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Despite claims from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that it is reviewing its recent decision about usage-based billing on its own accord, the telecommunications regulator has bowed under government pressure to begin an immediate review of the Internet billing practice.
At issue is how Bell prices wholesale access to Internet bandwidth, utilized by most independent Internet Service Providers who resell that access to residential and business customers, often for a flat monthly rate.
The original CRTC decision would allow Bell to charge wholesale prices not based on annual contracts, but rather on the amount of usage consumed by their wholesale clients. The CRTC ordered Bell to discount its wholesale rates by 15 percent earlier this month, but that amount was too small to stop providers from canceling unlimited use service plans across Canada.
The decision sparked a public outcry. Hundreds of thousands signed a petition demanding the CRTC rescind its decision. In fact, so many signed it broke all-time records for a petition drive.
Industry Minister Tony Clement announced last week that if the CRTC didn’t reverse its decision, the government would. Despite an intransigent appearance before a Commons committee late last week, CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein has been moderating his position this week.
“The great concern expressed by Canadians over this issue is telling of how much the internet has become an integral part of their lives,” the chairman acknowledged in a statement issued yesterday.
The CRTC now says it is open to views from the public about Internet pricing as part of its review.
The commission will seek public comments until April 29 through an online form on:
- How to make sure ordinary consumers served by small ISPs don’t have to “fund the bandwidth used by the heaviest residential internet consumers.”
- How to ensure small ISPs offering “competitive alternatives” to large ISPs can continue to do so.
- Whether small ISPs should be required to buy a minimum amount of bandwidth per retail customer when purchasing network access wholesale from large ISPs, and, if so, what that minimum should be.
- Whether the CRTC should hold an online consultation as part of its review.
- Whether the CRTC should hold an oral public hearing as part of its review.
[flv width=”640″ height=”388″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CBC CRTC Reviews UBB 2-8-11.flv[/flv]
CBC News reports the CRTC will review its earlier decision that eliminated flat-rate broadband plans in Canada. (2 minutes)
take careful note of how the CRTC questions for public comment are phrased.. they are all loaded and crafted to influence someones answers towards metered billing. Still I can answer these easily enough. •How to make sure ordinary consumers served by small ISPs don’t have to “fund the bandwidth used by the heaviest residential internet consumers.” Top 3-5% customers can automaticly be notified by billing that they’re breaking the AUP by exceeding normal use by running their connection 24/7. Giving them the option to reduce their usage, or upgrade to a commercial account, otherwise their service can be terminated. This… Read more »
This is all very reminiscent of Time Warner’s campaign in 2009 to pull the same thing. The Re-Education campaign and PR crap just shields the fact they want to pull the same nonsense under a slightly different name.
I’ll have more to say on this when I get to “Shaw’s Listening Tour,” which is classic PR damage control. Only pre-invited consumers get to attend. That should tell you all you need to know about that.
Perhaps they should also have a loyalty oath before beginning.
@phillip
“I’ll have more to say on this when I get to Shaw’s Listening Tour”
Looking forward to your report. Thanks for volunteering to be our fly on the wall, man!
@Scott “If metered billing is such a great deal for consumers, allow it to compete in the open market fairly vs unlimited plans by ISP’s that aren’t strongarmed by their sole supplier and CRTC to only offer the same type of metering at a unfair wholesale ‘discount’ that’ll drive them out of business.” That’s a great idea but it’d never work. The Evil Internet Controllers would start messing with our access through major slowdowns followed by monumental connection losses. Then they’d just cry “Overburdened Infrastructure” and apply to the CRTC for rental increases to implement ’emergency upgrades’… The only thing… Read more »
And we thought Julius Genachowski at the FCC was bad. The CRTC is loaded with commissioners who formerly worked for the very providers they are now expected to regulate. Birds of a feather sure think together, and you can be sure the plush executive office at these companies will be ready and waiting when they leave the CRTC. The “job well done” party is already being planned. The good news is, as long as the country continues its national outrage, it becomes impossible to implement these schemes. These commissions run their own backwater operations and do as they please, until… Read more »
@phillip
“Then the hammer drops.”
And as the pinging of metal-on-metal continues to resound across the Nation, we can nervously anticipate a non-Mubarakian response (new word?). Keep clammering, Canada!
@Gimme,
I do agree on both points of the government forcing Internet providers to break up their TV/Video operations, and I’d go as far as Phone if they offer true landline service into separate companies or divisions.
Commissions such as the CRTC that do nothing to regulate a market for increased competition, nor serve consumers interest also need to be disbanded and replaced with stakeholders and members that actually compromise those that they’re supposed to represent.
@Scott I think we do need to de-hyphenate Radio-Television and telephony involves such a diverse system that it probably requires a governing body of its own. I was mostly alluring to the separation of ISP from the others. But that’s part of the problem. We could re-define telecommunications to not be such a broad term. Maybe we should have started when ARPANET arrived! We’ve changed the meaning of the CRTC acronym before and, I believe, it’s still too confusing for many folks today. As an aside, what’s your opinion (and others’) on charging by bitrate for all protocols, wherever possible?… Read more »
I’ve always been for per-Mbit unlimited pricing, It’s always worked without exception, and any arguments otherwise have as you simply put are due to providers without sufficient competition attempting to enrich themselves at the expense of consumers through mis-information and abuse of their monopoly or duopoly status. In a true free market all providers would be able to offer their services as they see fit, whether it be a few offering unlimited, a few offering capped, and other combinations or assorted methods of managing their bandwidth in a open and standardized way so consumers are informed of their bandwidth management… Read more »
Well put, Scott. I think many of us are on the same page here. I’d gladly round off to the nearest 1000 kilobits for combined usage, myself. 😉