Bell suggests 'Aggregated Volume Pricing' as alternative to usage-based billing

With telecom price gouging a potential election issue, Bell has scrambled to find a happy medium between the consumer-crushing usage-based billing system and our current unlimited internet plans, because politicians may try to win votes with a system more favourable to consumers than anything the CRTC might come up with.

Bell's solution, submitted yesterday to the CRTC, is called "Aggregated Volume Pricing." Details are scarce, but Vancouver's OpenMedia isn't optimistic that it is much better than UBB: "Will this new scheme stop usage fees, expensive rates, and overall horrible telecom service? No, we’re afraid not."

The CRTC's self-review period is nearing an end, and it's going to need to announce a new decision. Industry Minister Tony Clement already stated that if the national media regulator tried to re-impose the UBB, it would be nixed by the government—great news for Canadians and Canada as a whole. But now a sudden federal election has been called, which complicates everything.

So what does the future of Canada's telecom sector look like for consumers> This situation demands that we end on a cliché: time will tell.