CRTC, on queue, f*cks over consumers..again

Internet competition in Canada is a joke, what with the happy dance done between the telecoms and the government.

Customers see the corruption, it's hard to miss, but the way the system is designed can do fuck all about it.

The CRTC has varied one of its decisions on an appeal, which means pretty soon Bell will be allowed to charge wholesale Internet service providers – ISPs, such as Primus and TekSavvy – on a usage-based billing model. That means customers of those smaller ISPs will no longer enjoy unlimited Internet plans, will see data caps put in place and possibly higher monthly fees.

The decision, which comes into effect in 90 days, is emblematic of a gradual shift in the way Canadians are paying for Internet services and is not a particularly sharp turn for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which has made an effort to rely more on market forces in recent years. Nevertheless, this has huge implications for competitive “resellers,” like the two mentioned above, because they bring other services to market (like VoIP) over the networks of the big guys.

Of course, a Bell employee or fellow traveller had this to say:

markfwickens
3:30 PM on October 29, 2010
Sounds like a good ruling for freedom and property rights. Since when does competition mean providing your competitors with services in the precise way they demand? There is no right to flat-rate internet access.

Read more here.