Canada’s Big Three readying cross-carrier video calling

Although cross-carrier video calling is likely to rank very low on the wireless wish list of Canadians, don’t try telling that to the Big Three who have just completed the testing phase of the service. Intra-network video calling, which has been available in Canada since April 2007 with Rogers and became available with Bell and TELUS in November 2009 alongside their spiffy new HSPA+ network, has yet to strike a chord with Canadian consumers (we’d wager most don’t even know it’s available), but Bell, Rogers and TELUS have high hopes that it will be openly embraced by the public. Said Bell’s Stephen Howe: “By breaking down the barriers between video calling clients in Canada, we anticipate strong demand for the service — as we saw with past inter-carrier initiatives such as text and picture messaging.” So far no launch dates are floating around, but we can’t imagine it will stay secret forever. Is anyone excited by this news, or are you all still trying to think of the last time you used your phone to call someone? Plus, you know what this service would really come in handy for?

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Tags: 3G, Bell, Canada, HSPA, Rogers, Telus, UMTS, video calling