NDP Tweets In Favour of OpenMedia.ca Position

NDP Technology Critic Charlie Angus wrote to the CRTC today to ask that they broaden the scope of the upcoming proceeding on usage-based billing (Internet metering) in order to address fundamental structural problems.

Angus' request asserts that the hearings "must also examine whether vertically-integrated broadcast and telecommunications companies are using UBB to affect emerging broadcast competition."

This follows submissions made by OpenMedia.ca/CIPPIC, CNOC, PIAC, and other groups, that asked the CRTC to widen the scope of its very narrow proceeding in order to address the factors that led to its hotly contested Internet metering decision. The NDP, which came out in support of the Stop The Meter campaign last month, has now taken a more tangible step toward a more open and affordable Internet.

OpenMedia.ca has also asked the federal Conservatives, Liberals and the Greens to endorse requests for the CRTC to conduct a comprehensive review of broadband competition in Canada. Their responses have not yet been received.

“We are pleased with this quick response from the NDP,” said OpenMedia.ca’s executive director Steve Anderson, “and we hope to see the same from the other parties that seek to represent the hundreds of thousands of Canadians working toward more affordable Internet access.”

“There is a severe lack of consumer choice in the broadband market, which has led to price gouging by large incumbent Internet service providers,” continued Anderson. “The CRTC must overhaul the existing regulatory framework that has allowed this to happen.”

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Contact

Lindsey Pinto
Communications Manager, OpenMedia.ca
778-238-7710
[email protected]

Read the NDP Submission

http://openmedia.ca/ndp-calls-crtc-broaden-scope-ubb-proceeding

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 Stop The Meter

In October, Canadians were outraged by the news that the CRTC had decided to allow Bell and other big Internet service providers (ISPs) to impose new fees on independent ISPs – usage-based billing. Now every Internet user in Canada is likely to feel the sting of a less affordable Internet, and a less competitive Internet service market. Recognizing the importance of this issue, OpenMedia.ca launched the Stop The Meter campaign.

Since its inception, this multi-platform petition, based at http://www.StopTheMeter.ca and in French at http://openmedia.ca/compteur, become a record breaker and a game changer. Over 470,000 names have now been added to the website, Facebook, Twitter, and in print.