Leading Internet Defender Calls Out Anti-Competitive Practices

OpenMedia.ca insists that Rogers Communications data limits require government action

For Immediate Release: July 26, 2010

Just days after video service Netflix announced its expansion into Canada, Rogers Communications announced they will lower the usage limits on some of their plans. The move appears to be a defensive measure to protect the company’s own video services from encroachment by Netflix, which provides unlimited movies and television shows over the internet for a monthly subscription fee.

Rogers Communications is Canada's biggest cable television provider and it operates a video streaming service similar to Netflix called On Demand Online. Moves by Rogers to make competition more difficult point to the growing need to increase oversight of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Steve Anderson, National Coordinator of OpenMedia.ca and the SaveOurNet.ca coalition, said today: “Rogers should not be in a position to decide which online business models are winners and losers. We need to remove the gatekeepers of online innovation through appropriate oversight and internet service competition. Canada already lags behind other countries on key internet metrics and this anti-competitive act could push us further to the back of the pack.”

Rogers Video On Demand and Pay Per View offerings, which reach users via their televisions, will not be affected by the caps, even though Rogers customers receive both internet and television service through the same cables. These new caps push Canada towards an anti-competitive version of the internet.

OpenMedia.ca and the SaveOurNet.ca coalition call on Industry Minister Tony Clement to mandate audits of ISP behaviour. Canadians can support this call at: http://saveournet.ca/action

Contact
Steve Anderson
OpenMedia.ca
National Coordinator
604-837-5730
[email protected]

About OpenMedia.ca
OpenMedia.ca is a national, non-partisan, non-profit public engagement organization working to advance and support an open and innovative communications system in Canada. Our primary goal is to increase public awareness and informed participation in Canadian media, cultural, information, and telecommunication policy formation.

About the SaveOurNet.ca Coalition:
SaveOurNet.ca is a coalition of citizens, businesses, and public interest groups fighting to protect our internet's level playing field. We're calling on lawmakers and industry to protect openness, choice, and access for ALL Canadians — and stopping lobbyists and special interests from ruining Canada's internet.