CRTC extends traffic management policy to wireless providers

The CRTC’s decision last week to implement traffic management policies for wireless carriers could be a step toward a broader regulatory framework for mobile services, John Lawford, counsel with the consumer advocacy group the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), told The Wire Report Monday. “Are we going to start regulating wireless? Are we going to start regulating the Internet, and how? At a certain point, I think, ‘Yeah, we are,’” Lawford said. He suggested subsidy mechanisms for local services, price controls, or European-style caps or regulations on roaming charges as potential areas for review. Last week, the CRTC amended its regulatory exemption for mobile wireless data services, saying it will extend its existing regulatory policy on Internet traffic management practices to mobile services. Under existing traffic management regulation, Internet service providers (ISPs) can apply Internet traffic management practices on retail services without commission approval, but the ISPs must publicly disclose their practices. The policy also states that ISPs cannot exercise any undue discrimination on the distribution of data that would give them a competitive edge. That regulatory policy will now apply to wireless carriers. “I think it’s a good thing, in terms of being able to complain and having the same set of rules,” Lawford said. But Michael Hennessy, senior vice-president of government and regulatory affairs with Telus Corp., said it’s “a big stretch” to interpret the decision as one that opens the door to further regulation for the wireless sector. Hennessy said it should be more or less considered in isolation. The commission said carriers can’t throttle Internet traffic in the wireless world any differently than they can on wired networks, he said. Telus supports the decision in principle, Hennessy added, but said a regulatory framework for the Internet doesn’t necessarily work for mobile wireless—which has different characteristics. “It’s a spectrum constrained system,” he said, noting that wireless carriers already manage their networks’ traffic. “You can’t say that the wireless network and the wired Internet network are the same thing. To assume that the same rule applies equally, it’s unclear how they can do that.” Lawford noted that, as a result of the ruling, wireless providers will now have to disclose their traffic management policies. “I would watch their terms of service over the next little while,” Lawford said. The regulatory framework for traffic management puts the onus on the public to make complaints, and Lawford said it is difficult for organizations to make formal complaints under the system to try to prove that networks were unreasonably throttled. To do so requires a significant amount of technical knowledge and evidence. “I would think wireless is even more complicated,” he said. Marc Choma, a spokesman for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), said the association supports giving the commission the authority to deal with unjust discrimination on wireless networks. “We have suggested that they should have that power,” he said. “The overall decision wasn’t all that unexpected.” He pointed out that the commission’s original traffic management decision suggested that the rules would also apply to wireless. In March, the CWTA asked the commission to remove traffic management from its proceeding to review the regulatory exemption for mobile wireless data services. The same month, the commission said it would hold a separate proceeding on traffic management for mobile data services. The commission took comments online before issuing the decision last week. Hennessy said he was surprised the CRTC issued the decision without opening a larger proceeding. “I was a bit surprised that the commission went so far as to say that the rules applied,” Hennessy said. “How do determine what is reasonable or unreasonable with respect to wireless if you’ve never really debated it?” As part of its review of the exemption on wireless data services, the commission is scheduled to hold hearings on basic telecommunications service objectives starting Oct. 25. Local service subsidies used to help serve remote, high-cost areas, are expected to come up during the hearings. Rogers, Bell and Telus have said the subsidies have become costly and should be reviewed. sdoyle@thewirereport.ca

CRTC extends traffic management policy to wireless providers

News | July 5, 2010

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