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Sprint May Buy Vonage
Companies in talks, deal 'on the table'
Light Reading is reporting that Sprint and Vonage are in talks to help the VoIP provider overcome their patent troubles, and a possible Sprint purchase of Vonage is "on the table." The two companies are eyeing April 24 as a possible deal date -- that's when a federal appeals court judge will decide if Vonage's temporary stay in the Verizon patent case should become permanent. As mentioned yesterday, Vonage has now admitted they have no technical workaround should they not win their cases on appeal.
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inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

inteller

Member

please do, you already bought one stinker

I guess you didn't learn your lesson from 4th Qtr 2006. So go ahead and buy this loser so you can lose MORE customers.

I think someone is riding the short bus to work in Overland Park every day.

King P
Don't blame me. I voted for Ron Paul
Premium Member
join:2004-11-17
Murfreesboro, TN

King P

Premium Member

It could be worse

Truthfully, I've had Sprint for over a year now, and have had no problems or complaints with my service with them. Nextel may be a different story, but Sprint PCS has been great for me.

I think that no matter what happens, it's apparent that Vonage isn't willing to stand on their own anymore and is looking to be bought. If that's the case, then they could be bought by someone much worse than Sprint, in my opinion. Of course I would rather see Vonage stand on their own, but I believe this company was created to be sold off from the very start. Now is a better time than never I guess.

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

inteller

Member

Re: It could be worse

actually I'm sure Verizon is laughing all the way to the bank with this one. This will make the second time they have foisted a failing company onto sprint. I guess Verizon's master plan is to push crap companies onto their competitors so they become such a burden that verizon is able to compete without pressure.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: It could be worse

Geez... when is Sprint going to wake up and smell the coffee.

They've been on an identitiy crisis for a bit now, and have been purchasing companies (Nextel for instance) which is still bleeding heavily, and are pushing WiMAX which is still in its infancy right now AND they want to buy Vonage?!
Does Sprint have some patents that nobody knows about and can use to keep itself from a self destructing Vonage ?

Loker
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND

1 edit

Loker

Premium Member

Re: It could be worse

said by en102:

Geez... when is Sprint going to wake up and smell the coffee.

They've been on an identitiy crisis for a bit now, and have been purchasing companies (Nextel for instance) which is still bleeding heavily, and are pushing WiMAX which is still in its infancy right now AND they want to buy Vonage?!
Does Sprint have some patents that nobody knows about and can use to keep itself from a self destructing Vonage ?
yes....they can use the same technology they use for routing digital cell phone calls...
ABuehrlen
join:2007-01-16
Fenton, MO

1 recommendation

ABuehrlen to inteller

Member

to inteller
Watch yourself buddy. Nextel was never a "Crap" company as you put it. The Reality is Verizon is the crap company. They Extort money from the competition instead of offering their customers competitive prices and quality services. And Vonage is Hardly a crap company. They were Smoking Verizon because of their crappy prices and services and instead of taking care of their customers they are trying to extort vonage out of business.
ABuehrlen

ABuehrlen

Member

Re: It could be worse

My comments were meant of inteller by the way.

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

inteller to ABuehrlen

Member

to ABuehrlen
"watch yourself buddy"...?

spoken by a true Nextel redneck.

i agree, verizon is a crap company, sprint just happens to be at the top of the pile of crap.

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

phattieg

Member

Re: It could be worse

I CAN agree about Verizon being crap, but not for theur reliability. But I guess if 4 (ie. Amp'd, etc...) other companies use you as their network, you'd have to be good. Honestly, my only problem is with Verizon Wireless and their extremely unresonable rates for cell phone plans. Their data network does kick ass though.

But concerning the issue at hand, this was just down right dirty for Verizon to sue. I hate the fact, even though I hate Vonage too, that the VoIP world has to suffer in the end. Yeah, yeah, the cable companies have the most subscribers, but if Vonage wasn't so successful, cable would still be using switch based equipment, and phone features would be even more expensive. This technology has been in use way before Vonage, and the ability to provide and control call features cheaply, by providing the customer with a VoIP terminal, and nobody had the balls to say "hey, did you know these features are really cheap, we'll just include then", just goes to show how much Verizon really rapes people. Flame away FiOS fans, this isn't about that, considering you could have 4 phone lines thru Vonage with your FiOS connection for the cost of 1 1/2 to 2 phone lines thru PSTN or FiOS phone service with the same features plus more. Bad business, and gladly, I am a Sprint PCS customer now. People flame them, but it works great for me, $45 cheaper than Verizon, and after hearing they are interested in Vonage, and seeing their next generation CDMA/iDEN hybrid phones, I can see INNOVATION with this company, without rediculous rates. Verizon doesn't even offer unlimited text. Anyway, done ranting, carry on...

