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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2021-03-15 3:50 p.m., Adam Thompson
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:3D9A3DC5-E550-4EA4-9EFD-ADFA6548C45A@athompso.net">You
don't want Xplornet to get any bigger - they are a rolling
dumpster fire in many different ways.<br>
I think more competition is a good thing, yet I'd prefer Xplornet
went out of business altogether. Or at least nowhere near here.
Thankfully, Starlink will probably accomplish this.</blockquote>
<p>I am still trying someone to rave about Xplornet.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2021-03-15 4:43 p.m., Scott Toderash
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:ccd3e95e-a548-35d1-ba7e-9a1c9b1037a9@100percenthelpdesk.com">I'm
not saying it would be a good thing, but it could happen. It might
be an entertaining thing to watch from a distance. <br>
</blockquote>
<p>Until the distance gets shorter and shorter... and then it
happens to us.<br>
</p>
<p>I think I talked about this at one of our meetings, but it is
really... amusing?... to watch this unfold here.</p>
<p>Because, back where I come from, things were the complete
opposite. And it sucked nonetheless.</p>
<p>Back in the 80s, all telecommunications were owned by the
government in Brazil. Period.</p>
<p>Although the bill was not increasing too much - in a period where
inflation was measured in monthly double-digits increases,
eventually reached hyperinflation, increases were often under that
threshold precisely because the government was using it as a
pressure relief mechanism - a phone line was, literally, an
investment. Case in point: around 1995, my father was owed some
nice chunk of money, around what a new vehicle would cost. The
bloke could not pay cash, so he paid with a phone line instead. It
was not a bad deal, financially speaking.</p>
<p>To me, especially, it was awesome: my father let me use the line,
so I could play with BBSs without screeching noises annoying
everyone else in the house. Sweet! I love you dad, wherever you
are... you gave me my first "car"-worthy thing before I was even
10 years old. :)<br>
</p>
<p>One year later, though, right after it was all privatized, same
line could be installed by paying R$ 20 (which amounted to around
the same in USD around that time) to the telecom. Bummer. The
country benefited a lot from that, even though my dad was... not
amused, to say the least.<br>
</p>
<p>It dawned on me though that the government can't really run a
business properly. Companies just compete, fiercely. Or so we're
told. Except in Brazil, because it sucks and the government
@*(@$*s everything, and private businesses are all love, sunshine
and rainbows.<br>
</p>
<p>Now I am going to The First World(tm), where everything works
and, obviously, both Government AND private entities are angels!
So I move here, expecting to be blown away by Internet (and, well,
everything else), only to find out that what I can get for
Internet in the province of Ontario is... worse than what I could
have in Brazil. And more expensive, all things considered. What?</p>
<p>Well, it was also Ontario, but not really (aka "not GTA"). Also,
it was the University residence, but for some reason only DSL was
provided. Oh well, bummer.</p>
<p>Then, up north, I had comparable speeds (5/1. vs 10/1 in
Ontario), but the damn cap. I did not realize the Xbox would
update all games on standby, but I quickly did when I had to pay
3x my monthly bill because I went (way) past the data cap. Ouch.<br>
</p>
<p>So yes, moving to Brandon, I was blown away by 40/4 from Westman.
At least it was Cable! And 40Mbps, whoooooossshhhhh! And it cost
the same as NorthwesTel - sans data caps, obviously. And
thankfully.<br>
</p>
<p>Then, I move to Saskatchewan, a city 1/5th the size of Brandon. I
was expecting the dark ages...</p>
<p>... and I get fibre to the home. 300/80. For around the same
amount I was paying in Brandon. And with two static IPs for free
as well.</p>
<p>Then, I decide to check out a cell phone plan... and mostly all
plans are SK only. And *a lot* cheaper than any other province,
even when buying from Bell, Telus and so on. Why is that?</p>
<p>Well, they all have to compete with SaskTel. A Crown Corporation.
Government Owned. A fuse blew instantly on my mind. "But the
government can't run business!". <br>
</p>
<p>Now, looking back, there's one thing Brazil did right when
privatizing: it emulated the European model in many ways. And,
amusingly, its regulatory agency is one of the few things that
actually work (somewhat) properly, enough to make phone service
(somewhat) affordable for everyone, pretty much everywhere in the
country. Not perfect, but coming from a reality where having a
phone line *alone*, like in the 80s and early 90s, was a dead
giveaway that you were *rich*, it was surely a huge improvement,
to the point where I can see many things it did right even when
looking from the lens of a country that dwarfs its GDP per capita.<br>
</p>
<p>Back in Saskatchewan, I realized that Government done right can
be a good thing, as long as you keep it from "going full retard".
Oddly, same applies for private businesses as well. SaskTel is not
a monopoly, but its presence tunes down the Shareholders Über
Alles vibe of all private telecom incumbents that operate there.
Telebrás (the Brazilian state-owned telecom), having no (private)
competition, could go down the mismanagement rabbit hole in a way
that only the government's deep pockets can afford.<br>
</p>
<p> <span class="ILfuVd NA6bn"><span class="hgKElc">Weirdly enough,
Saskatchewanians </span></span>complain about SaskTel just
like Brazilians did about Telebrás, and many also think that
getting rid of it and having only private companies would be oh so
much better. One of the intangible benefits of immigration is
perspective, that is for sure.<br>
</p>
<p>Now here, I've yet to find someone who tells me that the CRTC has
any teeth. Strike one. It also seem to like paying lip-service to
the sheer lack of competition and investment of the main
incumbents, strike two. For the current Shaw+Rogers deal, many
talking heads talk about it as if it were a done deal, like the
CRTC has no say about it... because it doesn't? Strike three.</p>
<p>I don't see them going through all of that just to make their
lives harder, to make sure they have to invest more in
infrastructure, or offer better cheaper, better service. They
could do all of that right now if they wanted.</p>
<p>Shaw, like T-Mobile in the US, had to care because it was not big
enough not to. T-Mobile eventually grew to the point where it was
able to start being a douche. Shaw is en route to be absorbed by
one.</p>
<p>I hope I am wrong, though.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Kind regards,<br>
Alberto Abrao<br>
</p>
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