Ontario Internet

Since Teksavvy and Acanac Cable have finally come to my area (West Ottawa) I have compiled a spreadsheet comparing prices of the options available to me (Bell, Rogers, Teksavvy, Acanac)


I used the raw data to calculate some interesting results; The raw data is in the spreadsheet at the bottom of the page; I made the assumption that you would purchase the cable modem when allowed (Bell Fibe doesn't seems to force you to rent).  Bundling or other promotions are not taken into consideration(bundling may enter you in to long term contracts)


Summary for those who don't care about the details
Light Users:
  • average $23 more per month with Bell than with the competition
  • average $11 more per month with Rogers than with the competition
Average Users
  • average of $45 more per month with Bell than with the competition
  • average of $29 more per month with Rogers than with the competition
Heavy Users
  • average of $78 more per month with Rogers than with the competition
  • average of $46 more per month with Rogers than with the competition
Cost of Using Netflix
  • Cost Per Hour of Netflix (Mid Quality) Ranges from $0.92-$1.96 with Bell
  • Cost Per Hour of Netflix (Mid Quality) Ranges from $0.56-$14.00 with Rogers
  • Cost Per Hour of Netflix (Mid Quality) Ranges from $0.02-$0.14 with Teksavvy
  • Cost Per Hour of Netflix (Mid Quality) Ranges from $0.02-$0.98 with Acanac


Services Compared:

Bell Fibe (Not Fiber Optic; VDSL2 I think)
- Not sure if this is available to me; it seems to be about the worst overall in terms of price / performance
Specs:
             Downlink Speed (Mbps) UplinkSpeed (kbps) Usage Allowance (GB)  
Fibe 6       6                     1024               25
Fibe 12      12                    1024               50
Fibe 16      16                    1024               75
Fibe 25      25                    7168               75


Monthly Fees:
         Monthly Cost  Modem Rent  Monthly Cost  Over. Charge/GB  Max Overage Charge
Fibe 6   $44.95        $3.95        $44.95        $2.00            $60.00
Fibe 12  $54.95        $3.95        $54.95        $1.50            $60.00
Fibe 16  $64.95        $3.95        $64.95        $1.00            $60.00
Fibe 25  $70.95        $6.95        $70.95        $1.00            $60.00

Startup Fees:
Bell                      Activation Fee  Modem Purchase Price
Fibe 6                    $29.95          N/A
Fibe 12                   $29.95          N/A
Fibe 16                   $29.95          N/A
Fibe 25                   $29.95          N/A

Rogers Cable Internet (DOCSIS 2 - 3.0)
- Rogers offers the highest performance internet in my area (up to 50MBps) however it couples them with low caps (you will reach the Cap within 8 hours)!

Specs:
                   Downlink Speed (Mbps) UplinkSpeed (kbps) Usage Allowance (GB)
Ultralite          0.5                   256                2
lite               3                     256                15
express            10                    512                60
extreme            15                    1024               80
extreme plus       25                    1024               125
ultimate           50                    2048               175


Monthly Fees:
              Monthly Cost  Modem Rental  Monthly Cost  Overage / GB  Max Overage
Ultralite     $27.99        $0.00         $27.99        $5.00         $50.00
lite          $35.99        $0.00         $35.99        $4.00         $50.00
express       $46.99        $0.00         $46.99        $2.00         $50.00
extreme       $59.99        $0.00         $59.99        $1.50         $50.00
extreme plus  $69.99        $0.00         $69.99        $1.25         $50.00
ultimate      $99.99        $0.00         $99.99        $0.50         $50.00

Startup Fees:
Rogers                    Activation Fee  Modem Purchase Price
Ultralite                 $14.95          $99.99
lite                      $14.95          $99.99
express                   $14.95          $200.00
extreme                   $14.95          $200.00
extreme plus              $14.95          $200.00
ultimate                  $14.95          $200.00


Teksavvy Cable Internet (DOCSIS 3.0)
- Just started reselling rogers cable internet a couple of weeks ago in my area

Specs:
Teksavvy        Downlink Speed (Mbps) UplinkSpeed (kbps) Usage Allowance (GB)
Cable (Lite)    3                     256                300
Cable (Express) 10                    512                300
Cable (Extreme) 15                    1024               300
Cable (Pro)     15                    1024               Unlimited


