It seems the New York Times has discovered that VOIP is alive and well in Canada. In an article today, the paper's Canadian business corresponent Bernard Simon talks about how Canada's incumbent carriers are facing a "serious threat to their long-entrenched dominance". At best, this assessment is overly optimistic when you consider that Internet telephony players such as Vonage and Primus are just starting to offer the service to consumers. A more accurate take is that the Internet is allowing new competitors to enter the market without having to make massive infrastructure investments. This environment compares with the late-1990s when competitive carriers such as Norigen and OCI Communications took a stab at taking on Bell Canada - only to fail miserably after spending hundreds of millions of dollars. Before VOIP takes off in Canada, there needs to be regulatory changes that has kept the price of local service at low levels. VOIP also needs to become more user-friendly so that its installation in a multi-phone household can be plug and play.
For some current (March to July 2005) postings on VOIP in Canada, check out the following:
- Outlook for the Canadian VOIP market (Seaboard Group, Aug. 2005)
- Canada Regulates VOIP
- Canada’s VOIP Pricing Landscape
- Bell Canada Unveils VOIP Service
- Rogers launches VOIP service