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Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2016-192-2

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References: Telecom Notices of Consultation 2016-192 and 2016-192-1

Ottawa, 19 September 2016

File number: 1011-NOC2016-0192

Notice of hearing

31 October 2016
Gatineau, Quebec

Examination of differential pricing practices related to Internet data plans

Online discussion forum on Reddit

  1. Reddit is an online discussion forum consisting of thousands of discussion communities, known as subreddits. Each subreddit generally deals with broad subject matter, and is populated by user-submitted topics. Other users can comment on these topics and vote them “up” or “down”. A popular subreddit with many topics concerning Canadians is the /r/Canada subreddit.
  2. The Commission hereby announces that it will post the topic of differential pricing practices related to Internet data plans on the /r/Canada subreddit discussion forum to encourage individuals who might not otherwise participate in this proceeding to share their points of view.
  3. The official /r/Canada subreddit discussion forum on this topic will run from 9 a.m. (Eastern Time) on 26 September 2016 to 8 p.m. (Eastern Time) on 30 September 2016. To post comments or to “up”/“down” vote this topic during this period, individuals must be registered as users with Reddit (an email, a username, and a password are required to register). As per standard Reddit practices, comments from newly registered users will be private (i.e. not posted online) until they are manually approved by one of the subreddit /r/Canada moderators. The approval turnaround time will be less than two hours between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. (Eastern Time). Seasoned users will experience no delays in posting their comments online. Individuals can view the online discussion at any time on the /r/Canada subreddit web page; registration is not required for viewing.  
  4. Participants are reminded that in this proceeding, the Commission is considering the following policy questions to determine which differential pricing practices, if any, may not be acceptable under the Telecommunications Act:
    • How should differential pricing practices be defined, in relation to the provision of Internet data plans over wireline and wireless networks?
    • What are the benefits and concerns about these practices, and do these concerns outweigh the benefits such that regulatory intervention is justified?
    • What regulatory measures, if any, should the Commission implement?
  5. The Commission welcomes comments from individuals who are interested in the subject matter of this proceeding, and notes that participants in the online discussion forum will not be made parties to the proceeding. Discussion forum participants are free to submit their views on any of the issues identified as being within the scope of this proceeding in Examination of differential pricing practices related to Internet data plans, Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2016-192, 18 May 2016; as amended by Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2016-192-1, 3 June 2016.
  6. Following the completion of the discussion period on 30 September 2016, a transcript of the discussion from the /r/Canada subreddit page will be added to the public record of this proceeding and will be made available on the Commission’s website at www.crtc.gc.ca. Parties to this proceeding may address comments made over the course of the online discussion during the oral phase of the public proceeding or within their final submissions, due 23 November 2016.

Secretary General

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