Broadband and Net Neutrality WHY IT MATTERS FOR CANADA. WHY IT MATTERS TO YOU. NATIONAL PENSIONERS FEDERATION 72 ND CONVENTION, 2016

Public Interest Advocacy Centre  PIAC is national, non-profit organization and registered charity that provides legal and research services on behalf of consumer interests, and, in particular, vulnerable consumer interests, concerning the provision of important public services.  PIAC has represented NPF in several high profile hearings before the CRTC on important telecommunications and broadcasting matters. 

Broadband: Accessibility, Quality, Affordability  Access: Where is it; can I get it (where I live); what technology is it?  Quality: How fast is it; how reliable is it; is it good enough to do what I need to do now and in the future?  Affordability: How much does it cost? Does it fit my budget? Can I tailor it to my needs? Can it replace older services (e.g., wireline telephone, cable TV)? Does it affect the cost of other services (bundling)? Can it save me money?

Basic Service Objective Hearing  CRTC hearing into “basic service” – now means broadband internet as well as telephone (wireline and wireless)  To determine “basic telecommunications” which all Canadians should expect to access  PIAC and NPF (with others) argued that broadband was “basic telecommunications” and the minimum speed should be 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload  PIAC & NPF also argued that it must be affordable

Basic Service Objective Hearing - 2  NPF President Herb John testified that “in some ways, broadband is more important to seniors that to others.”  Surveys we filed shows that home internet is important across all ages, and for seniors, most important  Surveys also showed age 55+ were more likely to bundle broadband with telephone or TV service and less likely to switch internet providers  Seniors are uniquely affected by baseline broadband

Affordable Broadband for All  PIAC & NPF therefore asked CRTC for:  An “access subsidy” to ensure everyone, everywhere, esp. rural and remote Canada (with higher populations of seniors) have 10/1 Mbps broadband  An “affordability subsidy” of between $10 - $20 a month for low-income Canadians to help them afford broadband  PIAC & NPF await the decision – expected December 2016  Note: Canada has no National Broadband Plan like U.S.A.

Net Neutrality  What is it? Why does this matter? Why should I care?  Net Neutrality is actually two things: law and policy.  Law of “common carriage” has applied to public utility-like services such telecommunications since the telegraph  Policy of “net neutrality” has arisen with the Internet  Combination of two keeps Internet open and accessible, high quality and hopefully at a lower price

Law: Common Carriage  Common carriage means the “carrier” (telco or ISP) must:  Serve all customers who want service  Charge “just and reasonable” rates, made public  Treat/charge all customers equally (no unjust discrimination)  Provide service with “due care” (adequate quality)  HOWEVER, since late 1990s for telephone and always, for Internet service, CRTC has only required no unjust discrimination, saying the free market would police the rest

Net Neutrality  Net neutrality comes from the “end to end” network design principle of the “open” Internet  Traffic is passed without modification or interference by network providers according to equal protocols  Leaves control “at the edge” of network; means applications and users drive use of Internet and its shape  Creates a policy of decentralization that favours individuality, autonomy and free speech

Canadian “Net Neutrality” Decisions  CRTC was arguably first regulator to address net neutrality in 2009 in decision that restricted ISPs “throttling” speed  In 2014, CRTC forbade Bell Canada from favouring its own video content over the Internet by not charging for this data  In 2015, CRTC took PIAC complaint about similar “zero- rating” of music streaming services on Videotron in Quebec  CRTC made this complaint into major hearing about all zero-rating. PIAC: unjust discrimination; net neutrality wins

Threats to Net Neutrality  Internet Service Providers (ISPs) which insert themselves in the inter-networking between customer and services threaten the end to end principle with unjustly discriminatory actions. Why?  U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says:  ISPs have the technical means to discriminate and control  ISPs have the economic incentive to discriminate and control  CRTC has yet to acknowledge this threat explicitly – ISPs can charge for access or unfairly discount some Internet traffic

Why is “zero-rating” bad for you?  Unjust discrimination hurts you because:  If you don’t use the free service, you are still paying for it  If what you want to watch, listen to or view isn’t favoured – you may pay more – because you may exceed your data cap  Favoured services are overwhelmingly aimed at the young  Unjust discrimination hurts others because:  Smaller “edge providers” can’t make deals with big ISPs  ISPs are “gatekeepers” and “pick winners and losers”  ISPs are less incentivized to improve the network they “manage”

What can you (and NPF) do?  NPF has joined PIAC in the fight over broadband access, quality and affordability as well as net neutrality and zero-rating. As a member, you can:  Express your opinion to NPF’s Board  Comment directly during the CRTC hearing on zero-rating  Talk to others about broadband and net neutrality and why both are important  Write, call or your Member of Parliament – telecommunications is a federal responsibility and the federal government has been virtually silent about both topics

Thank you and questions?