Internet speed control faces scrutiny at CRTC hearings (Canada)

Wetdogeared · 07-06-2009, 11:13 AM

CBC news article. Friday, July 3, 2009

My ISP doesn't yet throttle downloads, yet in Eastern Canada it is the norm. I have a P2P connection which is very reasonably priced, with no restrictions placed on usage 'yet'.

Quote:

How internet providers manipulate and manage the speed of the internet for different types of data will be examined by Canada's telecommunications regulator during six days of hearings in Gatineau, Que., starting Monday.

Quote:

Some of the internet traffic control practices being put under the microscope are:

Throttling — that is, purposely slowing down the internet speeds of certain online applications such as peer-to-peer file transfers (P2P) relative to others.
Deep packet inspection, a technology used to examine traffic to figure out what type of data it is so it can be monitored and directed.
Imposing download limits and excess bandwidth usage charges on heavy users.

WDE.

HarryT · 07-06-2009, 11:36 AM

Download limits are pretty universal in the UK, and with good reason. Before my ISP imposed them, 1% of their users were using over 50% of the network capacity, and slowing things down for everybody. Depending how much you pay, most British ISPs give you a download limit of between about 20GB and 60GB a month (which personally I would have thought would be more than enough for anybody!).

"Traffic shaping" is also very common here. Eg, my ISP "throttles" P2P traffic during business hours (9am to 6pm, Mon to Fri); it's unthrottled outside those times.

Shaggy · 07-06-2009, 01:33 PM

I've got no problem with download limits as long as they're made clear up front to the customer. Many ISPs in the US like to advertise that they sell "unlimited" service, but then after you've paid for the service they sneak in throttling and download limits, and often the limits are undisclosed. I've heard many stories about customers being cut off for exceeding some limit, but never being told what the limit actually was.

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07-06-2009, 11:36 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Download limits are pretty universal in the UK, and with good reason. Before my ISP imposed them, 1% of their users were using over 50% of the network capacity, and slowing things down for everybody. Depending how much you pay, most British ISPs give you a download limit of between about 20GB and 60GB a month (which personally I would have thought would be more than enough for anybody!). "Traffic shaping" is also very common here. Eg, my ISP "throttles" P2P traffic during business hours (9am to 6pm, Mon to Fri); it's unthrottled outside those times.

07-06-2009, 01:33 PM	#3
Shaggy Wizard Posts: 4,293 Karma: 529619 Join Date: May 2007 Device: iRex iLiad, DR800SG	I've got no problem with download limits as long as they're made clear up front to the customer. Many ISPs in the US like to advertise that they sell "unlimited" service, but then after you've paid for the service they sneak in throttling and download limits, and often the limits are undisclosed. I've heard many stories about customers being cut off for exceeding some limit, but never being told what the limit actually was.

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