Monthly Fees:
Teksavvy        Monthly Cost  Modem Rental  Monthly Cost  Overage Charge per GB  Max Overage Charge
Cable (Lite)    $27.95        $0.00         $27.95        $0.50                  Unlimited
Cable (Express) $36.95        $0.00         $36.95        $0.50                  Unlimited
Cable (Extreme) $42.95        $0.00         $42.95        $0.50                  Unlimited
Cable (Pro)     $54.95        $0.00         $54.95        $0.00                  N/A

Startup Fees:
Teksavvy           Activation Fee  Modem Purchase Price
Cable (Lite)       $44.95          $65.00
Cable (Express)    $44.95          $65.00
Cable (Extreme)    $44.95          $65.00
Cable (Pro)        $44.95          $65.00


Acanac Cable Internet (DOCSIS 3.0)
- Just started reselling rogers cable internet a couple of weeks ago in my area
- Prices based on length of sign up; I prices both by the month and by the year

Acanac (Monthly Payment) Downlink Speed (Mbps) UplinkSpeed (kbps) Usage Allowance (GB)
Cable 7.5 (Capped)       7.5                   800                40
Cable 10 (Capped)        10                    1024               60
Cable 10 (Unlimited)     10                    512                Unlimited
Cable 15 (Unlimited)     15                    1024               Unlimited


Acanac (Monthly Payment) Monthly Cost  Modem Rental  Monthly Cost  Overage Charge per GB  Max Overage Charge
Cable 7.5 (Capped)       $37.95        $0.00         $37.95        $4.50                  $50.00
Cable 10 (Capped)        $58.95        $0.00         $58.95        $1.65                  Unlimited
Cable 10 (Unlimited)     $44.95        $0.00         $44.95        $0.00                  N/A
Cable 15 (Unlimited)     $48.95        $0.00         $48.95        $0.00                  N/A


Acanac (Monthly Payment)  Activation Fee  Modem Purchase Price
Cable 7.5 (Capped)        $29.95          $50.00
Cable 10 (Capped)         $29.95          $50.00
Cable 10 (Unlimited)      $29.95          $50.00
Cable 15 (Unlimited)      $29.95          $50.00

Acanac (Yearly Payment)  Downlink Speed (Mbps) UplinkSpeed (kbps) Usage Allowance (GB)
Cable 7.5 (Capped)       7.5                   800                40
Cable 10 (Capped)        10                    1024               60
Cable 10 (Unlimited)     10                    512                Unlimited
Cable 15 (Unlimited)     15                    1024               Unlimited


Acanac (Yearly Payment)  Monthly Cost  Modem Rental  Monthly Cost  Overage Charge per GB  Max Overage Charge
Cable 7.5 (Capped)       $37.95        $0.00         $37.95        $4.50                  $50.00
Cable 10 (Capped)        $58.95        $0.00         $58.95        $1.65                  Unlimited
Cable 10 (Unlimited)     $35.95        $0.00         $35.95        $0.00                  N/A
Cable 15 (Unlimited)     $39.95        $0.00         $39.95        $0.00                  N/A


Acanac (Yearly Payment)   Activation Fee  Modem Purchase Price
Cable 7.5 (Capped)        $29.95          $50.00
Cable 10 (Capped)         $29.95          $50.00
Cable 10 (Unlimited)      $29.95          $50.00
Cable 15 (Unlimited)      $29.95          $50.00

Price per Mbps
In this section I looked at price vs the speed of service provided


Some interesting results here; keep in mind this doesn't take into account how long you can actually download at this speed without being changed additional fees.

Worst Deal: Rogers Ultralite; again by far the worst value for money


Best Deal: Rogers Ultimate (Note: you can download for 8 hours before you hit your monthly cap with Rogers ultimate)


Cost Per Gigabyte (usage under the cap) overage charges applied:

In this section I looked at the cost per gigabyte assuming you don't exceed your cap; there is an amazing amount of variance here.  The highest by far is the Rogers Ultralite plan; which comes in at a staggering $16 per GB.

