Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Day trading in Canada -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Carole Olkowski who wrote (1788)	12/10/1998 3:58:00 PM
From: Ron Schier	Respond to of 4467

Internet provider accuses phone giant of unfair competition TORONTO (CP) -- An independent Internet service provider is accusing Canada's largest telephone company of using its "monopoly privileges" to destroy competition in the high-speed Internet business. Toronto-based Internet Direct, which has 60,000 subscribers, wants federal regulators to force Bell Canada to lower the wholesale price it charges providers for access to its so-called ADSL high-speed service. Bell, which serves seven million telephone customers in Ontario and Quebec, announced Wednesday that it would be offering ADSL to consumers for a new, lower rate of $39.95 a month until March 31. Internet Direct, which leads a lobby group of six small providers, says Bell is engaging in predatory pricing because it would cost providers about $200 to get a single customer hooked up to ADSL through Bell. "Once again, Bell Canada appears to be leveraging its historical monopoly privileges and ongoing bottlenecks to squeeze competition out of the high-speed access Internet market," Internet Direct said in a statement. Officials at Bell couldn't be immediately reached for comment. ADSL, which is short for Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, offers users access to the Internet that is 30 times faster than a standard computer modem. The service has been around for several years, but recent price cuts and technical innovations, such as the introduction of a new modem from Nortel Networks, have finally brought the service to mainstream users. The growth of this market is important because it signals the beginning of a battle for market share between Canada's phone companies and their cable competitors, which are offering high-speed access through cable TV lines instead of telephone wires. High-speed cable access has already attracted more than 100,000 subscribers who pay about $40 a month. Bell's cheaper, upgraded service is being rolled out to parts of Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City and Hull, Que., by its Sympatico affiliate. But Brandi Jasmine, a spokeswoman for Internet Direct, said the only province where predatory pricing isn't a problem is British Columbia. ID Internet Direct in British Columbia, which will merge with the Toronto company in January, currently offers ADSL service for about $64.95 a month. That fee includes a $49.95 monthly charge from BC Tel, Canada's second largest telephone company, and a $15 charge from ID Internet Direct. Bell has said it will draft a new wholesale pricing plan in the new year, but that's not good enough, says John Nemanic, president of Internet Direct. "Bell has said to me that their ISP customers are a high priority, but we have outstanding complaints ... over a lack of equitable access to ADSL," he said in a statement. "If Bell was acting in good faith, they would have notified us before announcing this promotion, and would give us a firm date for a reasonably priced ... ADSL product, instead of putting us off until next year." In August, the six Internet providers asked the federal Competition Bureau to investigate the problem. "Bell is well aware that there is no way for us to compete with their current pricing scheme," said Nemanic