Net Neutrality Developments

According to Michael Geist, the Canadian government should take some initiative and aid the complete enforcement of net neutrality in Canada. Now that a policy has been created regarding net neutrality, the government needs to make sure that ISPs are following this framework correctly. Geist mainly places this task in the hands of Industry Minister Tony Clement. Geist thinks that Clement should become more engaged in the issue. Fortunately, Clement has stated he is “watching those [Internet Service] providers very closely and [does] not want to see a situation where consumers are put at risk in terms of their access to the Internet.”

Political parties, Liberals and NDP, have both expressed their strong support for net neutrality. The Conservatives on the other hand seem to be shying away from expressing their viewpoint regarding the issue.

The CRTC also recently made comments suggesting wireless Internet will also fall under their new Net Neutrality framework. Geist posted a quote from Chair Konrad von Finckenstein regarding this issue:

At some point down the road, we will need to review the regulatory measures that apply to wireless service providers and their use of ITMPs (Information Technology Master Plans). Until then, we expect ISPs offering mobile broadband services to respect our framework.

Hopefully, these ISPs follow the CRTC's framework. If they don’t, there will definitely be bigger problems between wireless consumers and wireless ISPs. Geist blogged “the federal government […] can play a significant role in establishing neutrality for wireless Internet access.” The government is apparently attempting to play a role; they intend to enforce a wireless policy within the next two years (hopefully sooner than later). During this time, Geist suggests that “Clement [should] incorporate net neutrality requirements directly into the bidding process, [which would] effectively mandate neutrality into new wireless services.”

Canada still obtains the highest Internet prices for the slowest speeds. As Geist has pointed out, Clement can play a central role here. If he can solve Canada's Internet price vs. speed problem, "he'll likely go a long way to addressing net neutrality in the process.”

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