Non-techies cared, in this case, because it was pretty easy to see how this would affect you personally - you would have to pay more. Period.
If you asked the average person who is opposed to UBB (read: practically everyone), very few could actually present a nuanced argument as to why it's bad for a number of reasons. Instead, they can simply equate UBB to paying more, which it turns out is good enough for collective action.
So democracy wins, but only because this can be framed as a pretty black-and-white issue in the eyes of most Canadians.