Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
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Letter
Ottawa, 22 January 2010
Our Reference: 8646-C12-200815400
BY E-MAIL
Ms. Natalie Macdonald
Vice President, Regulatory Matters
Bragg Communications Incorporated
6080 Young Street, Suite 801
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 5M3
Regulatory.Matters@corp.eastlink.ca
Dear Ms MacDonald:
Re: Follow up to Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-657
In Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-657, Review of the Internet traffic management practices of Internet service providers, 21 October 2009 (TRP 2009-657), the Commission set out a number of disclosure requirements applicable to the technical Internet traffic management practices (ITMPs) of Internet service providers (ISPs). One requirement is that ISPs must disclose to their retail customers information regarding any technical Internet traffic management practices (ITMPs) that they apply to their retail Internet services. Specifically, ISPs are required to disclose prominently on their websites, the reasons for the ITMP, when the ITMP is applied, what Internet traffic is affected by the ITMP and the specific impact that the ITMP has on retail Internet speeds.
ISPs are also required to refer to their online disclosures in their marketing material, customer contracts and terms of service.
Commission staff has reviewed the information provided on the Eastlink web site at http://eastlink.ca/internet/index.asp. Based on its review, staff considers that Eastlink is not in compliance with TRP 2009-657 for the following reasons:
1. The links to the description of Eastlink’s ITMP are not sufficiently prominent on the Web pages that describe Eastlink’s Internet services.
2. The description of Eastlink’s ITMPs does not indicate the time of day when the ITMP is applied nor does the description indicate the specific impact that the ITMP has on retail Internet speeds.
In order to address these concerns, Eastlink is to:
1) Include direct links to its ITMP disclosure on each Web page where Internet services are listed and/or described. The link, or the wording around the link, should clearly indicate that it leads to information related to Eastlink’s ITMP disclosure (e.g. “For information on Eastlink’s Internet traffic management practices, click here”).
2) Modify the description of Eastlink’s ITMP to indicate the time of day the customer’s Internet experience is affected by the ITMP and to indicate the specific impact that the ITMP is expected to have on Internet speeds.
Eastlink is to address these issues within thirty (30) days of its receipt of this letter. Should there be any questions regarding this request, please call Patrick Owens at (819)953-7159.
Yours sincerely,
Original signed by
Paul Godin
Director General
Competition, Costing and Tariffs
Telecommunications
