Now why would anyone in his sane mind enjoy a ringback in this day and age? It’s a mystery to me (as well as to many, many others), but Rogers (you should really read the post, the author genuinely thinks that this so called feature is the best thing since sliced bread) think that people enjoy ringbacks while waiting for the other party to answer, not only that, they think that this stupid service is actually worth charging for. I think stupid is a very nice word to describe this feature, moronic should be used instead. But why is it moronic? Well, for starters, take a look at all the comments on Rogers’ post (linked to above). Now here’s why I think this service is moronic and should be trashed:

– The person calling you will think that he’s getting your voicemail, so he hangs up immediately. Now, if this is a friend, then you won’t mind, but if it’s a first time client, it’s a totally different story. In this case, your Rogers’ stupid ringback makes you lose money.
– It might sound cool for teenagers (and I’m saying might), but it’s very unprofessional for adults. If someone is calling me and “enjoying a cool ringback” while waiting for me to pickup, then he would probably say “What happened to Fadi? He used to be a normal person!”.
– And Last, but not least, I think it is insulting to the subscriber’s intelligence to charge money for this service, or even include it in a plan for free. Nobody needs nor wants this service anyway.

Now why did Rogers create this stupid service in the first place, well, the answer is simple, because they can get away with it. Rogers, in case you don’t know, is a very large private telecommunication company in Canada. They have, along with Bell, a near monopoly on the Canadian market. Virtually all other mobile/Internet companies in Canada (especially in Central Canada) use either the Bell or the Rogers backbone.

Which brings me back to the question, why aren’t there any Canadian companies in the telecommunications industry listed on the TSX. The answer, again, is simple, they don’t need investors’ money, they have all the money that they need (it’s a wealthy country and there is no competition, it doesn’t get any better for them), and, the legislators are always there to make their lives easier.

I think Canada desperately needs competition in the telecommunications market, we’re slowly but surely descending to the standards of a developing country when it comes to our Internet connection (we’re currently # 35) and our mobile technology. Not only that, because they’re too big to be touched and too big to fail, Canadian mobile operators are knowingly acting as payment gateways for scammy Internet businesses, which makes Canadian operators scammy as well. But who cares anyway?

I really have to stop writing now, I feel the urge to call my friend and enjoy his ringbak while my call is being connected, hopefully he won’t answer the phone.