Moo's virtual world

Letter I just sent to the CRTC:

I just read on your web site: "The CRTC does not regulate rates, quality of service issues or business practices of Internet service providers as they relate to retail customers. This is because there is enough competition in the market that retail customers can shop around for service packages."

I intensely disagree with that statement and I must urge you to do whatever you can to change this! Indeed I came to this web site because I am looking for help fighting despicable business practices which I as a consumer an unable to avoid. The entire situation (including the usage based billing (UBB) debate) is caused by the quasi-monopole of Bell and Rogers. The specific problem I wanted to report, which is of course well-known, is that Bell "throttles" (i.e. grinds to a stall) my so-called high-speed internet even though I am not their customer. This happens from 4:30pm to 2am every day. If Bell is supposed to open up the network to small ISPs, it should NOT be shaping and limiting their traffic. This is the type of practice that customers cannot avoid. I agree that real competition is the solution, but we certainly do NOT have it now. Unless we can achieve a situation where a small ISP is not at the mercy of Bell and Rogers, the CRTC must take action to protect consumers.

I would like to finish by stating that I am not completely opposed to the idea of UBB in principle, but I believe it is simply another ploy to gouge the consumers, granted not necessarily all of them. If UBB were implemented in a fair way, it would have to mean replacing the high monthly fees we currently have. Otherwise, the whole fairness argument is moot: why should high usage users pay more if normal users don't benefit from it and actually pay less? Again, I think the CRTC must take stronger action in regulating business practices of the internet monopoly and protect the consumers.

Thanks for your time.