We've got the service to the house and they want to convert us and will maintain our contact rate. I'm worried when my contract ends, they're going to increase rates on us all in a year or two because there must have been a big cost to this new service. Not a lot of faith in big companies this days, maybe I'm just venting, but anyone in the know on this stuff?
Posted Feb 13, 2022, 8:25 PM UTC
I'd be a hell of a lot richer if I could accurately predict the future like that.
Same. But maybe someone in the know (employee, contractor, bureaucrat) might show up / drop a hint...
Anyway, it must have cost them a boatload to do this, and with the way costs are increasing they surely must plan to recoup it soon.
It did cost more than a boatload but it's the cost of staying competitive.
There are much lower operating costs for fibre versus copper, fewer repairs needed, etc. https://www.fiercetelecom.com/operators/canada-s-telus-track-to-retire-its-copper-network-by-early-2023
Which means we should see rates quadruple, for "reasons". Thanks CRTC, keep the oligopoly going
That's interesting, wonder why that is, but I doubt our rates drop. Also interesting they're talking about retiring copper by 2023, so they'll get every home off it eventually anyway. Guess I'll just switch over, might as well enjoy it while I'm on contract.
Yes they will.
Telus installed fibre in my neighbourhood in 2018 and sure enough after 2 years they nearly doubled my internet service price. As usual Shaw had a deal going on so I called up Telus and said that I was thinking of switching so Telus lowered my bill back to the previous price.
Ah ok, good data point, but I wonder if it was like a signup promo you got?
Yeah of course, you always get a deal for signing a two year contract.
Are you asking if you don't sign a contract are they still going to raise prices? That answer would be a resounding yes as well.
[deleted]
As long as there’s another competitor out there (Shaw) rates should stay around the same. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rogers/Shaw deal goes through that Rogers will be actively trying to get customers with aggressive introductory rates for a time period
With Shaw and Telus you have to play them off each other to get good discounts. Their base rates go up on a regular basis (fibre or not). However they both offer big discounts, especially for new customers.
That’s their strategy - they offer discounts for new customers (fibre or not) and hope to keep them at renewal. They’ll offer some discounts at renewal but often not the same level.
So it may appear they are doing that with fibre but they have been doing it for a long time already.
There are always resellers like Teksaavy and Lightspeed too. They seem to have fewer promotions but offer a better everyday price.
what's your contracted rate you're paying now? I've been with Telus Fibre for 6 years.... 1gb service (now)... pay $89 (including a couple of mesh repeaters).
6 years wow, they only got to some of our neighbourhoods this fall. 80$ for "75" I think offhand, but I think they'll put me on "75" version of Fiber, I'll need to check out their plans / tiers.
I pay the same price as the guy you replied to. I think the 75 refers to 75mbps, your download speed. For reference, 1gb/gigabit is 1000mbps and we pay $90/mo for it. Which is obviously much better value than what you have. Personally I think you're getting gouged but if you don't need the extra speed or bandwidth you have nothing to worry about
Yea, don't think I'm opposed to converting at the end of the day might as well get more for the rate I have now. Hopefully this just doesn't become super expensive later, but I guess switching is an option later as people have said
I get big discounts from Telus every 2 years. I did not get the discount one time and switched to Shaw. Switched back the next year when Shaw would not renew their deal. Telus has not failed to renew my discounts since I already proved to them I will move services.
Currently paying $80 for 1Gbit fiber with unlimited data add on.
The prices are already ridiculous if you're not bartering them down. They make it a lot harder and time consuming these days too.
[removed]
[deleted]
Yep, you can usually shake down Telus when a contract is up. Shaw has been grotesquely incompetent in past years however, tried the big greedy grab and was burned.
When your contract nears its end, simply phone up Shaw (assuming they service your area) and ask for their best offer for speeds that match your current plan. Then phone Telus' customer retention dept and tell them about shaw's deal. Threaten to leave to Shaw unless Telus can make you an offer. Be polite but firm and most of the time they'll match. If they don't, hangup and call them again later, hopefully a different agent will be more helpful.
Better yet, when you talk to Telus subtract $10-15 off shaw's best offer and claim that's what they offered you. I did this and Telus matched it without batting an eye
Of course, this requires shaw's deal to be around the same price or cheaper. But usually you can find some decent intro/new customer pricing.
Or, y'know, just switch to Shaw.
Only if Telus declines to match. I've spent extended periods with both companies. Comparing internet alone, Telus' speeds are much more consistent since each house (in my area at least) has its own fibre line. With Shaw iirc it's split over several houses so during peak periods when your neighbors are using lots of bandwidth (e.g. Netflix in the evening) you won't hit your max speeds. To be fair, this is what a Telus sales man told me a while back but I found it to be true when testing myself. Also Telus has vastly better upload speeds