Bell has announced its own VoIP services in three cities in Quebec and the news has spread quickly through the Canadian blogosphere. The coverage so far has focused on the unexpected nature of the announcement – the launch comes before CRTC approval of the new service. I’m more interested in the pricing and the strategy behind it, and what if anything Vonage, Primus and others will do in response. Money quote from the Globe:
Bell’s VoIP service, which includes features such as call forwarding, comes at different prices depending on the unlimited long-distance calling regions that subscribers choose — $38 for Quebec, $40 for Canada, and $45 for Canada and the United States. Vidéotron’s monthly rates range from $15.95 to $21.95 for those who only get the phone service. Subscribers can get five features for $9, and an unlimited Quebec long-distance plan that starts at $4.95.
Bell’s service is about providing consumers with choice, according to Ron Close, president of VoIP for consumer markets. For proof, he cited VoIP features that aren’t available on Bell’s traditional local phone service, including routing voice messages to the user’s e-mail.
Bell is launching its service as the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission prepares to rule in the coming months on how it will regulate VoIP.
When the CRTC started proceedings a year ago it was of the view that VoIP should be regulated like local phone service. Mr. Close argued that Bell’s VoIP service for consumers is a retail Internet application, which isn’t regulated.
My Vonage service is much cheaper, and I’ve never had a service issue. Audio quality is indistinguishable from POTS.
On the heels of Bell’s naked DSL decision (which now seems to be the obvious strategic move to encourage the CRTC to sign off on Bell’s view of the appropriate regulatory treatment of VoIP), Vonage’s launch of local number portability, recent concerns about packet preferencing and with the various broadband providers and third party providers lining up to provide VoIP, we are at the beginning of a period of significant change in home and small business telco. It will be very interesting to see how the price / service offerings line up.