OVH, Kimsufi Now Available in the US, Canada

[Storming]

Good news for do-it-yourself seedbox aficionados - OVH has finally launched its long awaited expansion into the US and Canada. North Americans (except Mexico) are now able to purchase directly from OVH?s entire line of products at ovh.ie, which also includes the popular Kimsufi brand (found at kimsufi.ie) and even save the VAT. However, there is a slight catch: subscribing to a plan isn?t quite as easy as one would anticipate. For those familiar with OVH flagships ovh.co.uk and ovh.com, purchasing a server is hassle-free as long as you reside in a whitelisted location. All that?s required is a valid mobile number (within an acceptable country code) and a SMS ?text message? 4-digit code is sent to the mobile device, which is used to validate the authenticity of the buyer?s country of origin. Easy peasy.
Unfortunately, no such SMS service is available (even if possible) through ovh.ie. As it stands - American and Canadian citizens are required to provide proper proofs. Potential ovh.ie / kimsufi.ie new customers will need to submit (via email) proof of identification (for example, a copy of a driver?s licence or photo ID card) and proof of address (a copy of a utility bill) before an order can be placed. These are examples; contact ovh.ie support for additional info.





Above is a screenshot of the checkout, asking for information about proof of location. At this point you?ll also receive a message to the email address you specified upon signing up; it too will direct you to a similar checkout page. However, you won?t actually be able to confirm or "make the payment" for the server (as indicated in the email below) without first being validated.





In reference to the announcement on OVH, this forum post appeared:


Going through the trouble to provide proof of residence within the US or Canada is still certainly worth it, considering the alternative is buying from an overpriced markup OVH reseller. While inconvenient, so far it turns out to be substantially less expensive than ordering directly from OVH?s EU departments since "VAT" (an extra 19.6% in FR and 17.5% in UK) is not charged to buyers on ovh.ie. The price you see is the price you pay - although pricing is listed in ? (Euros); and servers are still subject to OVH?s setup fees where applicable.]







It?s surely a bold (and smart) move on OVH?s behalf to open themselves to the western marketplace, a decision that likely has little to do with an expansion into a new ?seedbox market?. But let?s not kid ourselves - OVH knows it?s bread & butter. Considering that an estimated 75% of all seedboxes are on OVH, it?s palpable to assume that peering could soon shift from a heavily-dominated European OVH marketplace into North America, as a result of the success of ovh.ie.
FSF hasn?t yet tested any ovh.ie servers therefore it?s impossible to speculate on peering, redundancy, NA > EU connectivity, FTP transfer speeds, and so on. If popular, we suspect it?ll only be a matter of time before US & Canadian OVH resellers will surface that are able to undercut prices from European OVH resellers, and even possibly ovh.com/co.uk itself.
Other countries have also become available - Brazil & Portugal can now use ovh.pt to sign up; Spain & Andorra can visit ovh.es. Latvia, Lithuania, Russian Federation and Ukraine can use ovh.lt. All of the above use SMS. And Ireland can signup through ovh.ie as well.





Source: FileshareFreak

Storming Reviewed by Storming on 23rd Jun 2010. OVH, Kimsufi Now Available in the US, Canada Good news for do-it-yourself seedbox aficionados - OVH has finally launched its long awaited expansion into the US and Canada. North Americans (except Mexico) are now able to purchase directly from OVH?s entire line of products at ovh.ie, which also includes the popular Kimsufi brand (found at kimsufi.ie) and even save the VAT. However, there is a slight catch: subscribing to a plan isn?t quite as easy as one would anticipate. For those familiar with OVH flagships ovh.co.uk and Rating: 5

[Nick]

I'm still not sure about submitting personal information to them via email...

[Storming]

Yeah that bit sucks to be honest - least in UK you don't have to do that