Northern internet service provider Northwestel has dropped the price customers pay for straying beyond their monthly usage cap.
In a news release on Monday, the company said the price per additional gigabyte (GB) over the monthly cap is going down by 50 cents. The change comes into effect immediately and will appear on February bills.
Up till now, most customers were paying between $2 and $3 per GB over their limit, depending on their plan. The minimum will now be $1.50.
The company made a similar change this time last year and says it has done so five times, in total, since 2011 – when customers were paying an average of $10 per extra GB, according to Monday’s statement.
The cost of internet access in the North has long been a concern for residents. In Yellowknife, a monthly cap of 300 GB with the same provider costs a household roughly $1,700 a year.
By comparison, Bell – Northwestel’s parent company – sells plans with a monthly cap of 750 GB for an annual fee of $1,200 further south, where infrastructure is more developed.
On Monday, Northwestel also introduced “additional usage blocks” for customers who purchase its residential DSL internet.
The company says those customers can now purchase a ‘block’ of 50 additional GB for $40 each month, rather than face over-usage fees.
