Tom Keating has a post recounting his efforts to cancel his Vonage service. It's pretty funny but insightful into Vonage's customer service and competitive challenges.

The BlackBerry Pearl is getting rave reviews (Walter Mossberg, the NYT's David Pogue, Mark Evans :), etc.) and sales have been extremely brisk (some stores apparently sold out in the first week). That said, I'm wondering if news about a Pearl-like BlackBerry with a QWERTY keyboard (called the Blackberry 8800) will take some momentum out of the Pearl's sales. To be clear, there are a lot of people excited about the Pearl's cool look and feel and the fact it comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera as well as a video and music player. There are, however, some people less than enthused about the SureType keypad, even though it seems as easy to use as a QWERTY keypad. As information about the BlackBerry 8800 starts to escape from the geekdom (a.k.a. Engadget, BBHub, etc.) to the mainstream press will consumers decide to hold off on buying a Pearl until the 8800 is launched? As much as the Pearl is compelling, RIM may need to ramp up its marketing to show people how easy it is to use the SureType keypad. 
Update: According to Think Secret, Apple plans to launch its iPhone exclusively with Cingular early next year. The iPhone will feature a 3-megapixel camera, iTunes and iSync.Apple apparently believe iPhone shipments will be 25 million in 2007. Engadget also has a post.

If you've got a PhD in mathematics, you may be able to figure out how Canada's telecom regulator, the CRTC, created its formula to collect money from the carriers for the deferral account. (It has something to do with consumers being over-charged for local telephone service in urban centres.) The bottom line is the account contains a whopping $652-million, most of which is supposed to be spent on expanding rural broadband. While everyone agrees it makes sense to bring broadband to rural communities, the $652-million question is how to do it. In February, the CRTC decided most of the money should be given to Bell Canada and Telus, who would, in turn, invest it in rural broadband networks. Others think the money should be given back to consumers. To be honest, rural broadband has never been a cut-and-dry issue in Canada. The idea is universally endorsed as good social and economic policy even though it can be a difficult ROI argument to make sometimes when you're talking about serving very small communities. At one point, Liberal MP Brian Tobin talked about spending $4-billion to roll out broadband to rural Canada but that was more politics than reality. Perhaps the most sensible route are the private-public partnership in Alberta (SuperNet) and B.C. (Network BC) where broadband networks being extended to hundreds of rural communities. A key part of SuperNet is its provides wholesale access to ISPs so competition is allowed to emerge to give consumers the luxury of choice. Perhaps it's time for rural communities in Ontario and Quebec to start demanding a SuperNet of their own.
Update: This post is based on the Federal Court of Appeal's decision to give two consumer groups the opportunity to appeal the CRTC's decision. For thoughts on the court ruling, check out Mark Goldberg. The New York Times has put the spotlight on rural broadband in the U.S. with a story in Sept. 28th's newspaper.