Bell Canada Launches VoIP Offering in Quebec Cities
Bell Canada launched VoIP service this week for the first time, rolling out Bell Digital Voice in 3 cities in Quebec after months of trials. The U.S. Bells, still developing VoIP offerings, are watching their Canadian counterpart’s launch.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Bell Canada seems to be reacting to pressure from independent VoIP competitors that have sprung up in Canada. Vonage has been there since last year. Videotron Group, Quebec’s leading cable operator, has started to offer VoIP in suburbs south of Montreal, with a minimum charge of $13.15.
“Bell is certainly sending some messages with this release,” SeaBoard analyst Ian Grant said in a report. “The company is responding to the Videotron initiative with a much more fully featured offering. It is also sending a message to Rogers and to Shaw - that VoIP services aren’t going to be a cable-only preserve. The battle will be on features, on price, on customer service and on user convenience.”
Bell Canada is pricing the service at $37 for all-you-can-eat calling in Canada and the U.S., $31.25 for province-wide calling. Initially the offering will be available in Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres and Sherbrooke.
Bell Canada acted ahead of Canadian regulators. Last year the Canadian Radio-TV & Telecom Commission last year began an inquiry into VoIP. The agency held hearings, but hasn’t made recommendations. Last April, a preliminary view from the commission held that in the interest of regulatory parity “existing regulatory framework should apply to VoIP services, including its determinations related to forbearance.”
Grant said Bell Canada wanted to send a message to Canadian regulators: “The market is evolving - Bell cannot stand by and watch its prospects evaporate, it has to move… Bell has launched its service with the interpretation, which we find reasonable, that VoIP is merely an Internet application. Internet applications are not subject to today’s regulatory oversight… Bell’s reading of this stance has made the way clear for the company to move the VoIP ‘ball’ forward.”
“With Bell Digital Voice, Bell Canada is making available the next generation of Internet services to consumers,” said Ron Close, pres. of VoIP for Bell Canada. “Because the service operates over any high-speed connection, cable or DSL, it provides consumers the benefit of enhanced choice.”