CityWest to limit download size at various times
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CityWest says it will soon limit the size of files people can download or transfer depending upon the time of day.
The decision follows guidelines on what’s called “traffic shaping” or “throttling” released last week by federal regulator the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Internet service providers will be able to limit file size downloads but will first need to tell their customers how and when that will take place, the CRTC decided.
Although CityWest does not now limit file transfers, it considers the practice fair and
reasonable, says company official Chad Cunningham.
“We’ve been watching this situation for some time. Now that we have guidelines, we will be following through,” he said of the deliberations leading up to CRTC decision.
Throttling or traffic shaping has been a growing practice among internet service providers as more and more people download or transfer larger and larger files such as music, movies and television shows. The problem is that large file downloaders take up lots of bandwidth, leaving a limited amount for other users.
By throttling or slowing down transfers and downloads, internet service providers try to balance out demand with supply.
“There’s a cost in providing bandwidth. We can’t keep adding more, more, more without increasing costs at the same time to customers,” said Cunningham.
In a perfect world, people who want to download or transfer large files would do so at times of the day when there is not a lot bandwidth traffic. That way the system can handle large amounts of data without clogging up for other users, said Cunningham.
Under the CRTC guidelines, customers service providers must give customers 30 days notice how it will regulate traffic and how it will affect
them.
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