Mark Coatsworth on the Usage-Based Billing Hearing

Taking on Big Telecom: A Trip to the CRTC's UBB Hearings

by Mark Coatsworth for The Torontoist

The CRTC began hearings this week to help it decide whether to uphold or reverse its controversial January decision on usage-based billing. Mark Coatsworth, owner of a small business in Toronto that relies heavily on high-speed internet access, gave a presentation at those hearings in Gatineau. He wrote about that experience, and why he felt it was important to be there, for Torontoist.

It was an evil January night when I got the news that internet prices were about to go way, way up. Many years ago the Big Telecom providers like Bell and Rogers had imposed brutal, expensive usage rate caps into their internet service plans. Now the CRTC had passed a ruling allowing them to impose these usage-based billing (UBB) caps onto independent ISPs across the country.

Like many Canadians, I reacted with shock and anger. We already pay among top third in the world for high speed internet—and we Canadians sure love our internet. According to a recent comScore report, we’re among the most active internet users in the world.

Yet Bell/Rogers service is unreliable, customer service is non-existent and overage data charges are hilariously expensive. Our only respite comes from independent ISPs like Teksavvy who offer quality service at fair rates. It's no surprise Big Telecom wants to rein them in.

The Canadian public's reaction to the CRTC ruling was immediate and overwhelming. Phone calls, letters, emails, and faxes flooded government offices. Advocacy group OpenMedia.ca started an online campaign and petition that drew record numbers of signatures. Within days, Industry Minister Tony Clement sent the proposal back to the drawing board.

When the CRTC announced a new round of hearings for this summer, I jumped at the chance to take part. I run a small business called Built By Giants; we deal in web-based software and web-based business services. We're part of the growing shift towards cloud computing, which has seen the explosive growth of online services like Netflix, YouTube, Skype, and iTunes. These sorts of cloud services are the future of computing and media, and Big Telecom’s data caps will effectively shut Canadians off. Read more »

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Check out Mark, Michael Geist, and OpenMedia.ca's Steve Anderson on CBC News: