Mark Evans

Shaw Selling VOIP on Features, Not Price

Everyone expects Shaw Communications to lower the price of its cable telephony service from $55 a month to gain market share but don't expect it to happen soon. CEO Jim Shaw told analysts that telephony will probably follow the same path as broadband Internet where it did not lower prices despite fierce pricing pressure from Telus. Instead, Shaw will focus on features. There are a couple ways to read into this strategy. Shaw doesn't want to concede just yet that lower prices will be a strategic necessity over time, and/or he really believes Shaw can enhance its service to the point where consumers don't mind paying a premium. You have to give the cablecos credit, they have resisted the siren of lower prices that has lured most VOIP service providers. The big question is whether market forces will allow them to maintain this discipline. If Vonage or Primus or Bell are offering less expensive, full-featured VOIP will Shaw eventually have to relent?