TIMMINS, ON – The NDP is calling for tighter net neutrality rules after describing usage-based Internet billing (UBB) as unfair and anti-competitive.
New Democrat digital affairs critic Charlie Angus, who is also the MP for Timmins-James Bay, said that the CRTC’s decision to allow useage-based billing will unfairly drive up Internet costs for all Canadians, rather than for just “the so-called bandwidth hogs”.
“We’ve seen this all before with cell phones”, Angus said in a statement. “Allowing the Internet Service Providers to ding you every time you download is a rip-off. Canada is already falling behind other countries in terms of choice, accessibility and pricing for the Internet.”
Noting that some large ISPs are also broadcasters and content providers, Angus said that usage-based billing could also be used to limit competition from on-line viewing sources like Netflix, as well as “snuff out competition from smaller third-party ISPs”.
“The large ISP-broadcast entities now have a tool for squashing their main competitors – both in Internet and video services”, he added. “We need clear rules that put consumers first.”
