Telecom Trends

At a family function this past weekend, I saw some friends for the first time in 30 years. We had a chance to speak about the challenges of staying in touch in the good old days.

There was a time, in the not so distant past, that long distance calls were a 'big deal.' Sunday afternoons included the weekly ritual of phone calls to our grandparents on the east coast. Play time was punctuated by shouting to come in quickly: "It's long distance."

In my college days, calls to/from home were timed for 11:01 pm - those big discount periods were worth waiting for. And international long distance? You would have to choose between a nice dinner and a 3 minute call to Europe.

Now, we pick up the phone and call when we want. Most countries in the world are less than a nickel a minute, any time of day. In our house, we don't stop to think about making a long distance call from a wired phone, especially when you consider that an hour long call is about the same price as a cup of coffee.

I wrote yesterday of the continued trend for people to cancel their residential phone service. For mobile to be a complete substitute, there is still work to be done. Most service providers offer North America calling, sold in buckets of minutes. But absent a monthly plan, mobile long distance calling in Canada or the US attracts rates reminiscent of the wired world of 20 years ago. And overseas? Don't think about it.

This is not just a Canadian phenomenon. My US cell phone charges 5 times as much to call Canada compared to US nationwide rates. As a result, mobile phones preserve a profitable business for prepaid calling cards.

Which mobile carriers will be first to recognize the opportunity of enabling 10-10 dial access? With growing adoption of mobile substitution for residential phone service, will incumbents wait for the new mobile entrants or try a preemptive launch of more affordable global calling?

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