Bell                 Cost / GB (without exceeding plan)
Fibe 6               $1.96
Fibe 12              $1.18
Fibe 16              $0.92
Fibe 25              $1.04


Rogers               Cost / GB (without exceeding plan)
Ultralite            $16.00
lite                 $2.67
express              $0.90
extreme              $0.84
extreme plus         $0.62
ultimate             $0.61


Teksavvy             Cost / GB (without exceeding plan)
Cable (Lite)         $0.09
Cable (Express)      $0.12
Cable (Extreme)      $0.14
Cable (Pro)          $0.02


Acanac (Monthly)     Cost / GB (without exceeding plan)
Cable 7.5 (Capped)   $0.95
Cable 10 (Capped)    $0.98
Cable 10 (Unlimited) $0.03
Cable 15 (Unlimited) $0.02


Acanac (Yearly)      Cost / GB (without exceeding plan)
Cable 7.5 (Capped)   $0.95
Cable 10 (Capped)    $0.98
Cable 10 (Unlimited) $0.03
Cable 15 (Unlimited) $0.02

Worst Deal: Rogers Ultralite

Best Deal: Acanac or Teksavvy Unlimited Services

Hours of Download at Max Rate

How many hours you can download at your maximum rate before you get charged overage fees:

Unlimited internet shows at 720 hours (30 days * 24 hours)

Bell                 Hours to reach cap 
Fibe 6               9
Fibe 12              9
Fibe 16              11
Fibe 25              7

Rogers               Hours to reach cap
Ultralite            9
lite                 11
express              14
extreme              12
extreme plus         11
ultimate             8

Teksavvy             Hours to reach cap
Cable (Lite)         228
Cable (Express)      68
Cable (Extreme)      46
Cable (Pro)          720

Acanac (Monthly)     Hours to reach cap
Cable 7.5 (Capped)   12
Cable 10 (Capped)    14
Cable 10 (Unlimited) 720
Cable 15 (Unlimited) 720

Acanac (Yearly)      Hours to reach cap
Cable 7.5 (Capped)   12
Cable 10 (Capped)    14
Cable 10 (Unlimited) 720
Cable 15 (Unlimited) 720

Worst Deal: Rogers Ultralite
Best Deal: Acanac or Teksavvy Unlimited Services

Cost Per Hour Of Netflix

Bell                 Cost Per Hour (default) Cost Per Hour (HD)  
Fibe 6               $0.59                   $1.96               
Fibe 12              $0.35                   $1.18               
Fibe 16              $0.28                   $0.92               
Fibe 25              $0.31                   $1.04               

Rogers               Cost Per Hour (default) Cost Per Hour (HD)  
Ultralite            $4.80                   $16.00              
lite                 $0.80                   $2.67               
express              $0.27                   $0.90               
extreme              $0.25                   $0.84               
extreme plus         $0.18                   $0.62               
ultimate             $0.18                   $0.61              


Teksavvy             Cost Per Hour (default) Cost Per Hour (HD)  
Cable (Lite)         $0.03                   $0.09               
Cable (Express)      $0.04                   $0.12               
Cable (Extreme)      $0.04                   $0.14               
Cable (Pro)          $0.08                   $0.08               

Acanac (Monthly)     Cost Per Hour (default) Cost Per Hour (HD)  
Cable 7.5 (Capped)   $0.28                   $0.95               
Cable 10 (Capped)    $0.29                   $0.98               
Cable 10 (Unlimited) $0.06                   $0.06               
Cable 15 (Unlimited) $0.07                   $0.07               

Acanac (Yearly)      Cost Per Hour (default) Cost Per Hour (HD)  
Cable 7.5 (Capped)   $0.28                   $0.95               
Cable 10 (Capped)    $0.29                   $0.98               
Cable 10 (Unlimited) $0.05                   $0.05               
Cable 15 (Unlimited) $0.06                   $0.06            

Cost Based On Usage

Light Users:

Looking at light users( Users who use under 30GB per month); you can see there is already overpaying between $8 and $21 per month in the best case if you're using Bell or Rogers.



Best: Teksavvy Lite

Worst: Bell



Average Users:

To Represent average users I chose the range of 40GB to 100GB; this seemed like a reasonable amount for a household with kids. The prices for Bell and Rogers represent the best case scenario; you're price could be significantly higher due to overages related to having a lower plan.



Best: Teksavvy

Worst Bell

Analysis:  When looking at the average per service provider; If you have Bell or Rogers you are paying between $20 and $70 more per month than the cheapest option available







Heavy Users:







Best: Acanac Yearly Subscription
Worst Bell
Analysis:  When looking at the average per service provider; If you have Bell or Rogers you are paying between $40 and $80 more per month than the cheapest option available










Conclusion:

If you're using Bell or Rogers and you have any alternatives you're an idiot. 











1 comment:

carsjam said...

Hey there,
Is NCF not available to you?
How about Storm, or whoever took over Magma (cia?).
Beware of Acanac, since they typically lure you in with a teaser rate for the first year, and then automatically renew you at a much higher rate thereafter. One way around this is to use a card that is expiring before the year is out.
JC