16 December 2006

For Bill Rainey, this past Monday will surely go down as a memorable date in the short history of Internet-telephone company Vonage Canada.

It started with excitement as Vonage Canada, where Mr. Rainey is president, welcomed 50 new employees, expanding its work force by nearly a third in a single day.

But within a few hours, more ominous news reached its Mississauga headquarters: The government was changing the rules of the regulatory game. Vonage Canada's biggest competitors — the former phone monopolies — would be free of their regulatory shackles as early as next year and the upstart would face their full competitive wrath.