Touchtone a Feature Still - Only In Canada?
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This is a pretty simple post, and I just wanted to share it - the lighter side of telecom.
Bell Canada still breaks out Touchtone service as a line item in our phone bills, charging us $2.80 a month for the privilege. As if we had a choice? It's like one of those silly questions I always wonder about, like how do they get the stripe in Stripe toothpaste? Or, where does baby oil come from? Groan....
Fellow Canadian blogger Mark Goldberg read the same story as me about this in the weekend Globe & Mail, and I'm just going to steer you to Mark's post. I really have nothing to add, but in this day and age, it's one of those things that looks so anachronistic.
The article (it's really an opinion piece) mentions how other Canadian ILECs have managed to get it off their billing, and you can be sure it doesn't show up on the bills from alternate providers for dial tone. But for Bell, it's all about "clarity" as the article states - they just want to be sure you know you're getting touchtone - and that you're paying for it whether you like it or not.
It's a small thing, and I'm sure lots of other ILECs still do this - and worse - but y'know, it's also one of those things you remember when you seek "clarity" to remember why you left your telco in the first place. As we teach our kids, if you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself!
Bell Canada still breaks out Touchtone service as a line item in our phone bills, charging us $2.80 a month for the privilege. As if we had a choice? It's like one of those silly questions I always wonder about, like how do they get the stripe in Stripe toothpaste? Or, where does baby oil come from? Groan....
Fellow Canadian blogger Mark Goldberg read the same story as me about this in the weekend Globe & Mail, and I'm just going to steer you to Mark's post. I really have nothing to add, but in this day and age, it's one of those things that looks so anachronistic.
The article (it's really an opinion piece) mentions how other Canadian ILECs have managed to get it off their billing, and you can be sure it doesn't show up on the bills from alternate providers for dial tone. But for Bell, it's all about "clarity" as the article states - they just want to be sure you know you're getting touchtone - and that you're paying for it whether you like it or not.
It's a small thing, and I'm sure lots of other ILECs still do this - and worse - but y'know, it's also one of those things you remember when you seek "clarity" to remember why you left your telco in the first place. As we teach our kids, if you don't have anything nice to say, keep it to yourself!
