One of the country’s biggest independent Internet providers is angry that Bell Canada has started managing peer-to-peer traffic on the high-speed backbone that Ontario and Quebec ISPs connect to. “I’m just completely outraged that they could do this without consulting us,” said Ted Chislett, president of Primus Telecommunications Canada, a Bell wholesale Internet access purchaser that sells DSL voice and data services in both provinces. Bell says it’s trying to assure peer-to-peer traffic from music, file and movie downloads doesn’t overwhelm the network, which the utility estimates takes up to 80 per cent of traffic. But Chislett worries that he’ll lose business to cable and other providers if Bell’s policy slows network speeds to those customers. Primus is one of at least three ISPs vowing to fight Bell's new strategy for fighting P2P traffic. Bell is in the middle of implementing its traffic-shaping procedures, which won’t be finished until next month. That might explain why Primus hasn’t seen any change in its traffic since it learned of the policy a few days ago. Still, Chislett and several other Bell wholesale customers are pondering going to the CRTC or launching class-action lawsuits against Bell for a number of reasons, including a possible slowing of service to customers and violating their contract with the utility. However, Bell spokesman Jason Laszlo said that the agreements of ISPs who buy service from Bell clearly state it has the right to manage its network “for the benefit of all.” Bell has been shaping network traffic on its own Sympatico high speed service for about a year, he said, by “balancing the amount of space P2P (peer to peer) applications take within the bandwidth during peak hours to make sure they don’t take over the entire bandwidth.” That was quietly extended on March 14 to contract ISPs buying service from Bell. Laszlo wouldn’t divulge how Bell is seeing into the traffic, or how it’s slowing down what it finds objectionable. “Increasing congestion is affecting the networks of all carriers across North America, including ours,” he said. “Like other carriers we’re seeking to better balance Internet traffic during peak hours so all of our customers can receive an optimum level of service.” | 
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