Conservative MP said letters to his office from large ISPs charged bill is ‘unnecessary’
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The commissioner of the communications complaints watchdog told the House Industry committee on Monday that a bill addressing internet speed transparency could benefit from providing specific speeds in consumer contracts, which could aid in enforcing the new law.
Private member’s bill C-288, sponsored by Conservative Manitoba MP Dan Mazier, would require the CRTC to look into requiring internet service providers to clarify language in marketing of internet speeds, effectively doing away with looser language like “up to” and providing for “typical” speeds consumers are expected to get during high-congestion peak hours.
Asked what other enhancements the bill could receive, the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services said more pointed speed language in contracts as opposed to just in marketing materials would assist in enforcement.
“What we would add to that is – if we come to that [CRTC] proceeding, which we would – is that we would like to see those metrics as part of the contract so that they become in some way enforceable so we can look at them and say, ‘okay now we know exactly what the service provider has offered to provide and we know what the consumer has agreed to accept,” said CCTS commissioner and CEO Howard Maker.
The CCTS, which has annual reports on consumer complaints, has reported that a common complaint of consumers is quality of service.
“The transparency part is a good step forward,” Reza Rajabiun, an expert on competition policy and telecom strategy, said before Maker’s remarks. “The retail contracts say your speeds may vary. So there is no guarantee — there’s no binding commitment from the supplier [which allows] the supplier to deliver whatever [speed] they want,” which he said is not as strong as rules proposed in the European Union requiring concrete performance measurements in retail contracts.
Rajabiun added the bill could also have a minimum download and upload speed along side the advertised speed.
But Maker warned about “overcomplicating” the bill and that the “details should be left to the detailed people,” i.e. the CRTC. Rajabiun noted that the more information put in the contract, the more complicated it can get. He noted “key performance indicators” that could be including are download, upload and latency speeds.
The internet advocacy group OpenMedia said passing this legislation is the “low-hanging fruit” for addressing important consumer transparency issues.
Transparency bill ‘unnecessary’, MP told
Conservative MP Brad Vis of British Columbia said during the hearing that he had received letters from large internet service providers telling him that the bill is “unworkable” and “unnecessary” because there are existing CRTC-enforced codes that require it to provide clear language and the Competition Act has rules on deceptive advertising. The letters, according to Vis, also noted that CRTC-commissioned studies showed ISPs “generally provide the speeds that they advertise.”
But witnesses challenged the claims in the letter. Rajabiun said the Internet Code does not address the issue at hand. When the CRTC adopted the Internet Code in 2019, he said it avoided the speed transparency issue. The code spelled out a way of conduct for ISPs to ultimately address consumer bill shock and to make it easier for consumers to switch providers.
This bill, the witnesses agreed, would force the CRTC to address the issue.
Download and upload speeds are generally advertised as theoretical speeds, meaning customers won’t always get those speeds. Some of that is due to technological limitations, including outdated modems and routers and congestion on the network.
Josee Thibault, assistant commissioner at the CCTS, said the watchdog expects – and is often the case – service providers to work with customers to ensure limitations are addressed, including upgrading the equipment.
She noted having the speed information on contracts would help the CCTS better evaluate complaints from consumers.
Screenshot of CCTS head Howard Maker at committee on Monday.
