Source: voipcentral.org

Last month, Packet8 has reached out an agreement with SunRocket to provide VoIP service to latters customers. Marking first achievement in this regard, the pure-play VoIP start up has registered nearly 19,000 SunRocket customers. I hope more numbers of SunRocketers would be transferring their numbers to Packet8 in the coming days.

SunRocket has some 200,000 subscribers by the time it closed down. It is in constant touch with its subscribers through email or voicemail campaign insisting them to transform their numbers to Packet8 immediately.

Packet8 says they are charging normal fee and taxes to SunRocket customers to provide VoIP services including E911 emergency service. The customers who registered Packet8 recently are opting out one-year $199 plan from the company.

Packet8 CEO, Bryan Martin said,

We do charge our normal monthly fees and taxes–e911, Universal Service, regulatory recovery, state and local taxes where applicable–on top of the $199 a year fee. Over the course of a year, these fees add up to a substantial amount of money. SunRocket didnt do this.

Packet8 is the third residential VoIP player in USA behind Vonage and SunRocket with nearly 181,000 customers.

Image Source:

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

After writing the previous post I noticed that Russel Show from ZDNet has written about that also that pure play VoIP service providers also can survive and win in this game!
Well a lot of traveling but you will get all the information you want. Perhaps you might find the right provider for your needs!
Packet8 shows profitability is achievable in pure-play VoIP

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

After writing the previous post I noticed that Russel Show from ZDNet has written about that also that pure play VoIP service providers also can survive and win in this game!
Well a lot of traveling but you will get all the information you want. Perhaps you might find the right provider for your needs!
Packet8 shows profitability is achievable in pure-play VoIP

Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

After writing the previous post I noticed that Russel Show from ZDNet has written about that also that pure play VoIP service providers also can survive and win in this game!
Well a lot of traveling but you will get all the information you want. Perhaps you might find the right provider for your needs!
Packet8 shows profitability is achievable in pure-play VoIP

Source: voipcentral.org

Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group has rightly pointed that voice for the sake of voice is becoming a commodity. But voice as an embedded part of the business process, like Skype does for eBay, is much more attractive.

The recent market trend shows that a company will struggle for survival, if it solely depends upon pure VoIP (Read SunRocket). They must provide bundled VoIP in order to remain in the business.

Jajah understands it very well and therefore covering new areas beyond phone calls. One such major area is click-to-call VoIP service, which the internet dating giant eHarmony has adopted from Jajah. Isnt it a better deal for Jajah?

Using Jajahs click-to-call service, the eHarmony members can talk to each other over phone without revealing their identity. Its Secure Call. The customers do not need to give their personal phone number. They just need to pay near about $6 per month for the service.

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Source: voipcentral.org

We have just reported the premature death of SunRocket. Before it could antagonize the customers, Vonage has extended its free VoIP services for the SunRocket customers. Will it work out for Vonage?

The news is such that the SunRocket customers can smoothly transform their phone numbers to Vonage and enjoy two months of free VoIP services under the US Residential Premium Unlimited Plan. The customers will not charged for the change in phone number. They can enjoy basic Vonage services like call forwarding, call waiting and call transfer and so on. It is good.

Vonage may be trying to rebuild its VoIP line up with this announcement. After all, SunRocket has claimed a substantial number of customers for its pure-play VoIP. If Vonage succeeds at registering half of them, no one can ill-predict on companys future.

However, things are not as clear as they appear. The customers can not entrust Vonage because its fate also hangs in balance in the wake of patent debacle and sheer pressure from the cable players.

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Source: voipcentral.org

It is really a shocking news for the pure- play VoIP players, like Vonage. The innovative VoIP start up, SunRocket has untimely fallen down despite claiming a sizable number of subscribers (200000 customers) in the short span of less than three years.

An email sent to Om by Sonya Jefferson, Director of Routing and Carrier Services reads that,

Unfortunately this email contains very bad news. We have just been informed that any and all last ditch efforts to keep operations running as well as a potential sale of the company have not gone through and that SunRocket will cease operations at COB today. As such, today is my last day and everyone else you may have worked with at SunRocket. Regarding outstanding and future invoices: Sherwood Partners out of Palo Alto will be handling the close down of all invoices, current and outstanding.

Smith has explained the sequence of events that may have forced SunRocket bite the dust at a time when VoIP is emerging.

As of now, it is clear that VoIP players cannot fully depend upon single service. They have to provide triple-and quadruple-play Internet broadband in order to lead the race in the crowded market.

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Source: voipcentral.org

Is it beginning the end of SunRocket? I put this question following the Om Malik post, which reads that the pure play VoIP service provider is not accepting new orders from customers. What does it indicate? Inviting pre-mature death!!!!

The Broadband forum has this word,

Try calling the call center. Also, by COB today if you try and sign up it will simply tell you “service is not available”. The information I am sharing is coming directly from employees of SunRocket who were selected for the “ramp down” team.

SunRockets business strategies revolve round residential VoIP. Thus, the growth of the company largely depends upon how much new subscribers it registers. However, they are not registering new customers because they are running out of devices.

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Source: voipcentral.org

Is SunRocket going the Vonage way? Yes. Like Vonage, Vienna-based SunRocket has also got up to evade the pressure of Cable VoIP. For which, the pure-play VoIP service provider has reduced its workforce by 25 percent or cut off 30 of its workforce.

SunRocket says it is a move to minimize companys expenditure so that they can develop aggressive marketing strategy to challenge the cable players.

The three-year old SunRocket has now some 206,000 customers for its residential VoIP services and enjoys second position behind Vonage. However, SunRockets growth has declined steadily in light of strong competition from cable players (such as Time Warner and Comcast) who are offering hosted VoIP services.

As per the latest report, the cable operators have added more than 2.2 million VoIP subscribers in 2005 and another 900,000 in the first quarter of last year. They now hold nearly 60% of VoIP subscriptions, while pure-play providers dominate just 40% of U.S. customers. As the VoIP market grows rapidly, the cable companies will be heading towards a big battle for revenue.

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