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From: pacolley@violet.uwaterloo.ca (Paul Colley)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Best and Worst (was: Labor Day, 1990)
Message-ID: <11868@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 7 Sep 90 15:25:14 GMT
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 627, Message 7 of 9


In article <90Sep5.150411edt.57361@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca> HWT@bnr.ca
(H.W.)  writes:
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 625, Message 6 of 13

>In comp.dcom.telecom, TELECOM Moderator writes:

>>[Moderator's Note: Alright, fine. If the USA does *not* have what I
>>described, then what country *does* have it?

>Canada

Canada may not be best, but it's better than the USA.  I'd like to add
a couple of points:

>- decent rates - real local service here (one Bell supplied phone, touchtone)
>  is $15.50 Canadian (my data line)

I pay $8.50/month for my phone line (still pulse, despite Bell's
frequent pamphlets on the $1.70/month benefits of touch tone).  No
Bell supplied phones.  My rate would be cheaper than Henry's mainly
because of living in Waterloo instead of (I assume) Ottawa, since
there are fewer phones in my local calling area.

>- very high percentage of the public that has phones (95+, I think)

In a recent newspaper article (Toronto Star) I remember as quoting
over 99%, contrasting it with a much lower figure for the USA.

Henry forgot to mention a couple of other points:

- Free long distance directory assistance.

- There are several discount packages available that can reduce your
  long distance bill substantially.

- Benefits for the handicapped.  Free voice/teletype conversions for
  the deaf, many payphones with volume adjustments for the hearing
  impaired, free local directory assistance if you have vision or
  physical problems, etc.

- Phone bills under $50.00 don't have to be paid immediately.  I.e., I
  only have to pay every second or third bill, given my usual long
  distance usage of $15-$20/month.  One month and 11 days to pay bills
  over $50.00

- No COCOTs.  If competition is so wonderful for the consumer, why
  do you need regulations on COCOTs?  My personal opinion (no doubt
  about to be flamed :-) is that competition hasn't been so wonderful
  for the consumer in the states.

And one somewhat unrelated note:

- I'm not a big hotel user, but every hotel I've been into in Canada
  has free phone service for calls that are free to the hotel (local,
  calling card, etc.).  Every hotel I've been into in the states has
  charged lots of $$$ for every call.  (One hotel in Canada had
  two-line speaker phones in the rooms!)

However, things may be changing.  According to the {Toronto Star}, a
company is going to petition the CRTC to set up a competing long
distance carrier.  They want permission to charge (from memory) 85% of
the long distance fee and pay local subsidization at 70% of the rate
Bell pays.

In my opinion, if lower long distance rates from less subsidization to
local service is "good" (I don't think so), they should just let Bell
do it; Bell has wanted to for years now.  And that seems to be what
the proposed competition plans to do, pocketing an additional profit.

Canada is much more thinly spread than the United States.  I wonder if
the competition plans to offer much support to the vast majority of
the country.  "Moose Jaw?  Dial 10288 before your number to place your
call through the real phone company, we only support Toronto/Montreal/
Ottawa/Vancouver..."

I've seen and heard about the competition.  I like our monopoly.

- Paul
  pacolley@violet.waterloo.edu or .ca


[Moderator's Note: I liked our monopoly here in the United States
also, and it appears, based on consumer organization polls that people
here are finally beginning to wise up to the problems with
divestiture. I have no problem with competition: let people use
whatever service they want; but why was AT&T smashed to pieces in the
process?  PAT]