Usage-based billing review to consider minimum limits for bit caps: CRTC chair

OTTAWA—The CRTC's upcoming review of its usage-based billing policy will consider regulations for minimum bandwidth caps, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said in a brief interview Friday. “It’s one of the questions: should we at all get into the issue of caps? Should they be set, and if so, how and under what criteria?” von Finckenstein said in a brief interview following a question-and-answer session at the Canadian Media Production Association's (CMPA) annual Prime Time in Ottawa conference. “To set a minimum is another way you could go at it, or should it be proportional to the fee? I want to hear from people about whether the cap is an issue, and is it an issue we should wrap into the wholesale prices or not.” On Feb. 3 the CRTC initiated a review of its usage-based billing policy in response to a public outcry and a request from Bell Canada. The policy would allow incumbent telcos to impose retail bandwidth caps on their wholesale customers. Under the policy, small, reseller ISPs like Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. could no longer offer unlimited monthly usage plans. “Bell has a cap of 60 in Quebec, but 20 in Ontario. What's the logic of that? I don't understand it. As part of this hearing, I hope that we will look at it, we will have a whole education of how it works and the carriers will also try to rethink their offerings,” von Finckenstein said, speaking at the conference. Von Finckenstein said usage-based billing has been misunderstood by the public, adding that the commission supports in principle a regime where heavy users pay more than light users. “I think it's only fair that if you're a heavy user you have to pay more,” he said. But von Finckenstein added that there may be room to revise the policy. “Is there a better way of doing it? ... Maybe there are better ways, and we've opened it up,” he said. “It's clear that you have to differentiate between heavy users and regular users. How you do it, that's going to be the issue.” But von Finckenstein told The Wire Report that the commission will not get involved in the price that Internet service providers (ISPs) charge for overage data. “We never get into that. We don’t regulate unless there’s a market failure, and I don’t think anybody can say there is market failure here,” he said. On Monday the Canadian Network Operators Consortium (CNOC), a coalition of small ISPs, called on the CRTC to broaden its review of the policy. Von Finckenstein cautioned that the review will not be too broad. “The terms are the whole mechanism of UBB and the way to do it better. Does it make sense? Can we do it better? Can we do it more intelligently? Does there have to be some exceptions?” He said the small ISPs asking for a broader hearing want the commission to revisit its high-speed access policy. “They are asking us to redo the high-speed access decision. That’s not on the table,” he said. news@thewirereport.ca

Usage-based billing review to consider minimum limits for bit caps: CRTC chair

News | February 18, 2011

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