

Saira Peesker, cp24.com





Public interest groups are calling on the CRTC to put a stop to the controversial practice known as bandwidth throttling -- the deliberate slowing down of Internet speeds by telecom companies.

By Monday, more than 5,000 web users had submitted complaints about the practice through SaveOurNet.ca, a web community focused on promoting net neutrality -- keeping online traffic free of corporate interference.

Monday marks the final day that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which regulates Canada's broadcasting and communications industries, will accept public input on the issue. The body plans to make a ruling later this year.

Several of the country's largest Internet providers, including Bell and Rogers, have admitted to "traffic management" during peak hours.

SaveOurNet.ca's Steve Anderson and his organization's thousands of supporters believe telecommunications companies should not have the right to control the way their subscribers use the Internet.

"You can think of it like a telephone. If you want to call someone, you don't want the telephone provider to be telling you which people to call, or be put on a waiting list because you want to call someone in Toronto.

"You pay for access to the phone system and it works. If you want to access something that's online, you don't want (the phone companies) picking and choosing which content you can view."

Bell says a small number of customers use a majority of the available bandwidth.

Spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis told CP24.com that if high-use customers aren't capped, speeds will be slower for all of their customers using the Internet during peak times.

"It is a small proportion of users that are using more than 50 per cent of the bandwidth," Michelis said in a phone interview on Friday.

"During peak hours we shape the traffic so that it flows fairly for everybody. It is actually making it more equitable because it's not slowing it down for everybody."

A spokesperson for Rogers said their company was too busy preparing their submission for the CRTC to speak with CP24. Telus is one of few large Internet providers that does not manage traffic, according to documents recently submitted to the CRTC.

Anderson believes the Internet's egalitarian nature has been the backbone of its success and says muzzling the sharing of information does everyone a disservice.

United States President Barack Obama has already voiced strong support for net neutrality, as has Michael Copps, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, the American equivalent of the CRTC.

Anderson believes businesses seeking the free exchange of information online -- such as those that depend on teleconferencing services such as Skype -- will be less likely to launch in Canada due to an environment where providers are allowed to manage web traffic.

"This is an issue between a few big telecom companies and the rest of Canada," says Anderson. "Other than those large companies, there's no one else who wants to see the Internet get throttled.

"My hope is that the CRTC will see that it's in the public interest to have access to an open Internet in terms of free speech, consumer choice and economic development."

The next step of the process is a public hearing on the issue set for July 6 in Gatineau, Quebec.