TekSavvy Solutions Inc. has launched new DSL service targeting SMBs now that Canada’s telecom watchdog has ruled that it and other small ISPs can directly compete with big carriers in the high-speed Internet space.
Chatham, Ont.-based TekSavvy has introduced speciallypriced DSLservice for SMBs in four provinces: Ontario,Quebec, Alberta andBritish Columbia.
“The new pricing will allow TekSavvy to better cater to the SMB marketin those provinces …(by) offering a number of new Internet speeds, with7MB uploads and with competitive prices,” TekSavvy CEO Marc Gaudraultsaid in a statement released Wednesday.
Highly visible in the battle to even out the ISP playing field,TekSavvy played up its own position as an SMB catering to SMBcustomers in its announcement on Wednesday.
“TekSavvy understands the needs of SMBs as no telecommunicationsmonopoly can. The company is an SMB, in a market with few realcompetitors to the large players,” Gaudrault said. “Being a smallbusiness ourselves, we know what small business needs and we are happyto provide a suitable offering to our peers.”
TekSavvy’s move follows a ruling last November by the CanadianRadio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to scrap a plan –originally proposed by Bell Canada – to force usage-based billing onsmaller ISPs. Instead, the CRTC gave larger ISPs two options: they caneither charge smaller players a flat rate, or bill them based on thecapacity of the smaller ISPs’ networks.
What the complicated ruling did was essentially allow independent ISPslike TekSavvy to compete with big carriers like Bell, Rogers and Telusin offering unlimited high-speed Internet service for a flat rate.
TekSavvy lists its new SMB pricing forhigh-speed service on its Web site.