Clement rolls out FedNor dollars for North
By Nugget Staff
The North Bay area will receive more than $3.5 million in FedNor funding. Read More
"Blue Sky Net will receive $175,000 to support small businesses implementing e-business technology and to develop digital skills."
Internet Billing Debate: Too little, too late
Apr 11, 2011 – 10:47 PM ET
Bell has retreated from its demands for an arm and a leg for a gigabyte. Now it just wants a hand
By Rocky Gaudrault
Bell Canada took a step back from its aggressive and much-derided stance on usage-based billing (UBB) recently when it announced it would drop efforts to impose an exorbitantly priced UBB model on independent Internet service providers (IISPs) such as TekSavvy Solutions Inc.
Instead, purportedly acceding to IISPs’ requests, it would supply bandwidth to IISPs through an aggregated volume pricing (AVP) model, allowing IISPs to allocate bandwidth as they wished among their customers. Bell would still price bandwidth based on usage; the cost would be 19.5¢ per gigabyte when purchased in a package of one terabyte (1,000 GB), and 29.5¢ per GB for any overage.
On the surface this appears to be a generous concession by Bell, an improvement on a severely restrictive supply model and otherworldly pricing far beyond that seen anywhere else in the industrialized world (its previous UBB plan sought up to $2.50/GB).
Viewed in the context of recent events, and with a clear understanding of the underlying costs and capacity issues, AVP is a strategic retreat by Bell, made in the face of the withering fire it endured when an aroused Canadian public got hip to Bell’s game and cried foul. Bell had finally gone too far in taking advantage of the goodwill of the Canadian public.
Like many such retreats, this is too little and too late.
More: http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/04/11/internet-billing-debate-too-little-too-late/
CBC News – Technology & Science – Net usage allowances slashed after CRTC ruling
CBC News - Technology & Science - Net usage allowances slashed after CRTC ruling
The amount of video or data that can be streamed or downloaded by some internet customers under their current price plans is being cut almost 90 per cent following a recent CRTC decision.
Starting March 1, customers who subscribe to five-megabits-per-second internet service with Tekksavvy will only be able to use 25 gigabytes per month in Ontario and 60 gigabytes per month in Quebec instead of 200 gigabytes per month, the company said in an email to customers over the weekend. If they exceed the new caps, they will have to pay hefty surcharges.
In addition, the company will no longer offer unlimited internet packages.
Extra billing for internet use a ‘ripoff’
CBC News
The CRTC's decision to allow internet service providers to charge their customers for downloading excessive amounts of data threatens "free and open access to the internet in Canada," the NDP said Thursday.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2011/01/20/consumer-internet-ndp.html#ixzz1Bgpeqz00
Telegraph and Morse Code fun to learn — VIDEO – The North Bay Nugget – Ontario, CA
The North Bay Telegraph Club set up a display at Discovery North Bay to commemorate Samuel Morse’s birthday; the inventor of Morse Code and pioneer in Information Communication Technology.
The telegraph was the forbearer to the telephone and the internet modem. Telegraph’s remained used up until the 1930s in Northern Ontario before many rural communities received telephone service. Today, the Telegraph is rarely used in practical terms and exists mostly in the realm of the hobbyist.
Many members of the NBTC are former railroaders who used the telegraph and Morse Code daily. Because Morse Code uses a type of short-hand and jargon all its own to speed up messaging, users develop a unique and recognizable “hand” or style of communicating. Duz this remind u of anything 2day? lol J
Telegraph and Morse Code fun to learn — VIDEO - The North Bay Nugget - Ontario, CA.
Canada not ready for Air Canada’s in-flight internet
Interesting technology for business travelers allows internet connectivity aboard airplanes. The network relays data signals between the plane and special towers on the ground. Reports say that the user connects in a similar manner as they would in a hotspot on the ground. It appears that there are some regulatory issues here in Canada but the technology is in use by other carriers. Read on by following the link.