Internet Drama in Canada. (Really.)

I’m serious that there are useful lessons from a saga over home internet service in Canada. What has been a promising, albeit imperfect, system that increased choices and improved internet service for Canadians is poised to fall apart.

Barring a last-minute government intervention today or Friday, many smaller internet providers in Canada are likely to significantly increase their prices and lose customers or shut down. The dream of more competition leading to better internet service for Canadians is on life support.

What’s happening in Canada reveals why we need smart internet policy to be paired with strong government oversight to have better and more affordable internet for all — and it shows what happens when we lose that.

The U.S. has botched it for years, and that’s one reason America’s internet service stinks. Canada may be a real-world experiment in what happens when muddled government regulation undermines internet policy that has mostly been effective.

Bear with me for a lesson in Canada’s home internet service. The bottom line is that Canadians have something that is relatively novel to Americans: Many people have options to pick a home internet provider that they don’t hate.

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