Bigger issue of ‘Net neutrality needs greater public discussion: Vonage

A dispute over access to cable company Quality of Service (QoS) by independent VoIP providers erupted into a war of words this month when Vonage Canada and Shaw Communications Inc. traded barbs over the controversial charge. But Vonage Canada's opposition to Shaw's $10 monthly surcharge is part of a larger debate. Joe Parent, VP of business development at Vonage Canada, tells Network Letter the issue is really about 'Net neutrality and access to facilities from incumbent cablecos and telcos. "There's lots of people out there that are paying good money to their ISPs to get access to the Internet and now along comes an ISP that decides that if they don't like the service you are putting over that Internet or the type of application you're running over it, they're going to arbitrarily decide to charge you more for it," he says. At issue is Shaw's practice of applying a $10 per month charge on their high-speed Internet customers who choose to subscribe to a VoIP service from another provider. The surcharged isn't applied to the monthly bills of those who subscribe to Shaw's digital telephony service. Vonage Canada also suggests that the industry could be heading down a slippery slope if ISPs are allowed to charge more to subscribers of alternative IP telephony services. "So what's next?" Parent asks. "They're going to charge you more if you decide to use someone else's email service or if you don't download their movies and you go rent a DVD," he says, adding the latter is an extreme example. "It just opens the door to allowing those companies that are in the greatest position to exploit to determine the rules." With the 'Net neutrality issue taking on greater importance in the United States - Vonage founder Jeffrey Citron recently appeared in front of a Senate committee looking into the subject - Vonage Canada felt that it was appropriate for the matter to take centre stage here. "If 'Net neutrality is going to be trampled upon, it needs to be discussed in a public forum and not just backed into by allowing the ILECs and the other powerful ISPs to start arbitrarily applying charges and not being challenged on it," Parent says.

Bigger issue of ‘Net neutrality needs greater public discussion: Vonage

News | March 15, 2006

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