Bell Sympatico
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| Bell Sympatico | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of Bell Canada |
| Founded | November 29, 1995 |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec |
| Industry | Internet Service Provider |
| Products | xDSL, WiMax and dial-up |
| Website | bell.ca/servicesympatico |
Bell Sympatico, originally and frequently called Sympatico, is the residential internet service provider division of Bell Canada. It is affiliated with MSN. As of March 2006, Sympatico had over 2 million subscribers in Ontario and Quebec and is the largest ADSL ISP in Canada.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
Sympatico was launched on November 29, 1995.[citation needed] Originally a national service operated jointly by Canada's ILECs, the companies other than Bell (including Aliant) have since retreated to their own brands.[citation needed] Bell subsidiaries NorthernTel, Télébec and Northwestel continue to brand their internet services as Sympatico, and users receive an @ntl.sympatico.ca, @tlb.sympatico.ca, or @sympatico.ca email address, respectively.
Starting in Summer 2003, Sympatico tried to differentiate its service from its competitors by adding Radial Point's (formerly Zero Knowledge) suite of antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware services for extra charge. In 2004, Sympatico added a wireless modem-router hardware upgrade and Microsoft's MSN Premium software to its portfolio. In Summer 2007, Sympatico packaged its Security suite and wireless home networking modem together with its high speed offering as Sympatico Total Internet.
[edit] Etymology
The name Sympatico was chosen for its universal recognition by both English and French speakers, as both are official languages of Canada. Visually and phonetically it resembles the English and French words "sympathetic" and "sympathique" (meaning "kind"), respectively. The word is pronounced as in the Italian, Portuguese or Spanish "simpático", with the emphasis on the second syllable in English.
[edit] Equipment
Bell Sympatico offers many tiers of service based on two different kinds of technology: Dial Up service, based on telephone modem equipment as well as DSL services, based on ADSL technology. The main differences in both equipments vary from the speed of signal, its length and its ability to overcome the noise of a phone line.
Three other Sympatico-branded Internet services are also offered:
- Bell Sympatico WiMAX Unplugged service is a portable wireless service that is part of the Inukshuk Inc. project. The project aims to provide broadband Internet access to underserved areas across Canada.
- Bell Sympatico Total Internet Max service is a residential Internet service provided through a fiber optic network currently offering download speeds of up to 16 Mbit/s. These services currently have a limited availability however service expansion is ongoing.
- Sympatico IPTV service is a planned TV over IP service. Scheduled for release somewhere in 2008.
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Project Cleanfeed Canada
In November 2006, to address the problem of the accidental access to child pornography sites, especially by those under the age of majority, Bell, Bell Aliant, MTS Allstream, Rogers, Shaw, SaskTel, Telus, and Videotron, in conjunction with cybertip.ca (a nationwide tipline for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children), announced the creation of Project Cleanfeed Canada, an initiative designed to block access to child pornography sites. It is based on a similar program introduced by British Telecom in 2004. [1] Project Cleanfeed Canada uses an encrypted blacklist of known child-pornography sites operating outside the country and targets only those sites that offer images of prepubescent children. [2]
However, some critics denounce the initiative, saying that this amounts to nothing more than internet censorship. Others argue that it is a risk worth taking. [3]
[edit] Bandwidth throttling
Users of bandwidth that Sympatico deem excessive have been sent warning letters that state they are in violation of their Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy. As a result their use is throttled during peak hours. Some have questioned the legality of this.[4]
As of April 7 2008, Bell will begin using deep packet inspection to identify and throttle all BitTorrent traffic across its network[5], regardless of actual bandwidth use. This will also affect its DSL resellers, who have filed a formal complaint to the CRTC[6]. Critics claim Bell's move stifles competition, violates net neutrality, and discriminates against legitimate uses of the BitTorrent protocol.[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Martin Bright (2004-06-06). BT puts block on child porn sites. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ Michael Geist (2006-11-24). Project Cleanfeed Canada. Michael Geist. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ Michael Geist (2006-12-04). Child porn plan a risk worth taking. TheStar.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ Bell Sympatico P2P Black List. 2008-11-03.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
[edit] External links
- Bell Sympatico
- Sympatico Customer Support
- Bell Sympatico review by dslreports.com (cited in many sites)
- Provincial protection agency report (Section in French)
- Sympatico contracts from Bell legal section
- Bell Better Home
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