Does anyone know about alternative phone service providers to Telus?

[Lisa]

I got an e-mail from the employees' union today. They're asking subscribers to drop Telus long-distance and local service (due to the continuing lockout).

Is there a phone company I can switch to that treats its employees better, and isn't mixed up in some military-industrial crap?

[sabbat hunter]

1. there is

voice over internet providers like Vonage which i use. same call quality at a far cheaper price.

[Lisa]

2. what if I don't have an internet-compatible computer at home?

(I use the machines at work, or the public library)

Do they provide regular phone service too? Sorry for my ignorance, but I've been with Telus since they were BC Tel.

[wug37]

3. You need broadband internet access

So if you don't have that, vonage won't work for you.

[V. Kid]

4. Maybe you should tell Telus you'll drop them...

...because your angry with their poor service during this lock out. Claim you've been having trouble, and say you don't like the way they're treating their employee's as such you'll go to another carrier. They'll beg to keep you, and wait until they start offering free services. But if that's too self-serving, you could always switch to another carrier, I don't know too much myself and want to too, cause of this. But I know you can get high-speed internet service from Shaw, and if you have cable they'll bundle it with that.

[tuvor]

6. Are there still issues regarding calling 911?

Or has it been fixed in the bigger cities? Smaller cities?...Little towns...?

[Lisa]

5. I just heard about this from a friend -- I'm going to investigate

http://www.escarpmentcentre.org/telecom.htm


I assume that this is for Ontario people only, but if they also service other areas ...

[tuvor]

7. Are you in a position to drop your landline altogether?

I know a few people who've done it successfully.

[CHIMO]

8. One Option

Is Primus.

http://www.primus.ca/en/residential/homephone/index.html

Depending on the places you want to call they have several plans. However, don't expect much in service from them. You end up waiting a half hour to an hour for a poor connection to somewhere in India.

I understand that the Shaw VoIP costs about $50 a month and the down time is something else. Although they will tell you that they have to meet CRTC standards they can't give you the down time for their internet connections which they have been operating for many years and goes hand in hand with the new VoIP.