Canadian Internet Service Providers continue to battle what they say are attempts to undermine fair competition in the country's telecom industry.
And they say the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) “erred in law and in fact” in its decision about Internet throttling.
More than 10 telecommunication service providers have joined the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) in the past six months, and have signed on to a petition calling for the CRTC to rescind its November 2008 decision that allowed Bell Canada to continue to throttle Internet users traffic.
The coalition asserts in a 66-page document that the CRTC based its decision on factual and legal errors and the decision undermines the public interest in a competitive Internet access services market.
“We’ve been proactively advocating on behalf of small to medium sized telecommunications companies for years,” said Tom Copeland, Chair of CAIP. “While the issues have always been critical, the attacks on fair competition and mandated access to telecommunications infrastructure on a wholesale basis are coming more frequently and with great voracity than ever.”
The applicants (The Consumers’ Association of Canada and Canada Without Poverty (formally, the National Anti-Poverty Organization), by their counsel, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (“PIAC”) (collectively, “The Consumer Groups”) as well as CAIP and several independent telecommunications service providers, including Acanac Inc., Accelerated Connections Inc., Cybersurf Corp., Execulink Telecom Inc., eagle.ca, Managed Network Systems Inc. (MNSi), Skyway West Business Internet Services, Start Communications, TekSavvy Solutions Inc., Vianet Internet Solutions, and Yak Communications) are seeking to review and vary Telecom Decision 2008-108, Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP) – Application requesting certain orders directing Bell Canada to cease and desist from throttling its wholesale ADSL Access Services, dated 20 November 2008 (“Decision 2008-108”).
For more information, see http://www.cata.ca/files/CAIP/R_V_on_Throttling_%2820May09FINAL%29-1.pdf
“CAIP fights battles with giants in the telecom industry,” explained Copeland. “A small or medium sized ISP doesn’t stand a chance fighting these battles alone. The best solution is for them to join the CAIP coalition of telecom service providers, because together we have the strength in resources and numbers needed to make a stand.”
Beyond the issues of fair access and traffic shaping, CAIP represents the industry on a number of fronts, including; industry best practices, copyright, online child safety, new media broadcasting, anti-SPAM legislation, and broadband Internet access for all Canadians.
CAIP has also announced that it and its umbrella association, CATAAlliance, have formed a partnership with the Strategy Institute to host the Optimum Broadband Strategies for Cities Summit and offer their members a 15 per cent discount on registrations.
The event, hosted on June 23 and 24 in Toronto, is of special interest to Internet service providers (ISPs), public safety and security stakeholders, equipment vendors, application/service providers, and city management executives.
This event looks to be an excellent opportunity for our members to network, source government funding, and learn more about the broadband needs of North American cities," added Copeland. "By attending, ISPs can expand their efforts to provide broadband Internet access to all Canadians - advancing Canada's broadband objectives."