Why VoIP Isn’t Ready Yet
There are 4+ start-up companies in Canada, as well as a few older players in the industry, that are offering VoIP (Voice over IP). This isn’t of course new news — I’m just a little late writing my comments on the topic.
My first impressions of VoIP are that it’s definitely the way things will go. Copper analog lines carrying just voice are going to disappear probably within 10 in all but very rural areas. It makes sense to throw simple voice packets over the Internet, especially to far off places — it should save the consumer gobs of money.
But does that make today’s available (and I stress available) technology very useful? In my opinion, not particularly. I haven’t looked too deeply into the various offerings by the VoIP providers, but it doesn’t look like there will be much of a savings, unless you are a heavy land-line user (lots of lines, lots long distance, and lots of calling features). But even then, how much are you going to save?
I’ve had some cruddy luck with various high-speed access providers (both with Shaw and Telus over the years), and I’ve had my connections flake out. Because I have a land line, I can still communicate with the outside world (well, okay, I also have a cell phone for this, but that’s not really the point). If I only had Shaw cable and VoIP, and my cable connection went down, I would like my voice “land line” as well.
So, my point — VoIP is great. No, VoIP will be great. But right now, there are too many factors (price and potential for hiccups are the major two) that are going to stop wide adoption, and curse the technology because people will get fed up.
I’m sticking with my Telus line for now. Until I can get a VoIP line (even despite the hiccups issue) for 30-50% the cost of my Telus line with the exact same features, then I’ll consider switching. This is dirt, dirt cheap technology, so as far as I’m concerned, consumers should be saving a lot more than they already are. And I’m not just talking about long distance.
