It is not immediately apparent what effects the CRTC's recent decision on usage-based billing (UPP) will have on Saskatchewan consumers.
Sasktel has already stated that they will not implement it, for instance, so it seems as though only Ontario and Quebec are going to be living with the after effects of the ruling. However, the ruling is still something consumers in this province need to be concerned about, and the fact that the ruling exists should make one concerned about how the CRTC is doing it's job.
The problem is mostly centred in Ontario and Quebec, where Bell controls the majority of the infrastructure in the province. If smaller internet service providers (ISPs) need to rent space from Bell's network, they are now charged based on the amount of data used. Bell is using this as an opportunity to price their competition out of the market, as many of these ISPs have had to decrease their download caps to a paltry 25 gigabytes. It's an amount that could get you three average modern games on a download service. Given the size of typical computer updates and the amount of data transferred during typical browsing for most consumers, this is effectively cutting people off of the internet completely, for the same price as they paid before.
Bell attempting to get rid of the competition is a problem out east, but one might not think that it's a big issue out here. Saskatchewan ISPs are not implementing the practice, after all, and those few with download caps have them set at reasonable levels. Granted, but it has unintended side-effects than can affect the entire country.
The first concern is that the CRTC will bow down to the demands of anyone, no matter what the end result will be for Canadian consumers. The entire purpose of a regulator is to protect people from the whims of the telecommunications companies, which can be especially dangerous considering how few people own the infrastructure. In approving UPP, the CRTC has effectively stated that they are not going to consider the effects their decisions will have on Canadian consumers. While this could also lead to a shake up of the CRTC itself in the near future - the decision is not a popular one with any political party - it does present the question of just who the CRTC is being charged to protect.
The other main concern is what it will mean for online business in Canada. Businesses like Netflix, which streams videos, could find it very difficult to operate a Canadian division if some of the largest markets can't afford to actually stream more than one video a month. If companies like Bell are allowed to do whatever they feel when it comes to internet pricing, it could make Canada a much less desirable place to set up operations, purely for cost reasons. As online operations become increasingly necessary to operate a business, barriers and increased costs could make Canadian operations less compelling for businesses.
The CRTC should be working to protect the consumer. It's clear from this latest ruling they are not doing so, and it could have lasting effects on how business is run in the country. Something needs to be done to get the regulator to do its job properly.
