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| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 29, 1995 |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec |
| Industry | Internet Service Provider |
| Products | xDSL, WiMax and dial-up |
| Parent | Bell Canada |
| Website | bell.ca/servicesympatico |
Bell Internet, originally and frequently called Sympatico, is the residential internet service provider division of Bell Canada. It is affiliated with MSN. As of March 2006, Bell Internet had over 2 million subscribers in Ontario and Quebec and was the largest ADSL ISP in Canada.[citation needed].
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History
Sympatico was launched on November 29, 1995.[citation needed] Originally a national service operated jointly by Canada's ILECs and operational run as a content portal by MediaLinx, the companies other than Bell (including Aliant) have since retreated to their own brands.[citation needed] Bell subsidiaries NorthernTel, Télébec and Northwestel continue to brand their internet services as Sympatico, and users receive an @ntl.sympatico.ca, @tlb.sympatico.ca, or @sympatico.ca email address, respectively.
Starting in Summer 2003, Sympatico tried to differentiate its service from its competitors by adding Radial Point's (formerly Zero Knowledge) suite of antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware services for extra charge. In 2004, Sympatico added a wireless modem-router hardware upgrade and Microsoft's MSN Premium software to its portfolio. In Summer 2007, Sympatico packaged its Security suite and wireless home networking modem together with its high speed offering as Sympatico Total Internet. In April, 2008 all users and resalers started being throttled, many have questioned the legality of this; this dispute is still being solved.
Bell Sympatico changed its name to Bell Internet on August 8, 2008.
Equipment
Bell Internet offers many tiers of service based on two different kinds of technology: Dial Up service, based on telephone modem equipment as well as DSL services, based on
Three other Bell Internet services are also offered:
- Bell Internet Portable service is a portable wireless service that is part of the Inukshuk Inc. project. The project aims to provide broadband Internet access to underserved areas across Canada. Also, Bell has a service named Bell Internet Rural. It uses the same technology as the portable, except the modem itself is mounted to your home in the direction of the tower it will be connecting to.
- Total Internet Max service is a residential Internet service provided through a fibre optic network currently offering download speeds of up to 16 Mbit/s. These services currently have a limited availability however service expansion is ongoing.
- Bell Internet IPTV service is a planned TV over IP service. Scheduled for release somewhere in 2009.[citation needed]
Value-Added Services (VAS)
These are services offered by Bell Internet in addition to the above services for additional costs.
Controversy
Project Cleanfeed Canada
In November 2006, to address the problem of the accidental access to child pornography sites, especially by those under the age of majority, Bell, Bell Aliant, MTS Allstream, Rogers, Shaw, SaskTel, Telus, and Vidéotron, in conjunction with cybertip.ca (a nationwide tipline for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children), announced the creation of Project Cleanfeed Canada, an initiative designed to block access to child pornography sites. It is based on a similar program introduced by British Telecom in 2004. [1] Project Cleanfeed Canada uses an encrypted blacklist of known child-pornography sites operating outside the country and targets only those sites that offer images of prepubescent children. [2]
Some critics denounced the initiative, but others argue that it is a step worth taking. [3]
Bandwidth throttling
Users of bandwidth that Bell Internet deem excessive have been sent warning letters that state they are in violation of their Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy. As a result their use of peer to peer programs is traffic managed during peak hours. Some have questioned the legality of this (including notable companies such as Google and Skype).[4][5]
As of April 7, 2008, Bell began using deep packet inspection to identify and throttle all BitTorrent traffic across its network[6], regardless of actual bandwidth use. This also affects its wholesale service customers and resellers, who have filed a formal complaint to the CRTC[7]. Critics claim Bell's move stifles competition, violates net neutrality, and discriminates against legitimate uses of the BitTorrent protocol[8].
See also
References
- ^ Martin Bright (2004-06-06). "BT puts block on child porn sites". Guardian Unlimited. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/jun/06/childrensservices.childprotection. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ Michael Geist (2006-11-24). "Project Cleanfeed Canada". Michael Geist. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1548/125/. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ Michael Geist (2006-12-04). "Child porn plan a risk worth taking". TheStar.com. http://www.thestar.com/article/154517. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ Bell Sympatico P2P Black List. 2008-11-03.
- ^ Peter Nowak (2008-07-07). "Bell's internet throttling illegal, Google says". cbc.ca. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/07/tech-crtc.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-25.
- ^ Bell Canada Confirms Throttling - Tells wholesalers: too bad, so sad... - dslreports.com
- ^ Financial Post Story
- ^ Union urges CRTC to curb internet interference by Bell, Rogers
External links
- Bell Internet
- Bell Sympatico review by dslreports.com (cited in many sites)
- Provincial protection agency report (Section in French)
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