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: It could be worse

said by phattieg:

Flame away FiOS fans, this isn't about that, considering you could have 4 phone lines thru Vonage with your FiOS connection for the cost of 1 1/2 to 2 phone lines thru PSTN or FiOS phone service with the same features plus more. Bad business,
Well isn't that special. If I go into your store and steal goods I can sell them cheaper then you can. Bad business indeed.

phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL

phattieg

Member

Re: It could be worse

said by batterup See ProfileWell isn't that special. If I go into your store and steal goods I can sell them cheaper then you can. Bad business indeed.
[/BQUOTE :


Oh? And SIP is a Verizon invention? Funny, because they never made anything BUT an idea out of it. It's funny how they wait for an opportunistic moment, and then pounce. I think they've pissed off the REAL man in VoIP, Jeff Pulver, and the next company to be attacked will have hell to pay. I am sure you know who he is if you're into VoIP. He is Co-Founder of Vonage. I am just waiting to see what happens next.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: It could be worse

said by phattieg:

I am sure you know who he is if you're into VoIP. He is Co-Founder of Vonage. I am just waiting to see what happens next.
VoIP is for Girlie Men and weenies. No I am not into VoIP or Lynx.
batterup

batterup to ABuehrlen

Premium Member

to ABuehrlen
said by ABuehrlen:

Watch yourself buddy.
You have lost touch with reality.

JamesPC
join:2005-10-12
Orange, CA

JamesPC to ABuehrlen

Member

to ABuehrlen
agreed
klcoll
join:2002-12-22
Chandler, AZ

klcoll to ABuehrlen

Member

to ABuehrlen
said by ABuehrlen:

And Vonage is Hardly a crap company.

karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
Moscow, ID

karlmarx to King P

Member

to King P
If you have sprint, and like the coverage, depending on you usage, I HIGHLY recommend you look into a prepaid wireless using the sprint network, like STI Mobile. I used to pay sprint over 55.00 a month for a 400 minute plan. I usually used about 100-200 minutes. Since I've dropped sprint, and moved to STI Mobile, my monthly expense is averaging less than 18.00 a month, vs. the 55.00 I paid sprint. Reason: Sure, I pay .10 cents a minute, but I only pay $3.00 a month for the dial tone. I use about 150 minutes a month (15.00), so my total is only about 18.00 a month. I spend 100.00 on a recharge card every 5-6 months, so my total yearly cell phone budget dropped from almost 700.00 down to about 200.00. I don't know about you, but I have better things to spend my 500.00 a year on than cell phone service.

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

inteller

Member

Re: It could be worse

thats great if you only use 150 minutes. most yappers though need a lot more than that.

kpfx
join:2005-10-28
San Antonio, TX

kpfx to karlmarx

Member

to karlmarx
True, thats what my parents do. But different things for different people. My Sprint cell is my only phone and I easily use over 1,000+ min each month. I pay about $55 which includes data, unlimited Sprint-Sprint (as all my friends and family are on) and free nights/weekends.

For users like me (and there are a lot) these prepaid plans don't work. Figure 1,000min x $0.10min would come to $100 without my data services.
jsbaker
join:2002-07-13
Houston, TX

jsbaker to karlmarx

Member

to karlmarx
As inteller said prepaid is great if you only use 150 minutes. Those of us in the real world who use our phones as our primary phone or use them for work use a whole lot more than 150 minutes. I use 2000-3000 minutes a month on my sprint plan with 3 phones which I have had for two years and never had any issues.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: It could be worse

said by jsbaker:

I use 2000-3000 minutes a month on my sprint plan with 3 phones which I have had for two years and never had any issues.
Wow that is allot of RF going through your head.

DaBavarian
Premium Member
join:2006-02-22
Saginaw, MI

DaBavarian to King P

Premium Member

to King P
Yeah, Vonage never makes a profit and Sprint is bleeding customers out of its rear to its competitors. Didn't Sprint want to get out of the landline business of every kind hence Embarq?

Where is the sense in the business plan for Sprint? That Nextel merger was a great idea too. I am sure that when Sprint buys Vonage they'll over pay for it, being a company that never makes a profit, I'd say Vonage is at least worth 60 billion (j/k). Vonage has a lot of assets, right? lol
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: It could be worse

said by DaBavarian:

Yeah, Vonage never makes a profit and Sprint is bleeding customers out of its rear to its competitors. Didn't Sprint want to get out of the landline business of every kind hence Embarq?

