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Internet Phone Start-up Goes Belly-Up

westlake writes "The New York Times has a short piece on the failure of SunRocket, the second-largest internet phone service after Vonage, with 200,000 customers. Start-ups like SunRocket are under enormous pressure from the telcos and cable, which have marketing muscle and can bundle VoIP with Internet, TV, home security services, and so on. The start-up has only one product, and since they don't own the lines, they can't control the quality of service. Attracting subscribers can put a start-up deep into the red. Vonage added 166,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2007, but lost $77 million."

5 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. I'll believe it... by AltGrendel · · Score: 2, Funny
    ...when Netcraft confirms it.

    Till then, SunRocket VoIP is alive an well

    --
    The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination

    - Douglas Adams

  2. SunRocket by UncleWilly · · Score: 2, Funny

    Things we learned

    1. Don't let a 3-year-old name your company

  3. Procrastination pays off. by SailorMeeko · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've been a subscriber to Vonage for a few years now. Although I am happy with their service, I don't use the phone that much, so SunRocket's package that was something like $9.99/month for 200 minutes was very attractive to me and for the past couple of months I have been meaning to change my service to them. Every week I keep telling myself, "Ok, this week I will move from Vonage to SunRocket", but the procrastinator in me kept putting it off. Now I'm glad I didn't change.

    Moral of the story: Procrastination pays off.

  4. Re:Probably going to Vonage? by aevans · · Score: 1, Funny

    You're saying that you could take a 5 minute stroll and be able to communicate instantly with people anywhere in the world? Technology is truly amazing!

  5. Re:I've always wondered by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    God dies and a million kitties mastur...errh, sorry.