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Bell Canada has some explaining to do - to the public this time

23 June 2008 17:19 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 7 comments

Since Bell Canada was accused of throttling P2P traffic back in March they have freely admitted the practice, and claimed it was necessary because of its affect on their network. In May the company defended their actions in a filing with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), as part of their public inquiry into the matter. Unfortunately the actual traffic figures in the filing were withheld from the public.

Bell Canada claimed it was vital to keep the information private to keep it out of competitors' hands. It seems that the CTRC doesn't agree. The agency's director general of competition, costing, and tariffs has sent a letter to Bell Canada instructing the company to make the data public.

"Commission staff has determined, based on all the material before it, that no specific direct harm would likely result from disclosure, or that the public interest in disclosure outweighs any specific direct harm that might result from disclosure," read the letter.

With the actual traffic data finally available to the public we'll get some actual debate about the facts of the case instead of Bell Canada's posturing. Regardless of what the facts are it's not likely to turn out well for Bell Canada.

If it looks like they're exxagerating traffic problems it will certainly be difficult to explain, but what if they are actually running out of bandwidth? Questions about poor planning, and possibliy even insufficent preparation for the future may prove much harder to explain for a company that supplies internet access for both consumers and other ISPs.

Permalink to this article | Topic: Lawsuits & Legislation

New class action lawsuit against Comcast in Federal Court (23 July 2008)

Report says 1Gbps internet needed for US to stay competitive (25 June 2008)

Comcast sued over BitTorrent throttling (9 June 2008)

Cox also throttled torrent traffic (15 May 2008)

We don't throttle P2P users, says AT&T (27 April 2008)

Bell Canada was throttling P2P traffic (27 March 2008)

With FCC investigation looming, Comcast repeats same old argument (14 January 2008)

Comcast gets sued for blocking BitTorrent traffic (15 November 2007)

Canadian ISP admits limiting P2P traffic (5 November 2007)

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Discuss this article!
windsong (Junior Member) 23 June 2008 17:21
I wonder if they throttle their own video downloading service...I think not! [ + quote]
nobrainer (Inactive) 24 June 2008 2:53
*Originally posted by windsong:* I wonder if they throttle their own video downloading service...I think not! this is where there arguments fall flat on their face as their promoted services are given priority, which is why there is so much speak of net neutrality as they wish to make the internet a, by site subscription based service instead of the current open for all model. its much the same in the UK, tiscali even publicly announced that if a service didn't want to be throttled to death the owners of the URL's have to pay up for the privilege of tiscali allowing it. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24 June 2008 2:55
xempler (Newbie) 24 June 2008 9:49
I would love to see that report. The only competition Bell has is with Rogers and they throttle just as much as Bell. Personally I don't believe for a second this is about traffic issues but padding their fat pockets...I just want them to admit it. Otherwise as the previous poster stated why would they open up a online video downloading service???? That doesn't make any sense. "Oh we need to throttle everyone's speed because we're having serious network issues with people downloading huge files. But wait, feel free to download huge freaking files on our brand new online video store for only $19.99" Ugh...they really do think their customers are pretty stupid don't they. [ + quote]
dude845 (Senior Member) 24 June 2008 18:17
*Originally posted by xempler:* I would love to see that report. The only competition Bell has is with Rogers and they throttle just as much as Bell. Personally I don't believe for a second this is about traffic issues but padding their fat pockets...I just want them to admit it. Otherwise as the previous poster stated why would they open up a online video downloading service???? That doesn't make any sense. "Oh we need to throttle everyone's speed because we're having serious network issues with people downloading huge files. But wait, feel free to download huge freaking files on our brand new online video store for only $19.99" Ugh...they really do think their customers are pretty stupid don't they. Shaw also is a big contender, and I'm pretty sure they throttle too from what i've read. Though I still get speeds around 400-600kb for some torrents, I have 10mbps connection though :p. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24 June 2008 18:18
rawraw (Newbie) 27 June 2008 18:09
Anyone know who doesn't throttle in Ontario? [ + quote]
Mez (Senior Member) 30 June 2008 9:38
rawraw, I am sure you got that one right. I am sure they all do throttle some much more than others. The public has a right to know what they are really buying. In the US there are many areas that companies were given manopolies. Those areas the users can be throttled with impunity since they only place they can go is back to dial up. [ + quote]
rvinkebob (Member) 30 June 2008 12:35
Crossing fingers Shaw Cable doesn't become one of these "throttlers" I feel sort of lucky Shaw hasn't even messed with BT traffic yet, let alone stopped it. Verizon - Gay, Comcast - Gay, Bell - Gay... Shaw - Good :D [ + quote]