>I know a lot of people wishing for competitive options to disconnect themselves from Rogers/Bell/Telus and would see this as something compelling.

They wouldn't when they realise that it is a cheaper alternative to existing satellite internet services, not cable internet. Also that it would have reception issues in urban and suburban areas which is why they are targeting rural areas.

It's a little more nuanced. Yes Bell and Rogers have a duopoly but they are also required to sell network access at a regulated wholesale rate to other ISPs (Teksavvy, start.ca, etc as Ontario examples). It's kind of a weird setup, but you can read more about it here. https://www.google.com/search?q=The+CRTC+requires+telephone+....

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The CRTC requires telephone and cable companies to sell access to their networks to independent Internet service providers (ISPs) at regulated wholesale prices.

not sure about collusion between the big 3, but for both my mobile and internet provider (2 different ones), i've successfully pitted them against each other by calling to say i'm switching over to their competitor and repeatedly got discounts for it. i'm currently paying $45/mth for 20gb from Fido Pulse BYOD plan with unlimited talk and text, and for home internet i'm paying $55/mth for 750mbps fibre from Telus.

Wow, teach me how! I pay $67 for 13GB data and $60 for 40mpbs at home in Montreal. Which province?

this is in BC. every 3-4 months, i keep calling, ask for "customer retention department" and threaten to leave. sometimes i just say "got any promos for me?" and they'll just offer whatever they can. sometimes if they have an attitude, i just hang up and call back for another more friendly agent. i've done this for the past 2 yrs and always ends up with at least a new $5/mth discount added to my bill, so by now my bill is super low.

I will give this a shot!

13gb for $67? What the hell. I thought I had a great plan at 6 gbs for $55. I remember everyone getting the 10gb for $60 deal a while back but I missed out on that one.

That's $67 before taxes. I'm with Virgin (not a recommendation). They tend to call every 6 months (less lately) and ask if I'm happy. I always say it costs too much and I want more data. They gave me two bonus packages (something like $5 for 1GB or 2GB). That's how I got to relatively cheap 13GB.

Nowadays they just look at other plans and say, nope, you're on something better than anything we offer now.

FWIW Fizz is the new hotness here. They have worse coverage outside of metros, cheaper base plans, zero phone customer service (problem for negotiating cheaper deals I imagine), and rollover data, which Virgin does not.