Feds closer to ensuring you get Internet speed you pay for

We've all had that conversation: Advertized internet connectivity speeds are not what we're getting from our service providers. 

Dauphin, Swan River, Neepawa MP Dan Mazier has been spearheading a Bill to see Internet providers become more transparent with their connectivity speeds, so those conversations can finally end. Bill C-288 has passed second reading on November 30.

"This basically sends it off to Committee now," says Mazier. "I have to go defend it, and I'll probably be in front of the Committee as a witness, as well. Then it goes through. If there are other witnesses that want to come forward and talk about it, then the Committee will decide whether to send it back to Parliament for third reading, and then it heads off to the Senate after that. All indications are, the way that the vote went, that the government's even supporting it. So, that's looking very promising."

Mazier explains companies are currently telling you how much speed your service can reach, but not necessarily what you're getting all the time. He notes they refer to this as "up-to" speeds or theoretical speeds.

"Most people ask, when they're going to seek an Internet service from a certain company, 'What's the certain download and upload speeds?'" says Mazier.  "That's the most common criteria that we're aware of. Right now, they can say, 'We're going to sell you 50 download and 10 upload.'  But it's when it's good for them, and when they can manage to get those speeds up there. It might be 3:00 o'clock in the morning. It might be at some other time, but it doesn't have to be when you're using it."

He says Bill C-288 will require Internet service providers (ISPs) to provide the consumer with information on what speeds they can expect while using the Internet at peak periods, usually around 7 to 11 at night.

"That's been the criteria that the CRTC has ruled as peak periods," notes Mazier. "It was kind of interesting because the Liberal government of the day was trying to suggest that they were going to give the CRTC a directive. They're getting behind in regulations in policy. It didn't need to be legislated. Their narrative was starting to come out on second reading in the first hour. It changed when it became closer to the vote. We made the argument that it needed to be legislated and it needs to be a clear direction sent to the CRTC, so that Parliament is saying this needs to be done for the consumer."

Mazier explains that seems to indicate they got the message, which is good news.

"The legislation will give clear direction to the CRTC (the regulator) how they're going to set this system up," adds Mazier. "They've got to work with industry and they have to work with the consumer groups, as well, to come together on what that format would look like, and how that information would be presented to the consumer in Canada. This has been done in other jurisdictions, as well. Australia did it back in 2016. The U.S. just passed legislation like this legislation last week that I'm proposing."

He notes the Americans used more of a nutrition type of label scenario to inform purchasers of Internet service.

"When you're buying Internet, they have a notice indicating, 'Here's what you can expect for speeds,' and stuff like that," says Mazier. "So, I don't know what it will come up with for a Canadian label, but it'll be more standardized. The other thing that it's going to offer to consumers, as well, is that the whole idea about transparency is for the purpose of allowing you to make an informed decision."

Mazier gives an example by saying that a company can sell you 50/10 download and upload speeds. They're the numbers that everybody are using.

"But if you knew that another person could offer you, say, 25, but that's all you needed for speed, and you could get it all day, and it was maybe the same price (but you knew you would get that price and that service), the signals right now that they're sending are very confusing to a consumer," continues Mazier. "They're not really telling you the truth. They're selling you theory that those speeds are, 'What should work, but no promises.' So, we're going to fix that."

He notes the timeframe is about 60 days for the Bill to go through Committee, which should see things finalized in the spring to get it to the point that it can be set up.

"It'll end up through the Senate and we'll go from there," adds Mazier. "But let's keep our fingers crossed. Once that happens, and it's ended, it gets Royal Assent. It goes through the same process. I don't know if I have to go testify there, as well, but then it goes through their third reading with the same process. You need a Senator to champion that, which I've already identified, who's going to help me out with that. But it's still kind of in discussions till we get this through Committee. Then it hits Royal Assent and becomes law."

Mazier says it was learned that 30 per cent of Canadians know that they're not getting the service they thought they purchased.

"When they go to use the Internet, it's not performing the way they expected, and they're buying the top package," adds Mazier. "We've all had those conversations, especially now that I've been appointed as shadow Minister for Rural Economic Development and Connectivity, and this was in the mind of the effort. Under the connectivity file, rural Canada needs to be connected. When we talk about connectivity in Canada, we need to include rural Canada in this thing. We can't continue on with just having the urban areas looked after, and that's not sour grapes. To unleash the potential of rural Canada, we need to be connected for our businesses, even our education system, and public safety."

He explains nothing is worse than having people out in rural Canada with no connectivity.

"We have firefighters complaining," notes Mazier. "Emergency services and RCMP are complaining about it. There are critical things that are happening in modern-day Canada that demand this connectivity file and seeing it modernized. Hopefully, this is just one of several kinds of initiatives and legislations that you'll see that will start modernizing the whole file for connectivity for Canadians and for our country."