I choose to receive my broadband internet service from an independent provider, precisely because of the restrictions that Bell (and Rogers) impose on their customers. By throttling my connection, Bell is interfering with the service agreement I have with my provider.

Not only is Bell interfering with my enjoyment, it is also interfering with my work. Encrypted connections from my workplace are throttled, along with high-speed transfers of large file such as images of Linux distributions.

There is NO issue of network congestion -- the only time I suffer from poor connectivity is when Bell imposes its throttling. I can only guess at Bell's motives for imposing throttling, but those guesses range from Bell's failure to maintain their network in order to sustain high speeds and sufficient bandwidth for independent providers, to anti-competitive behaviour forcing the independet providers out of business.

Bell's unilateral actions and anti-competitive practices must be stopped. Canada has gone from a leader in Internet connectivity to an embarrasing second-last place (see Michael Geist's report).

--Bob Jonkman