Where is the sense in the business plan for Sprint? That Nextel merger was a great idea too. I am sure that when Sprint buys Vonage they'll over pay for it, being a company that never makes a profit, I'd say Vonage is at least worth 60 billion (j/k). Vonage has a lot of assets, right? lol
Vonage has customers Customers and customers on contracts are assets.

creativedog
Premium Member
join:2000-12-03
Richmond, VA

creativedog to inteller

Premium Member

to inteller

Re: please do, you already bought one stinker

said by inteller:

I guess you didn't learn your lesson from 4th Qtr 2006. So go ahead and buy this loser so you can lose MORE customers.

I think someone is riding the short bus to work in Overland Park every day.
I bet you called shotgun.

P Ness
You'Ve Forgotten 9-11 Already
Premium Member
join:2001-08-29
way way out

P Ness

Premium Member

The big get bigger

Great say goodbye to independent VOIP.

gonna be all cable companies and phone companies as the VOIP companies are forced to sell for pennies on the dollar after being sued.

sigh.
pabster
join:2001-12-09
Waterloo, IA

pabster

Member

Re: The big get bigger

said by P Ness:

Great say goodbye to independent VOIP.

gonna be all cable companies and phone companies as the VOIP companies are forced to sell for pennies on the dollar after being sued.

sigh.
Yep. That's what happens. The monopolies litigate, rather than innovate. Vonage has shown to be a significant threat to Ma Bell and Verizon is going for the jugular.

FWIW I don't believe Verizon has a claim on the technology Vonage is using (We know how incompetent judges are with understanding patent law and technology).
radam
join:2004-02-13
Fairfax Station, VA

radam

Member

Re: The big get bigger

I agree. Its innovation that will expand markets and grow the business, not litigating to hold on to each others small patch of the business. Meanwhile certain EU countries and the China economies are expanding very rapidly. Some people just don't get it. They should read Clayton Christiansen.

Loker
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND

Loker to P Ness

Premium Member

to P Ness
said by P Ness:

Great say goodbye to independent VOIP.

gonna be all cable companies and phone companies as the VOIP companies are forced to sell for pennies on the dollar after being sued.

sigh.
Sprint was an independent company that built themselves up...not really Ma Bell...besides they do not even have landline service anymore since they sold that off...

tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Gulfport, MS

1 edit

tc1uscg

Member

Re: The big get bigger

That's not entirely true. Who do you think carries Embarq's LD backbone? Sprint has over 40+ longdistance switches in the US and Hawaii. That's not including the wirless switches. Trustme.. they have the backbone to carry Vonage and it may be Vonages way out of the hole while demonstrating Sprints wireline back bone is alive and well. Just ask WOW and a few other cable companies who use their networks.. Something Cringler, T-bile and VZ can't lay much of any claim too. Gotta wonder how the boys in VZ land are handling Time Warners dumping of them and taking all their ip traffic over to the "other guys"..
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

remember?

remember "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" statement in the 'other vonage thread'?

Regardless, companies overall are committed to VOIP prices being virtually unlimited calling with many calling features and few, if any taxes for under $40 per month (for the most part..)

but, the games afoot dear Watson!
JohnA4
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Pittsburgh, PA

JohnA4

Premium Member

Talks !!


Vonage and Sprint have been in talks, in an effort to settle the Sprint lawsuit. I wouldn't believe buyout if it came from Vonage, and the article says "one source says Vonage is considering selling itself to Sprint". It would be rather unusual for a Telco to interrupt another Telco's suit, in this way.

supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL

supergirl

Member

Re: Talks !!

Sprint/Nextel is a wireless company. They spun of wireline called Embarq.

I don't see how that lets Vonage out of the VZ suit though. I doubt VZ will want to lose customers to Sprint either.

••••••••••

Loker
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND

Loker to JohnA4

Premium Member

to JohnA4
said by JohnA4:

Vonage and Sprint have been in talks, in an effort to settle the Sprint lawsuit. I wouldn't believe buyout if it came from Vonage, and the article says "one source says Vonage is considering selling itself to Sprint". It would be rather unusual for a Telco to interrupt another Telco's suit, in this way.
Sprint is no longer your 'standard' Telco....almost all they do is in direct competition with the others....Wireless, Long distance, Cable voip, and now if this deal ever comes to be direct competition for VoIP service....

NJxxxJon
2 0 1 7 Mmm Here We go man!
Premium Member
join:2005-10-22

NJxxxJon

Premium Member

haha

Then COMCAST WILL BUY SPRINT. [ happily ever after ]

brooklynman4
join:2004-09-07
Brewster, NY

brooklynman4

Member

Re: haha

Comcast has to buy nextel also with sprint.

just blaze
@vonagenetworks.net

just blaze

Anon

this is great

first off sprint buying vonage will go right along with there plans to switch from celluar service to voip service that they are trying to do with wimax... sprint bought a ton sf new spectrum with the cable co's for just this.. sprint wants to faze out celluar by like 2012(i think) so having 2.2 million customers alread in the back would be just that.. plus for those that dont know sprint is trying out an unlimited plan down in PR right now .. i think its 65 a month for unlimited voice..
satellite68
join:2007-04-11
Louisville, KY

1 recommendation

satellite68

Member

So..not...cool.

