.50/GB overlimit fee (maximum penalty: $50)

Cogeco calls this plan ideal “for anyone who uses the Internet to exchange emails with friends, search sites and download pictures.”

In other words, it’s barely broadband for those who barely use the Internet.

Many Ontario and Quebec phone companies can offer even faster speeds through traditional DSL service. In Bell Fibe areas, for $6 more a month, customers can get a 15/10Mbps package for $26.97/mo for six months, which includes a safer 75GB allowance. At the end of six months, threaten to walk and Bell will extend the offer an extra six months.

Customers bundling services with either Bell or Cogeco may be able to negotiate for a package with better speeds and a more generous allowance. While Cogeco has cracked down on promotions, Bell has not, so customers served by Cogeco are advised to ask about all available deals before committing to either provider.

Broadband Backwater: Don't let AT&T and ALEC keep South Carolina broadband down.

AT&T and the corporate-funded front group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are making progress banning community broadband in South Carolina with the second reading of H.3508, the AT&T Profit Protection Act.

This bill has been debated in the state legislature since early last year, and despite protestations from local community leaders in broadband-impoverished areas of the state, AT&T’s money and lobbyists can buy a lot of support.  South Carolina cannot afford to have its broadband options limited. It remains among the worst states in the country for broadband adoption, with just a tad over half of all households hooked up to the Internet. The rest either cannot afford the prices incumbent providers charge, or in many cases, nobody is willing to provide the service.

With the passage of H.3508, South Carolina’s broadband future will effectively be left in the hands of Time Warner Cable, which has some presence in larger cities, and the former BellSouth, which is now AT&T. But unless you live in greater Charleston, Columbia, or Greenville, AT&T’s investment in your future has been limited to smatterings of slow speed DSL.

Despite claims that the “private sector” will provide, South Carolina remains a broadband afterthought for telecommunications companies in the state, especially outside of major cities. H.3508 stops communities from electing to drain the broadband backwater they are forced to endure and build better service other companies simply won’t provide.

You can’t discourage investment from providers who won’t invest in South Carolina’s broadband in the first place.

Use this tool to find your state senator and take a few minutes to call their office and let them know you oppose H.3508 and what it represents — broadband stagnation and corporate protectionism. Let them know you want broadband decisions for your community made in your community, not by a lobbyist for AT&T or the cable industry. Ask why any legislator would want to support a measure that would allow an out of state corporation to dictate what South Carolina can do about its own telecommunications future.

Ask them to stand up for you as a constituent and do the right thing.  AT&T, a multi-billion dollar corporation does not need their help. Broadband in South Carolina does!

Quebec City residents are enjoying the benefits of an Internet speed race between incumbent cable operator Vidéotron Ltée and telephone company Bell, with both bringing some of Canada’s fastest Internet speeds to the provincial capital.

Vidéotron Ltée announced it will introduce 200Mbps service in the city after completing a network upgrade. The company was undoubtedly responding to increasing competition from Bell, which is installing fiber optic upgrades in the city and selling speeds up to 175Mbps to area consumers and businesses.

The cable company has faced Bell’s Fibe TV service and has lost customers as a result. Now, Vidéotron is trying to regain its footing with upgrades of its own, including the introduction of Illico, which expands on-demand options and provides flexible access to recorded shows on computers, phones, and tablet devices.

Bell’s personal video recorder (PVR) set top box lets customers watch recorded programs on any television in the home, and can also record multiple concurrent shows. Vidéotron hopes Illico will help expand viewing options further for their customers.

Rogers' "unconscionable" service contract allows the company to do just about anything.

Did you know that signing a contract with Rogers Communications for your broadband, phone, and cable television service will not protect you from the company’s annual rate increases?

It represents a classic example of an “unconscionable term” in a contract, according to Anthony Daimsis, a contract law professor at the University of Ottawa. Not because Rogers has inserted language that allows the company to raise rates on contract customers at will, but rather because consumers cannot escape the contract without paying a stiff early termination fee, usually approaching $200.

Rogers says its service contracts do not guarantee stable rates, instead providing a discount for bundling its services together. Most Canadians asked by CBC’s Marketwatch thought otherwise, believing it should lock in current rates for the term of the agreement.

The consumer show also chases Bell for charging Canadians $2.80 a month for touch-tone service — a fee that disappeared off most other phone company bills 20 years ago. Bell claims the touch-tone fee was introduced because the company met opposition from rotary phone customers when it tried to bundle the fee into its general price for phone service.

These days, buying a rotary dial phone requires a visit to an antique shop, but should you acquire one just to escape paying the phone company an extra $33 a year, it won’t work. Bell says the fee is now mandatory for all customers, rotary or otherwise — no one can “opt out.”

Bell’s touch tone bill padding rakes in an extra $100 million a year in revenue, all for a service upgrade paid for decades ago.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CBC Busted 04-2012.flv[/flv]

CBC Marketplace presents “Busted,” a special marathon edition exposing consumer ripoffs and deceptive advertising. In this clip, the show chases down Bell’s bill padding touch tone fee and Rogers’ notorious service contracts that lock customers in place -and- subject them to annual rate increases.  (13 minutes)