CALGARY – Shaw Communications has taken its battle with Internet phone company Vonage to court.
Today, Shaw filed the latest in a series of court documents with respect to a claim against Vonage Canada in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, Calgary, "to set the record straight on its digital phone service and its quality of service enhancement," says the company’s press release.
Shaw offers a voluntary fee of $10 a month to Shaw High Speed Internet customers who get their phone service from third party providers such as Vonage. Shaw says the fee is to guarantee quality of phone service. Vonage, on the other hand, has referred to the fee as a tax and has petitioned the CRTC to force Shaw to stop it, as reported by Cartt.ca here.
"Shaw offers its highly successful Shaw Digital Phone Service over its own managed network. Vonage offers an Internet telephony service over the public Internet system with all its inherent limitations," says today’s Shaw release.
"Shaw therefore offers Shaw’s High Speed Internet customers who subscribe to voice over Internet telephony services provided by third parties like Vonage, an entirely optional service known as Quality of Service Enhancement (QOS). QOS is intended to enhance the broadband experience of those Shaw High Speed Internet customers who subscribe to voice over Internet services, whether with Vonage or others.
"Shaw’s QOS Enhancement is at the heart of the dispute with Vonage as a result of certain publications and allegations made by Vonage which Shaw considers misleading and defamatory. Shaw commenced its lawsuit to stop Vonage from making these statements and to set the record straight on the QOS Enhancement service and the material differences between Shaw’s Digital Phone Service and Vonage’s voice over Internet service," concludes the release.
