CRTC succumbs to Bell: ISPs and customers to pay by byte

This is not good for ISP’s, customers and especially downloaders.

Today the CRTC pushed telecom policy one step in the wrong direction for independent Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and one giant misguided leap in the wrong direction for Canadians. The problem? Usage-based billing (UBB).

When the CRTC approved Bell’s request to bill Internet users based on how much they download, they didn’t limit it to individual internet aficionados like you and me. The CRTC has also imposed UBB on the independent ISPs that rent lines from Bell, which allows the telecom giant to limit how many gigabytes of usage these indie ISPs can provide to their customers. This means that indie ISPs will be less able to differentiate their services from those of Bell, and will be therefore less able to compete in Canada’s “free” market.

This is a blow to consumer choice, to access, and to diversity in telecommunications in Canada.