On Wednesday, I reported that Vonage Canada filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) about broadband cable Internet access provider Shaw Communications‘ $10 Quality of Service Enhancement fee pitched to their subscribers as a voluntary plan to ensure quality of service for Vonage and other third-party content providers and services.
Vonage called the plan a “thinly veiled VoIP tax.”
Wednesday afternoon, Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw fired back, issuing a statement that says the fee was only a voluntary surcharge, and that Vonage’s complaint was tied in more with issues surrounding its planned Initial Public Offering.
After Shaw Communications put out their press release, Vonage Canada followed with a response- once again calling the fee a tax.
“In its release today, Shaw conveniently ignored answering any of the questions Vonage Canada posed to the CRTC about Shaw’s VoIP tax,” Vonage Canada vice-president of business development and marketing Joe Parent said in a release.
“Instead,” Parent added, “Shaw simploy regurgitated the vague information already posted on its website without offering its customers or Vonage Canada customers a clear explanation.”
The verbal joust continues. What’s more, this looks like a verbal joust that could turn into a legal one.