Shawn Graham's good friends at Bell-Aliant have really screwed him this time.
This week it was announced that they would be closing down their call centers in northern New Brunswick putting hundreds of workers on the unemployment line.
Didn't Shawn just give Bell-Aliant a big million dollar pile of our taxes so that they could install fiber optic cables in Fredericton and Saint John?
Didn't Shawn also just tear up the public procurement rules to give Bell-Aliant a sweetheart contract extension on their government business worth millions more?
What exactly are we getting in return? The chance to pay $100 a month for an over-priced internet connection and now, it turns out, job losses in the one area of New Brunswick that needs jobs the most.
Showing posts with label Bell Aliant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bell Aliant. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Optics of Fibre - The Opdate
A while back we were talking about the new fibre optic service to homes that Bell Aliant is rolling out in Fredericton and Saint John over the next year.
This sounds like an interesting new product. Our problem at the time was the provincial government's involvement in the deal. It essentially amounted to the Graham Liberals giving the big Bell phone company (headquarters in Toronto) a tax-payer funded grant along with a sweetheart contract for the government phone business.
Now the other shoes are starting to drop. Bell recently announced that the cost of this tax-payer subsidized service is going to be $100 per month for high-speed internet. Yowch!
We're sure the Premier can afford to spend more than $1,000 a year to be able to download YouTube videos, but it makes you wonder just how many actual New Brunswickers will actually be able to get this new service.
This sounds like an interesting new product. Our problem at the time was the provincial government's involvement in the deal. It essentially amounted to the Graham Liberals giving the big Bell phone company (headquarters in Toronto) a tax-payer funded grant along with a sweetheart contract for the government phone business.
Now the other shoes are starting to drop. Bell recently announced that the cost of this tax-payer subsidized service is going to be $100 per month for high-speed internet. Yowch!
We're sure the Premier can afford to spend more than $1,000 a year to be able to download YouTube videos, but it makes you wonder just how many actual New Brunswickers will actually be able to get this new service.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The Optics of Fibre
Just like your phone bill, the Devil is in the details.
Everyone knows when you get your phone or cable bill, it's worth it to double check all the details, because there are sometimes hidden costs and mistakes.
Recently Bell Aliant announced that they were going to roll out high-speed fibre optic connections to every house and business in Fredericton and Saint John. Good news, right? Yes, if you live in one of those areas it is good news, because competition (in this case versus Rogers) is always a good thing.
However, some of the fine print is a little troubling. Even more troubling are the details that we don't know.
Bell Aliant is a large national company that operates in several provinces including Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic Region. It is not to be confused with its predecessor Aliant that used to only cover the Atlantic provinces. That company was bought by Bell Canada and became Bell Aliant (clever!). And it is certainly not to be confused with NBTel which used to be a New Brunswick owned and operated business.
Bell Aliant is regulated by the CRTC. They have to spend certain amounts of money every year on capital expenditures and they are choosing to spend $60 million rolling out fibre optic lines in two NB cities between now and mid-2010.
To do this they are getting $1 million from us taxpayers, which was why we originally thought Premier Graham was invited to the announcement and included in the press release. But buried in the details was a little blurb that part of the deal included an agreement from the Government of New Brunswick to give Bell a 3 year contract worth (coincidentally) $60 million.
Now the press release does not specify what the 3 year agreement covers. Presumably it means that the government will use Bell Aliant exclusively for all its phone lines, cell phones, internet, and other related services for the next three years. But again - no details were given.
A news story on the announcement indicated that the government was skirting around public procurement rules to give Bell Aliant this special treatment. The news article also suggested that this contract was richer than it could have been with a public tender, and so it was going to cost us taxpayers an extra $7 million for the same service - but again no details.
Most curious was the missing information on speeds and pricing, usually the two most important considerations in any phone or cable equation. In the USA, a similar service called FIOS which is offered by Verizon costs between $50 and $150 per month. How much more will it cost in New Brunswick?
It's always great to see New Brunswick become more competitive with greater options for consumers and businesses to access internet and phone services. However, why is our government eliminating competition with a sole-source contract that will cost us an extra $7 million? Worse, they are eliminating competition province-wide, and taking money from all New Brunswickers, in order to support a service that covers about 25% of the population.
And why can't a big national company like Bell afford to pay for this without all the tricks and gimmicks from the Liberals anyway?
When the bills start rolling in on this project, it will be worth the time for New Brunswickers to check the fine print. There may be some hidden costs and surprises.
Everyone knows when you get your phone or cable bill, it's worth it to double check all the details, because there are sometimes hidden costs and mistakes.
Recently Bell Aliant announced that they were going to roll out high-speed fibre optic connections to every house and business in Fredericton and Saint John. Good news, right? Yes, if you live in one of those areas it is good news, because competition (in this case versus Rogers) is always a good thing.
However, some of the fine print is a little troubling. Even more troubling are the details that we don't know.
Bell Aliant is a large national company that operates in several provinces including Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic Region. It is not to be confused with its predecessor Aliant that used to only cover the Atlantic provinces. That company was bought by Bell Canada and became Bell Aliant (clever!). And it is certainly not to be confused with NBTel which used to be a New Brunswick owned and operated business.
Bell Aliant is regulated by the CRTC. They have to spend certain amounts of money every year on capital expenditures and they are choosing to spend $60 million rolling out fibre optic lines in two NB cities between now and mid-2010.
To do this they are getting $1 million from us taxpayers, which was why we originally thought Premier Graham was invited to the announcement and included in the press release. But buried in the details was a little blurb that part of the deal included an agreement from the Government of New Brunswick to give Bell a 3 year contract worth (coincidentally) $60 million.
Now the press release does not specify what the 3 year agreement covers. Presumably it means that the government will use Bell Aliant exclusively for all its phone lines, cell phones, internet, and other related services for the next three years. But again - no details were given.
A news story on the announcement indicated that the government was skirting around public procurement rules to give Bell Aliant this special treatment. The news article also suggested that this contract was richer than it could have been with a public tender, and so it was going to cost us taxpayers an extra $7 million for the same service - but again no details.
Most curious was the missing information on speeds and pricing, usually the two most important considerations in any phone or cable equation. In the USA, a similar service called FIOS which is offered by Verizon costs between $50 and $150 per month. How much more will it cost in New Brunswick?
It's always great to see New Brunswick become more competitive with greater options for consumers and businesses to access internet and phone services. However, why is our government eliminating competition with a sole-source contract that will cost us an extra $7 million? Worse, they are eliminating competition province-wide, and taking money from all New Brunswickers, in order to support a service that covers about 25% of the population.
And why can't a big national company like Bell afford to pay for this without all the tricks and gimmicks from the Liberals anyway?
When the bills start rolling in on this project, it will be worth the time for New Brunswickers to check the fine print. There may be some hidden costs and surprises.
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