This sucks. I love me my Vonage.

••••

Loker
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND

Loker

Premium Member

I guess I am the only one...

I guess I am the only one who is excited by the thought of Sprint eating Vonage...

•••
MartyParty
join:2001-01-03
Dallas, TX

1 recommendation

MartyParty

Member

not far fetched

I used to work for Sprint/Nextel in the cable division. believe it or not they have a cable division. they do alot of the provisioning and switches for cable VOIP. Time Warner is one of their big clients as well as many others. I don't see this as a big stretch.

•••

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Sprint? Give me a break.

Sprint is not a builder; Sprint is a rape and take hustler. If Sprint wanted to build they would not have sold their Phone Company operations. Sprint bough, raped and sold in a NY minute.

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

1 recommendation

inteller

Member

Re: Sprint? Give me a break.

sounds like another disgruntled "Where yo at?" customer.

batterup
I Can Not Tell A Lie.
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Netcong, NJ

batterup

Premium Member

Re: Sprint? Give me a break.

said by inteller:

sounds like another disgruntled "Where yo at?" customer.
Not I but Sprint did a job on the North West part of New Jersey. I have Verizon, did you see the picture I took?

»/showp ··· 7627&1=1
Methadras
join:2004-05-26
Spring Valley, CA

Methadras

Member

I wonder if the...

5, 6, 7, 8's will get a new contract?

jgkolt
Premium Member
join:2004-02-21
Avon, OH

jgkolt

Premium Member

sprint why

so does sprint have a work around. does sprint want more customers for what?
Artec
join:2003-02-23
Middletown, NJ

Artec

Member

Re: sprint why

Sprint was an independent company that built themselves up...not really Ma Bell...besides they do not even have landline service anymore since they sold that off...

You are incorrect. Sprint still does Land Lines Since they have them NJ Hunterdon County.

Loker
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Fargo, ND

1 edit

Loker

Premium Member

Re: sprint why

said by Artec:

Sprint was an independent company that built themselves up...not really Ma Bell...besides they do not even have landline service anymore since they sold that off...

You are incorrect. Sprint still does Land Lines Since they have them NJ Hunterdon County.
No, Sprint spun off all their local wireline service to Embarq, including Hunterdon County...

La Luna
Fly With The Angels My Beloved Son Chris
Premium Member
join:2001-07-12
New Port Richey, FL

La Luna

Premium Member

I'm more interested....

...in knowing something productive, like exactly how this would affect Vonage users and their service on a daily basis rather than yapping about the hilarity of the possible merger itself. I don't care who might absorb Vonage if it doesn't affect my service/cost in any major way.

Meggeler
@nctv.com

Meggeler

Anon

Re: I'm more interested....

said by La Luna:

...in knowing something productive, like exactly how this would affect Vonage users and their service on a daily basis rather than yapping about the hilarity of the possible merger itself. I don't care who might absorb Vonage if it doesn't affect my service/cost in any major way.
Me TOO!
ace41690
join:2003-01-24
Northfield, CT

ace41690

Member

Bad, bad, bad bad

If sprint was smart they would buy ALLTEL not VONAGE! Sprint already has extensive roaming partnerships with ALLTEL, and wherever my sprint phone doesnt work, guess what ALLTEL does. It would make much more sense, and would be a much better business decision than buying stupid vonage. Sprint has been adding thousands of towers all over the place lately, I've enjoyed my better coverage and would like the expansion to continue. However, if they buy vonage, they probably will have to start dumping money into that, thus expansion will probably stop or slow and their wireless network will fall apart. DONT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN!!!

•••
phrider
join:1999-12-17
Pasadena, CA

1 edit

phrider

Member

Sprint ION all over again?

Sprint pioneered VOIP (and VO-ATM) in the late 1990's before giving up with maybe 5000 customers and a billion $ spent -- or those were the rumors. They gave it up in 2002. It was a great service with 2 IPs with 8 Mb/1Mb DSL and 4 full service VOIP lines and 1000 minutes domestic LD in 2001. The VOIP included seamless 911 and directory listing.

The Sprint ION forum archives still exist here (»Sprint ION ). Sprint may have proof of prior art on a lot of those patents.

Sprint buying Vonage would be deja vu all over again.