Independent Internet service providers who use Bell Canada's telephone lines say some of their customers face slower download times because of new 'traffic-shaping' policies being implemented by the telecom giant.

Last week, the Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP), filed an official complaint with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission over the 'traffic-shaping' measures.

CAIP alleges Bell is using a technique known as Deep Packet Inspection, or DPI, to examine the types of data moving across the Internet. CAIP claims Bell is then restricting the movements of certain types of data -- primarily large files such as movies or music over peer-to-peer networks.

The complaint alleges that the measures are in violation of several section of the country's telecommunications act.

CAIP chairman Tom Copeland, who also owns Internet service provider Eagle.ca, said the traffic-shaping typically takes place between 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

"They have eliminated our ability to decide how we manage that level of service between us and our customers," Copeland told CTV.ca.

He said independent Internet service providers have approximately 100,000 users in Ontario and Quebec who will be affected by the measure.

"There has been a bit of a misunderstanding that all we do is re-sell Bell service -- that's not the case," said Copeland. "We're purchasing a physical link between us and the customer but we provide the Internet services outside of anything we purchase from Bell.

"It's the point on their network before it reaches the customer that they're choking and preventing the traffic from flowing."

Switching your account directly to Bell Canada won't help either since the company has already imposed 'traffic-shaping' on its existing customers since last year.

Elsewhere in Canada, major carriers, both telecom and cable, have not implemented 'traffic-shaping' policies, said Copeland.

Bell's response

Bell claims the new policies are meant to prevent a small group of users from hogging bandwidth from others online.

Mirko Bibic, Bell's chief of regulatory affairs, rebuffed the CAIP complaint saying that Bell has a right to maintain the integrity of its network.

He said DPI technology is a useful way to monitor traffic online.

"Bandwidth doesn't just fall from the sky,'' Bibic told The Canadian Press, adding that more bandwidth would not resolve congestion issues.

He also said traffic shaping was part of a "multi-pronged" strategy used to prevent congestion.

Still, Copeland said if congestion is the problem then "why won't adding bandwidth improve the situation?"

He also said the measure appears to be impacting all forms of encrypted traffic, not just peer-to-peer.

"Things like Voice over IP and VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) -- are being slowed down," he said.

CAIP says the full extent of the measures from Bell will be in place by Monday.

As a result, downloading a video that used to take two hours could now take four-times as long, said Copeland.

Rogers Communications has had similar policies in place for its own customers. However, Rogers doesn't have many independent Internet service providers as clients.

The restrictions have sparked a debate over the level of competition allowed in the industry and the availability of options for Internet users wanting fast service.

"The ability of a select number of Internet providers to limit their access, to advertise certain speed but deliver far less when Canadians go to use the Internet, I think has very serious implications," Internet law expert Michael Geist told CTV News.

Richard Morochove, a Toronto-based IT consultant, said average users have little input in the level of service they receive.

"It really comes down to consumers and a lack of real choice of broadband internet service,'' Morochove told The Canadian Press.

"We're having . . . a near monopoly situation in Canada with respect to high-speed broadband access."

Morochove said he sees the move as being motivated by a desire to limit competition from independent providers.

According to the CAIP complaint, Bell has also done away with its unlimited Internet plan and will, starting June 30, bill customers based on how much bandwidth they use.

Rogers recently announced similar measures and will soon charge between $1.25 and $5 for every extra gigabyte a customer uses.

"It strikes us as funny that if you are going to be billing your customers based on what they consume, why would you limit what they consume?" questioned Copeland.

He said the fear among independent Internet providers is that they too will be charged on a usage base also.

With files from The Canadian Press