VOIP Tech Chat → [Other] Verizon VoiceWing getting in the game

They've come out now with a $20/mo plan, with a $20 disconnect fee in the first 12 months and with a free adapter. The plan is 500 outgoing minutes, with unlimited incoming minutes. $8 shipping up front and no other fees. I think they mean to play!

Deltathree's iConnectHere is back of them, of course, and offers a similar 800 minute plan for $16, with $40 up front. I'm going to do a side-by-side with them against my current Packet8.

What would be great is if Verizon implemented QoS across their network to prioritize Voip traffic. It would help their customers using Voicewing and as a side benefit help other Voip provider customers along the way.

Typical half-assed bait served fresh by your ever friendly sharks from a company you can trust. Why do people keep paying for service from a company that's forcing you to tap VoIP in the first place?

Sounds to me like they are going after the other VoIP providers. To beat the competition from the likes of Packet8, Verizon is offering a free adapter without the need for the problematic rebate process. There are no startup fees other than the $8 shipping. You can terminate for free in the first month or after 12 months, or alternatively for $20 within 12 months. That's a lot better than $59 charged by Packet8. Unlimited inbound - can't beat that. So for somebody planning less than about 8 1/2 hours of outbound calling, this plan sounds quite competitive and unlikely to stiff you.

I think that this is just another sign that Verizon is gearing up to become more of a communications delivery provider (delivering and charging for the connection to your residence) and allowing you to buy service from anyone including themselves. Something like what the natural gas and power companies do now with deregulation.

Just my thoughts!

I compare it to my current provider - Sunrocket and I don't see how their plan can compete.
They are more expensive be it setup or disconnect fee.
They are 2x more expensive on international calls.
They are limiting you to 500 minutes per month.
It's better of course compared to what they had before of course which is ridicilous bearing in mind what they were offering.

I wonder what would happen if you are having troubles would they blame Verizon DSL, which is ANOTHER and SEPARATE entity all together? Would be a mess to get support. Try calling Verizon for support and see how long you wait, and then the answers you get. I'm glad I went with Sunrocket, I just switched from Packet8 there is NO comparison!

Verizon put out a stack of PRs about VoiceWing availability and pricing today. There is some question as to whether VoiceWing's pricing is trouble for early-entry VoIP providers like SunRocket, Vonage, et al. Russell Shaw's blog raises this point at »blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telep ··· hp?p=337 The main reason I can see for thinking it would be is that people probably want their phone numbers entrusted to a company they know will stick around. There are so many Vonage look-alikes now, I can't help thinking that a shakeout is imminent.

I saw one of those press releases today, the one for Michigan. What is interesting and notable is this quote from the press release:

The service is offered nationally, and subscribers, regardless of where they live, can choose from 167 area codes, including the 248, 313, 517, 586, 616, 734 and 810 codes in Michigan.

The reason that is interesting is that Verizon has a large presence in Michigan as an incumbent local telephone company, but most of their exchanges are in the 231, 269, and 989 area codes (basically in Northern Michigan and Southwest Michigan). And you will note that none of those area codes are mentioned. In fact, it looks like Verizon may be pretty much concentrating on the Detroit LATA (there is one exchange, Howell, in the 517 area code that's in the Detroit LATA) and the Grand Rapids area (616 area code). Both of those areas are served primarily by SBC.

The press release had a dateline of Muskegon, Mich. which is in where their Michigan headquarters are located. Muskegon is in the 231 area code. Nope, can't get a Muskegon number from Verizon's VoIP service, even though three or four other VoIP providers offer numbers in the Muskegon ratecenter (VoicePulse, for example).

Now personally I think Verizon's service is overpriced, so it doesn't bother me if they don't offer numbers. I also wonder if they will tack on additional fees and taxes like the big phone company that they are. But I do find it very interesting that it appears that they do not want their VoIP arm competing with their ILEC service, since they seem to be concentrating on SBC areas in Michigan, and not offering numbers in their own ratecenters.

Of course, if you are a Verizon ILEC customer, you can still subscribe to an unlimited plan (called "Verizon Freedom") that includes the entire U.S.A. and Canada, but the price for that is a whopping $64.95 per month(!!!), plus taxes and fees of course. So my guess is that Verizon wants to take customers from other ILECs and other VoIP providers, but they do not want to take any customers away from their own high-priced ILEC service - or at least that appears to be the case in Michigan.

Very interesting! Verizon's VoiceWing splash may very well be a strategic maneuver aimed at SBC. SBC was going to follow Verizon's lead and rebrand the deltathree VoIP service to offer it starting in March under SBC's new U-verse brand. Then SBC agreed to buy AT&T, and has been talking to Congress about how it doesn't have a VoIP service now, but would make T's CallVantage a central part of its plans going forward. As for its U-verse VoIP offering, an SBC spokesperson now says "later this year." I expect SBC's efforts at VoIP will remain pretty token until it gets ahold of CallVantage.

As a result, Verizon has a window of opportunity to snare SBC customers for Verizon's VoiceWing. Sounds like Verizon is positioning itself to take advantage of that chance.