OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The new wholesale rates for independent Internet service providers (ISPs) will be implemented on schedule starting Wednesday.
The CRTC confirmed on Friday that large telephone and cable companies will proceed as scheduled with their proposed implementation plans, with the exception of the Bell companies who have seen their plan modified temporarily while the CRTC resolves issues raised by the Canadian Network Operators Consortium. As an interim measure, independent ISPs who are customers of the Bell companies will have the flexibility to either merge their business and residential Internet traffic, or keep them separate.
“We are moving ahead with the implementation as planned to ensure that independent ISPs will continue to offer competitive and innovative services to Canadians,” said Leonard Katz, the CRTC’s acting chairman and vice-chairman of telecommunications, in a statement. “Some temporary adjustments have been made to ensure a smooth transition to the new billing regime and to ensure consumers are not inconvenienced.”
The move comes as part of the Commission’s decision on usage-based billing where it established how large telephone and cable companies should charge independent ISPs for the use of their networks.
Some ISPs agreed to be charged a flat monthly fee regardless of how much bandwidth their customers use. The flat-rate model took effect November 15, 2011.
