I have seen companies do this, not just for language, but also for geographical concerns (see ups.com or fedex.com). In this case, the “splash” page is functional and does serve a distinct purpose for the user.

An alternative to such pages is to look at the default language/culture settings in the web browser. Browsers typically send accepted languages in the HTTP request header. You can “default” to the first language/culture available in the list, and provide controls on the web page to change languages.

Looking at rogers.com, your approach does work fine. Most people will quickly identify the side of the page in their language and enter the site. The only issue may come up if a third language (say, Spanish) is desired.

You may want to conduct your own informal mini-usability test by getting ten people (some who speak English and little or no French, some who speak French and little English, and some who speak both fluently) and watch them use the site — give them a few small tasks such as “purchase a wireless plan with at least 1000 minutes and bla bla bla features”. For the bilingual users, give them a task that is to “change the language for which you are viewing the web page”. Obviously, your main focus is to see how they interact with the language-related features of the site.

One small usability tip for you that I found when navigating the site. While poking around, I got this message:

“We are sorry, Rogers Home Phone is currently not available in your area.

However, you can take advantage of Rogers Long Distance service.”

You should add an indication as to (1) what area I chose, and (2) allow me to change the area.

While I agree wholeheartedly that having a splash page for the purposes of showing off Flash eye-candy is a
big waste of time, I would be interested to know what the usabililty experts would propose as an alternative
to the language-selection feature?

See http://www.rogers.com for example.

Regards,

Chris.