Cheaper 8Gbps internet plans could soon head your way

Your local independent internet service provider (ISP) may soon be able to offer blazing-fast 8Gbps fiber internet speeds for less money, thanks in part to Bell.

After Montreal-based National Telecom launched 8Gbps fiber internet plans earlier this year.it submitted an application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to propose an 8 Gbit/s speed tier for wholesale services, and the Commission has now approved the application on a temporary basis.

As a quick reminder, the CRTC requires incumbent ISPs such as Bell, Telus and Rogers to offer wholesale access to your networks to smaller internet providers so they can resell internet services and increase competition. The commission also sets the rates that Internet service providers pay to access wholesale services.

The CRTC has currently approved temporary wholesale access speeds of up to 3 Gbps for Bell, but according to recent Commission orderBell proposed charging the same wholesale rates for the higher 8 Gbps speed.

It is noteworthy that the new interim wholesale tariffs for 8 Gbps speed are subject to current overview of the structure of wholesale high-speed accessk, so things may change in the future.

How much can internet speed of 8 Gbps cost?

Currently, intermediate tariffs fall into two categories: Gateway Access Service (GAS) or Disaggregated Broadband Service (DBS). The differences between the two matter more to ISPs using a wholesale structure, but they do have different wholesale rates, which can affect the final cost customers pay. GAS has a site visit fee (e.g., service installation) of $244.13 and a monthly access rate of $78.03, while DBS has a service fee of $247.90 and a monthly access rate of $121.79.

While it's difficult to say exactly how much customers will have to pay based on wholesale rates alone, we can get a rough idea by comparing current market plans and wholesale rates. For example, Bell's current wholesale fiber rate for up to 1.5 Gbps in Ontario and Quebec is $68.94. Below are the prices that some ISPs charge for 1.5Gbps fiber plans:

• Bell: $110 per month with a two-year term or $135 per month without a term and no other discounts or promotions.
• Telus: $79 per month with a two-year term, or $130 per month without term, discounts or promotions.
• TekSavvy: $89.95/mo for 12 months, regular $119.95/mo.

A few caveats to the above numbers. First, prices may vary by location – I live in Hamilton, Ontario, so I see prices for that region, but prices may look different in other locations. Also, I'm not sure if TekSavvy uses Bell's fiber network, but given that Rogers doesn't offer wired internet where I live and Bell does, it's likely that TekSavvy's 1.5Gbps fiber plan uses Bell's infrastructure. As for Telus, we know that it uses Bell infrastructure for its wholesale operations in Ontario.

With that said, it looks like customers can expect a monthly price of about $10-$20 above the wholesale price, at least during the initial promotional periods, so I'd expect any ISPs launching 8Gbps plans using a Bell plan to charge somewhere around $88-$98 per month (though there's no guarantee we'll see those prices). That's slightly cheaper than Bell's current price of $160 per month for an 8Gbps plan.

However, it remains to be seen whether any ISPs will actually offer plans at these speeds. As mentioned above, 8Gbps speeds were set at the same level as 3Gbps speeds, but outside of the Bell plan, I couldn't find any 3Gbps plans from other providers.

However, there is a basis for more ISPs to start offering 8Gbps speeds. We hope to start seeing these plans soon.

Source: CRTC