Download limits: A necessary evil? (in French only)

Author

Sophy Lambert-Racine, Marcel Boucher

Organization

Union des consommateurs

Published

2014

Summary

The bandwidth download limits imposed by Internet service providers (ISPs) in Canada continue to frustrate consumers. A Netflix executive has claimed that the Internet offer in Canada is equivalent to a violation of human rights.

As part of their study, Union des consommateurs (UC) examined the Internet access offers of a sample of Canadian providers, and we compared their offers to those in other countries. UC attempted to link market conditions with the regulations applied in each country studied, in order to determine the basis of the differences observed. Then UC consulted experts on this issue in Canada.

According to UC’s research, to the main question of their project: do download limits constitute the best choice for consumers? The answer must be a resounding no. In fact, Canada’s economic and political context has long favoured ISPs and given them all the latitude to choose and apply the pricing structure that favours them and guarantees their economic sustainability, with minimal consideration of consumer interests by providers and, unfortunately, by the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

UC’s study leads them to recommend the following: that the CRTC update its regulatory policy on Internet traffic management and impose rules of conduct on Canadian providers; that internet traffic management practices be authorized only if tangible proof exists that they are applied for the purpose of traffic management, and then only as a last resort; that consumer information be standardized, offering proactive and reliable information on monthly usage; that the Competition Bureau determine if any collusion or agreements contravene the Competition Act, or if any other barrier to Internet access prevents consumers from benefiting fully from competition, due to lack of competition between the large providers, and if so, that the Competition Bureau act accordingly; finally, that providers consider offering more services without explicit usage limits entailing additional usage charges.

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OCA Funded Research
This research received funding support through the Office of Consumer Affairs' Contributions Program.

Contact information

Source: Consumer Policy Research Database