Bell Canada picks up new allies

Things are getting messy north of the border as battle lines are being drawn in the net neutrality fight featuring Bell Canada.

The newly formed Canadian ISP Alliance (sounds so righteous, doesn’t it?) includes all the cable and telco big boys from the frozen north including Quebecor, Rogers, Cogeco, Telus, MTS Allstream, Shaw, Sasktel, Eastlink, Bell, and Bell Aliant.

They’re lining up with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and ITAC in an attempt to hold off a CRTA plan to revisit the 1999 new media exemption order, saying it doesn’t have the legal authority under the Broadcasting Act to impose a new levy on ISPs. While it may appear an argument about levies and net neutrality is comparing apples to oranges, the issue comes down to defining regulatory reach and, in the long run, could play a pivotal role in the industry’s ability to manage traffic.

For more:
See Michael Geist’s blog

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