Internet Providers could Throttle traffic

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Canada's main telecom regulator said on Wednesday it will let Internet service providers slow or "throttle" traffic such as file-sharing that the companies say threatens to overwhelm their networks -- but only as a last resort.

Providers such as BCE (BCE.TO) and others should first rely on "economic measures," such as limits on how much bandwidth a subscriber can use per month depending on how much they pay, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said.

That approach to managing online traffic is the most transparent because its impact turns up on monthly bills paid by customers, the CRTC said in a long-awaited ruling on the issue, which has angered many Internet users.

"Technical means to manage traffic, such as traffic shaping, should only be employed as a last resort," the CRTC said in a statement.

The common practice of "traffic shaping" is also known as "throttling." It basically involves a service provider slowing down some Web activity on its network. File swappers, for instance, often exchange large, bandwidth-intensive music or movie files.

Internet service providers have argued this chokes their networks to the detriment of other users.

BCE said in a statement that it thinks the decision is a good one and that its "existing Internet traffic management practices are already compliant with it."

Michael Hennessy, senior vice-president of regulatory and government affairs at Telus Corp (T.TO), said the communications company doe not currently throttle traffic. However, it does employ some general caps on bandwidth usage.