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Supermarket VOIP
chuckT writes "Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain, has announced plans to sell a VOIP handset and connection through their stores. Given that one out of every eight pounds, spent on shopping in the UK goes to Tesco, and the UK has one of the highest broadband takeup rates around, is this the end for the classic telecoms providers like BT?"
1. The emergency services issue has been solved. (OK, it requires the end-user to pay a little attention.) In any event, it's not really worse for VoIP than, say, cell phones.
2. Power cuts are an issue, sure. Of course, a UPS for the VoIP box, router, and cable modem (which would probably keep going for a LONG time) would solve this issue. Most folks I know use cordless phones which -- guess what -- don't work during power cuts either (the handsets are battery-powered, but the base stations aren't).
I doubt it.
For a start, Tesco's on-line systems to date have sucked. I subscribed to Tesco Downloads to get a legal music download I wanted, and the UI was so bad that having let me sign up with a particular e-mail address, I then couldn't log in using it because it was a character too long for the field on the web form! I tried to contact them, but... there were no contact details, anywhere, and mails to webmaster at both the Tesco Downloads and the main Tesco site went unanswered. This doesn't exactly make me want to try relying on their VOIP system.
In addition to Tesco's apparent incompetence, BT (or the cable companies, depending on who you're with) still make a significant amount of money from those broadband subscribers. I hardly use my landline any more, but I still have to cough up several quid a month for BT line rental so that my broadband ISP and I can communicate. The actual cost of my calls on BT represents around 0.1% of the money I pay them, since they've been offering calls-for-almost-nothing for months anyway.
In other words, BT are now effectively an infrastructure company and not a services company, and their own phone service is almost free. Why do I need VOIP again?
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Trust me, there are a small but growing number of people in the UK who are horrified at the amount of money Tesco makes.
http://www.tescopoly.org/
"Remember, every little hurts" is a piss-take of the Tesco slogan "Every Little Helps" which grates me every time I hear it.
Tesco are also bad for the environment, as trucks delivering to Tesco in a year, which in 2002 stood at 1,150,000 deliveries, clock up a total mileage of 140 million miles (224 million km).
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silas
hobbit