OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has shuttered its investigation into Rogers’ Internet traffic management practices, noting that its concerns over the company’s practice of slowing down certain types of Internet traffic have been satisfied.
The Commission launched an enforcement action late last year after receiving a complaint from the Canadian Gamers Organization alleging that Rogers’ throttling of peer-to-peer traffic created a major impediment to online game playing. After the CRTC found its practices in breach of the net neutrality rules within the Telecommunications Act, Rogers announced that it would phase out its traffic shaping policy for all customers by December 2012.
“We are committed to ensuring that Canadians receive good value for the money they spend on communications services,” said Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer, in a statement. “Canadians voiced their concerns about certain traffic-management practices and we have acted upon them. Our enforcement efforts are helping to bring about more reliable Internet services for consumers.”
Under the CRTC’s policy, Internet service providers are encouraged to invest in their networks to address increases in online traffic. Should other measures be required, ISPs can apply certain traffic-management practices to prevent or respond to network congestion, but must tell their customers in advance if they intend to use these practice
– Lesley Hunter
