Comments on: Will Japan Take Off Because of Broadband Price and Speed? http://www.drucker.ca/2009/03/28/will-japan-take-off-because-of-broadband-price-and-speed/ Drucker dot see, eh? Wed, 15 Dec 2010 04:28:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: David Drucker http://www.drucker.ca/2009/03/28/will-japan-take-off-because-of-broadband-price-and-speed/comment-page-1/#comment-29183 David Drucker Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:22:44 +0000 http://www.drucker.ca/?p=113#comment-29183 Hi KC. Thanks for the info. We just started getting fiber here in our building, and we signed up. I'm still in the first 6 months of the plan (which aren't what it will eventually cost per month). My impression is that if you want 10 MPS and end up in a building served by Shaw, you can opt for slightly under, at 7.5 Mbps and pay about $35 per month before taxes, etc., or if you go for closer to 20 Mbps (which really ends up being closer to about 12-15 in my experience, because you are sharing your access point with others in your neighborhood), it runs about $45 per month. Here are the prices and plans: http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsServices/Internet/ As for limits, yes, I there are some. Shaw's higher speed service advertises a '100 GB/month data transfer' which is I assume their cap. There is no plan that I know of anywhere for a consumer that offers unlimited usage. You might have to look to a TV for programming again, if you want to use your net connection to the degree you've been using it. I guess you'll see what the difference to society is when there isn't affordable, unlimited Internet if you move here next year. Hi KC. Thanks for the info. We just started getting fiber here in our building, and we signed up. I’m still in the first 6 months of the plan (which aren’t what it will eventually cost per month). My impression is that if you want 10 MPS and end up in a building served by Shaw, you can opt for slightly under, at 7.5 Mbps and pay about $35 per month before taxes, etc., or if you go for closer to 20 Mbps (which really ends up being closer to about 12–15 in my experience, because you are sharing your access point with others in your neighborhood), it runs about $45 per month.

Here are the prices and plans:
http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/ProductsServices/Internet/

As for limits, yes, I there are some. Shaw’s higher speed service advertises a ‘100 GB/month data transfer’ which is I assume their cap. There is no plan that I know of anywhere for a consumer that offers unlimited usage. You might have to look to a TV for programming again, if you want to use your net connection to the degree you’ve been using it. I guess you’ll see what the difference to society is when there isn’t affordable, unlimited Internet if you move here next year.

]]> By: KC http://www.drucker.ca/2009/03/28/will-japan-take-off-because-of-broadband-price-and-speed/comment-page-1/#comment-29181 KC Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:58:34 +0000 http://www.drucker.ca/?p=113#comment-29181 I live in Tokyo, and I pay $40 (Canadian) per month unlimited usage for fiber-optic broadband with the speed of 100 megabits per second up and down. As for your assumption that many of us access the Internet exclusively via cell phones, that is not the case. Yes, we do use smart phones to access Internet when we are outside, but when we are inside we do use landlines. The user percentages of fiber/ADSL/cable are like 80/15/5 down here. 125 million people living on islands similar to the size of California (40 million of which living in the greater Tokyo area) made it easier and cheaper to cover almost the entire population with fiber-optic network. The low cost has caused us heavily dependent on Internet (I for one usually stay online for at least 10 hours a day and I no longer own a TV set because my laptop has high definition 16" screen and built-in TV tuner.) Whether Japan as a country can benefit financially and intellectually from this low cost & high speed network remains to be seen. I'm planning to move to Vancouver next year, and I came across your post while I was trying to find out what the Internet cost and speed in Canada are like. Is it true that in Canada there is usage limit per month? The only other places where I encountered limited usages per month were in Australia and New Zealand. Must be a Commonwealth thing. Could you give me some idea what the cost would be in Vancouver if I wanted at least 10 megabits per second speed and unlimited usage? I live in Tokyo, and I pay $40 (Canadian) per month unlimited usage for fiber-optic broadband with the speed of 100 megabits per second up and down.

As for your assumption that many of us access the Internet exclusively via cell phones, that is not the case. Yes, we do use smart phones to access Internet when we are outside, but when we are inside we do use landlines. The user percentages of fiber/ADSL/cable are like 80/15/5 down here. 125 million people living on islands similar to the size of California (40 million of which living in the greater Tokyo area) made it easier and cheaper to cover almost the entire population with fiber-optic network.

The low cost has caused us heavily dependent on Internet (I for one usually stay online for at least 10 hours a day and I no longer own a TV set because my laptop has high definition 16″ screen and built-in TV tuner.) Whether Japan as a country can benefit financially and intellectually from this low cost & high speed network remains to be seen.

I’m planning to move to Vancouver next year, and I came across your post while I was trying to find out what the Internet cost and speed in Canada are like. Is it true that in Canada there is usage limit per month? The only other places where I encountered limited usages per month were in Australia and New Zealand. Must be a Commonwealth thing. Could you give me some idea what the cost would be in Vancouver if I wanted at least 10 megabits per second speed and unlimited usage?

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