Rebtel supports "short code" petition
December 14, 2007/
holding back on short codes? Well, now we find that Rebtel, the company who uses short codes to make cheap international calls, has announced their support of a petition that names the refusal to provide short codes “unjust and unreasonable discrimination, and violates the law.” Looks like Rebtel is sending out feelers to see if it has a legitimate lawsuit on its hands.
“We’ve said from the start that rejecting our short code campaign was anti-competitive abuse of power,” said Hjalmar Winbladh, Rebtel co-founder and CEO. “We totally agree that the FCC needs to rule on this issue.”There are two sides to the coin, though. Rebtel in no way owns these networks. They’ve exploited a way to make cheaper international calls, so the owners of the network are saying, “hey, why aren’t we profiting off this?” So you do have to weigh both arguments. Rebtel has found a way to make life easier for consumers, which is commendable. But in doing so they rely on someone else’s property. It’s like if you unearthed fossils or minerals in your neighbor’s lawn. Yes, you are the one who made the discovery, but because it was on property you don’t own, the owner has a right to a stake. Trust us, that was a better analogy than the one made by Windbladh (we redacted that one). [eMediaWire]]]>
Posted in Consumer Issues
Greg Spector from Rebtel, here. We’re not taking anyone’s property. We think the carriers deserved to be paid a fare price for their services, which you are doing when you make a local call. We then route that call over the Internet to connect you with your friends abroad for a few pennies per minute, or for free if you use our Smart Call service. It doesn’t cost any more to send email over the Internet to a friend next door than to a friend on the other side of the world. If your voice is going over the Internet shouldn’t the same apply? If the carriers really had customers’ best interest in mind they’d stop gouging you for international calls.
Great to hear from someone directly connected to the matter, Greg.
I totally understand your point. You guys came up with a great way to make cheap calls. Problem is, the system relies on using someone else’s property. You’re not taking it…you’re using it. Hence, the carriers are predictably going to want to get a cut.
Some carriers will opt to not use the service at all for now so that they can figure out how to maximize profits for themselves.
It’s not something I agree with, but it’s a reality at this point. I wish Rebtel the best of luck with making this work.