Usage tracker overly optimistic, Bell admits

Canadian telecoms and cable provider Bell admits its web usage tracker is experiencing problems, overinflating customer Internet usage, Moneyville reported earlier this week. In order to fix this, the company has disabled the usage tracker until it can resolve the issue, notifying customers on its website. The faux overages can range from insignificant to ones that incur extra usage penalties for running over the cap.

One user said we was charged for exceeding a 25GB monthly limit, while he said he never downloaded more than 2.5GB. Another was told he used 2.7GB on one day, with the actual usage claimed to be just 150MB. The same customer said 500MB of phantom data usage was tracked by Bell, despite unplugging his modem when leaving the country.

The erroneous reporting applies only to a small amount of customers or less than 0.1 percent, insisited Bell spokesperson Jason Laszlo. He assures they are being taken care of, but doesn't specify.

The timing is poor for Bell, as the company insists its customers should be billed solely depending on their usage and supports a proposed CRTC ruling that would enforce this. The controversial ruling, which was recently delayed by 60 days, is also supported by Rogers but may be overturned by a government reacting to outcries from the public.

Critics argue that the two big players and other major ISPs have anti-competitive motivations for such a billing model. The companies are pushing for this move because of the increased popularity of streaming and downloaded videos. Rogers and Bell, which rent out their broadband to smaller companies such as TekSavvy, find themselves losing customers to these smaller ISPs, which often provide higher monthly caps or no caps at all for similar or better prices.

By Electronista Staff