dslreports logo
 story category
Vonage Wi-Fi, Vonage MVNO?
Company diversifies, hopes to compete...
As previously mentioned, Vonage has announced that they're planning to offer rebranded wireless broadband over Earthlink's citywide Wi-Fi networks. Vonage is also apparently interested in becoming a wireless phone MVNO according to Business Week. The company hopes to diversify to better compete with cable's bundled offerings, but the vultures are already circling, and it's unlikely that becoming an MVNO is going to help. It already costs the company $306 to lure each new subscriber -- a cost that's likely to rise once Vonage starts marketing additional services.
view:
topics flat nest 

inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

1 recommendation

inteller

Member

Vonage and Earthlink....what an appropriate pair

I'm having visions of rats and sinking ships.....why is that?

kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL

kyramilan

Member

Re: Vonage and Earthlink....what an appropriate pair

Both are heading to bankruptcy. Vonage has become almost expensive as bare landlines. And, besides crooks, who puts 30-min informercials on TV at 3 in the morning? Vonage.

Telcos don't have to DSL share anymore so Earthlink will probably limp a little further than Vonage.

It is also interesting many Vonage customers have several paid lines with them so begs the question, how many customers do they really have?

And, running a business off of Vonage is like running a Doctor's Office out of a Trailor.

gpidock
Premium Member
join:2006-12-01
Columbus, OH

gpidock

Premium Member

Re: Vonage and Earthlink....what an appropriate pair

That's the problem with trying to run a business off of another company's infrastructure.
Rick5
Premium Member
join:2001-02-06

Rick5 to kyramilan

Premium Member

to kyramilan
said by kyramilan:

Both are heading to bankruptcy. Vonage has become almost expensive as bare landlines. And, besides crooks, who puts 30-min informercials on TV at 3 in the morning? Vonage.

Telcos don't have to DSL share anymore so Earthlink will probably limp a little further than Vonage.

It is also interesting many Vonage customers have several paid lines with them so begs the question, how many customers do they really have?

And, running a business off of Vonage is like running a Doctor's Office out of a Trailor.
That's an interesting characterization you've made of the service. It's certainly worlds away from my personal experience as a customer though.

The fact of the matter is, what you characterize as being "almost as expensive as a bare line", saves me about 60.00 per month versus my old pots/long distance package.

In fact, Vonage, priced at 24.99..is practically what just my old pots line used to cost except with this service I get a full featured service and unlimited long distance.

I'm not sure how you could ever rationalize in your wildest dreams those two being about equal. They're worlds apart.

As far as reliability goes, my service in the year I've had it has never been down. Not once. Ever.

Is that reliable? I certainly think so. It's certainly a far cry from what the telco's would like to paint the service as being.

I didn't buy the service because of a 3 am infomercial, but I certainly think they help to bring the real story to the public. This is something new to many people and because the telcos are now obviously running so scared because of it, it's seems they're willing to do and say just about anything to dissuade the public from using what is truly an outstanding, money saving service.

I don't think that Vonage will be filing bk. anytime soon.
In fact, I think they'll continue to add millions of customers to their already rapidly growing customer base which incidentally, appears to grow as fast as the telco's seem to lose their pots customers.
stonecolddsl
Linux Junkie
join:2004-01-07
Sarasota, FL

stonecolddsl

Member

Re: Vonage and Earthlink....what an appropriate pair

I have had client have nothing but hassle with vonage. On the other side I have had clients swear by vonage. I dont like trust a service that is dependent on another service especially 2 services like vonage/ other voip . first it dependent on my internet connection and quality but then it dependent on the power company. You can say stuff like you can use battery back ups but they only last so long . I keep a plane jane corded phone around to plug in when the power goes out I cant say the same thing for vonage.

I think voip is a great concept and enjoy using voip with teh advance features of asterisk. But vonage is going to die.

kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL

1 recommendation

kyramilan to Rick5

Member

to Rick5
said by Rick5:

said by kyramilan:

Both are heading to bankruptcy. Vonage has become almost expensive as bare landlines. And, besides crooks, who puts 30-min informercials on TV at 3 in the morning? Vonage.

Telcos don't have to DSL share anymore so Earthlink will probably limp a little further than Vonage.

It is also interesting many Vonage customers have several paid lines with them so begs the question, how many customers do they really have?

And, running a business off of Vonage is like running a Doctor's Office out of a Trailor.
That's an interesting characterization you've made of the service. It's certainly worlds away from my personal experience as a customer though.

The fact of the matter is, what you characterize as being "almost as expensive as a bare line", saves me about 60.00 per month versus my old pots/long distance package.

In fact, Vonage, priced at 24.99..is practically what just my old pots line used to cost except with this service I get a full featured service and unlimited long distance.
I said BARE land line. Vonage is about $31-34 a month with taxes.

I'll say it again: ANYONE using Vonage for BUSINESS is a CHEAPSKATE or is a Poor Business! Good companies DON'T use half-witted VOIP that has quality decided by the Net. I know we have NO clients on VOIP like Vonage.

Spending $306 to get a subscriber to pay $250 year is the STUPIDEST business plan you can have!

Our office is VOIP through several T1s or T3s. It has .9999% uptime. It doesn't go down.
hurl03
join:2005-03-25
united state

hurl03

Member

Re: Vonage and Earthlink....what an appropriate pair

suppose your awesome business doesn't do numbers well...

"Our office is VOIP through several T1s or T3s. It has .9999% uptime. It doesn't go down."

.9999% = 0.009999

That's pretty funny...

kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL

kyramilan

Member

Re: Vonage and Earthlink....what an appropriate pair

Okay, 99.9999% commonly known as .9999 uptime. Thanks for the FLAME!

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc to Rick5

to Rick5
Are you running a business off a Vonage line? If not, then your lengthy missive was utterly off topic.

RT
@embarqhsd.net

RT

Anon

Re: Vonage and Earthlink....what an appropriate pair

Well yes as a matter of fact I am running a business using Vonage. Have had their service for about 3 years without a problem. My business relies on phone service heavily and I can say that Vonage has saved me well over $600-$900 a month, that is a month. There has been no downtime related to Vonage and only a couple small times that the network was down.

RadioDoc

join:2000-05-11
La Grange, IL

RadioDoc to inteller

to inteller
Totally. A "best effort" phone service transported on an unlicensed radio service with thousands of potential interferers. Yeah, that'll save 'em.

ifarrell
join:2000-08-10
Willow Spring, NC

ifarrell

Member

Verizon will sink Vonage

I'm not sure Vonage will be around as a VoIP provider much longer if Verizon have their way with the current Patent lawsuit (48 of them).
ashworth7
join:2001-10-06
Pittsburgh, PA

ashworth7

Member

Re: Verizon will sink Vonage

Ya, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. The court case starts this week....Verizon will probably crush them out of existence....and pick up the scraps later with VoiceWing.

The Beer
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Premium Member
join:2001-07-24
Lincoln, NE

The Beer

Premium Member

MVNO Is The Way To Go! Look as ESPN and Disney!

Vonage should be able to do just as well as they did!