Anyone looking for a deal on local telephone service from Rogers Communications will be disappointed. The cableco unveiled its much-anticipated service today featuring three plans:
- an standard plan for C$29.95 - includes local calling and one calling feature;
- an enhanced Plan for C$37.95 - includes local calling and three calling features;
- an ultimate Plan for C$41.95 - includes local calling and six calling features.
None of the plans include long-distance service. Existing Rogers customers who sign a two-year contract will see prices reduced to $25.26, $32.26 and $35.66 respectively.
The plans should warm the hearts of analysts who want to see Rogers take a disciplined approach to pricing. It should also please Vonage and Primus, which should still be able to operate quite comfortably in the discount segment of the market. If you're a Bell Canada customer, jumping to Rogers may depend on how much you like calling features. The standard plan seems to be a bit of a wash given you can get a Bell local line for about $23 and one feature for $6 to $8. As you move to the enhanced and ultimate plans, moving to Rogers seems more palatable. I'm puzzled by the absence of any LD given it is a standard feature in most VOIP and cable telephony plans. On a positive note, Rogers' entry into the market should give the VOIP and cable telephony markets a serious jump-start.
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Mark Evansthe blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc. 
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Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Mark Evans
on Wed 29 Jun 2005 02:25 PM EDT | Permanent Link
Comments
Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Wed 29 Jun 2005 03:57 PM EDT | Permanent Link
It's probably relevant that this is exactly Sprint's pricing -- they were grandfathering an already-existing offering, not setting new pricing to compete with all the other offerings out there.
In other words, a stability play. Start with Sprint's installed base, hit the ground running, and announce any changes (LD inclusions, whatever) later. Though I wouldn't count on it -- they're targetting Bell's core home phone customers here, not VoIP early-adopters. The underlying idea is that this is your father's phone service. The stodgy pricing bolsters that. Re: Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Wed 29 Jun 2005 09:24 PM EDT | Permanent Link
Rogers will be relying on an already established base of customers, and of course a bundling approach that will undoubtedly attract a certain type of consumer, one who likes the convenience of dealing with one supplier. That being said, the opportunity for independents like Vonage or Primus is pretty significant. Bell is public enemy #1 in the eyes of Rogers. Believe or not there are some people out there who want best of breed offerings - judging by want we have learned today, I don't think best of breed applies.
Re: Re: Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Wed 29 Jun 2005 09:55 PM EDT | Permanent Link
That's an interesting way of looking at it. What do you mean by "best of breed", though -- isn't this about features, not quality?
To put it another way, I am beginning to see the market as sliced, not into TDM vs VoIP, but into access-independent vs dedicated. The dedicated services, like TDM and the PacketCables, are probably a bit higher quality, because managed end-to-end. Usually I'd expect "best of breed" to refer to services like that, which are higher quality ... but are pretty traditional. The access-independent services, which don't have the same quality controls, have on the other hand been rolling out more advanced services. It's pretty clear which space Rogers wants to play in. Ted's comments to day about wanting to go from being an enterpreneurial enterprise to a stable industrial creature bolster it. The question is whether that's a wise strategy. I am still on the fence. Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Wed 29 Jun 2005 05:12 PM EDT | Permanent Link
No LD?!? So what exactly is the compelling argument to leave your existing Bell/Sprint PSTN connection...you love Rogers and/or hate Bell/Sprint?!?
The whole point of VoIP has been the ability to take advantage of the existing infrastructure of the Internet to greatly reduce the cost of long distance. With respect to the posting above this, you're exactly right...this is your father's phone service, and with this attitude towards pricing, I can't imagine anyone being interested in signing on. Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Wed 29 Jun 2005 05:23 PM EDT | Permanent Link
So what exactly is the compelling argument to leave your existing Bell/Sprint PSTN connection...you love Rogers and/or hate Bell/Sprint?!?
Um, this Re: Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Thu 30 Jun 2005 10:06 AM EDT | Permanent Link
Um, this your Sprint connection. That's the whole point.
I'm not sure what you mean...if you're saying "this is your Sprint connection," then I'd have to disagree...Sprint offers local phone service which uses the existing PSTN connection to your house. Rogers VoIP offering uses a broadband connection (hopefully not tied directly to Rogers' broadband service). Re: Re: Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Thu 30 Jun 2005 01:26 PM EDT | Permanent Link
Sorry ... I meant that
(1) Rogers owns Sprint, and (2) Rogers' Home Phone roll-out is basically a re-roll-out of Sprint's existing home phone service under the Rogers brand. ...Sprint offers local phone service which uses the existing PSTN connection to your house. Rogers VoIP offering uses a broadband connection (hopefully not tied directly to Rogers' broadband service). Careful. Rogers uses its coaxial cable into the home, but that's as far as it goes -- it is using a dedicated portion of the spectrum, just like POTS (TDM) lines. The relevant comparison is not VoIP vs TDM (POTS). It's dedicated vs non-dedicated. Once the in-wire spectrum is dedicated on the twisted-pair (Bell) or coaxial (Rogers) line, the differences in protocol engineering are minimal. In other words, unlike Voice-over-Internet VoIP offerings, Rogers' out-of-band VoIP offering isn't mixed with Internet traffic, useable over any broadband connection, dependent on taking Rogers Internet, etc. Re: Re: Re: Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Thu 30 Jun 2005 01:47 PM EDT | Permanent Link
Ah...thanks for the clarification! I was (incorrectly) under the impression that this was their VoIP offering.
Re: Rogers's Unveils Cable Telephony Plan
by
Anonymous
on Thu 30 Jun 2005 02:43 PM EDT | Permanent Link
It is their VoIP offering -- just not a Voice-over-Internet offering. They don't have one.
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