Defining differential pricing practices

Q.1: What types of billing practices constitute differential pricing practices for the purpose of developing a regulatory framework to govern such practices?

Q.2: To what extent do these practices exist in Canada’s Internet access service market? Provide specific examples.

Q.3: Are there Internet access differential pricing practices that may not raise regulatory concerns (for example, applications that enable consumers to monitor their data usage that may not count towards a data plan, or plans that zero-rate data traffic during a particular time period)? If so, please explain.

Identifying any concerns with differential pricing practices

Q.4: What are the potential benefits to consumers, application providers, and ISPs associated with some or all Internet access differential pricing practices?

Q.5: What are the potential risks to consumers, application providers, and ISPs associated with some or all Internet access differential pricing practices?

Q.6: How should the benefits and risks identified above be weighed and how might they inform whether any specific Internet access differential pricing practice contravenes subsection 27(2) of the Act?

Q.7: To what extent, if any, do differential pricing practices give ISPs the ability to act as “gatekeepers” that are able to determine or influence which Internet applications are more likely to be accessed than others by consumers? If so, explain whether this is appropriate.

Q.8: Are differential pricing practices examples of market forces working as they should, or are they examples of anti-competitive behaviour?

Q.9: Are ISPs being sufficiently transparent with respect to the information they provide to consumers about the Internet access differential pricing practices they use? How aware are consumers about the implications of these practices?

Applying regulatory measures, if any

Q.10: To what extent do Internet access differential pricing practices fall within the scope of section 36 of the Act? If any such practices engage section 36 of the Act, what considerations ought to guide the Commission in assessing whether to approve these practices under this section?

Q.11: Having regard to the responses to the questions above, what restrictions, if any, should be placed on any specific differential pricing practices associated with retail Internet data usage?

Q.12: Should specific types of applications, such as those associated with social needs, be treated differently or be exempt from a regulatory framework on differential pricing practices, and if so, why? How might any such applications be defined, categorized, and assessed?

Q.13: Do any other factors influence whether differential pricing practices should or should not be permitted in certain cases? For example, should permission depend on whether

the ISP controls multiple parts of the supply chain, including the transmission facilities and the data applications;

the differential pricing practice is based on economic or purely technical parameters;

the differential pricing practice affects the success of the application or service in question;

there is a societal benefit to doing so;

the ISP makes the offer available to all application providers offering the same or similar services or applications; or

the practice affects broadcasting policy?

Q.14: Should the Commission’s ITMP framework be modified to address differential pricing practices and, if so, how?

Q.15: Describe how any transparency concerns about the information that is made available to consumers with respect to differential pricing practices could be mitigated.