likely scenario if Vonage does go bankrupt?

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 11, 2007 Posts: 5

I am real happy with Vonage, but I do worry about the drumbeat of bad financial news. My question is: does anyone have any idea of what would happen if Vonage did go bankrupt? Would they just shut down one day? Would we lose all service, and, more importantly, our phone numbers? Or would we at least be able to port them to another provider? Anyone know what happened when SunRocket died?

I hate the idea of losing my phone numbers - besides having had my home number for something like 30 years, I have my home business number as a virtual number now, and I don't want to lose that if Vonage finally kicks the bucket.

The risk of this is one thing that might drive me away from Vonage - but I am not sure where I would go for the great features and price - without incurring the same risk with a new provider!

Thanks
Dan

Posts: 406 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 406

Dan,

When SunRocket died, one morning folks woke up and no phone, no customer service. Companies like Vonage put ad's out to have Sun Rocket customers port their numbers to them, and based on all reports that I read, it worked out pretty well.

I posted this on the "Cafeteria" forum, but since you opened the topic here, this link is of some concern:

The Wall Street Journal wrote:

reports that Vonage auditor BDO Seidman says there is "substantial doubt" the Internet telephony pioneer can continue as a going concern.

See http://www.fiercevoip.com/story/just-how-bad-can-things-get-at-vonage/2008-03-24

Vonage is a LOT bigger than Sun Rocket was, and hopefuly there is enough value for another player to pick them up. I think Google or even a stand alone Cell company could pick them up and make it work.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 11, 2007 Posts: 5

Thanks - I had seen that article at fiercevoip - that was some of the bad news that prompted my message. But it's nice to know that Sunrocket users apparently got to port their numbers - and I had forgotten about the possibility/likelihood that someone would acquire Vonage if it came to that.

I guess I will stick it out for now ... I should probably pick up my phone every morning and see if I still have dial tone! <g>

Dan

Posts: 406 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 406

Although I feel that the article I and you referenced has some validity based on it's source and the difficult financial climate, here is an upbeat article that mentions Vonage:

The Recession List - Top 10 Industries to Fly and Flop in 2008

VoIP Leads The Way - Los Angeles (March 19, 2008)
Subscriber growth will drive revenue in the VoIP sector, with numbers expected to rise by 21.2 percent this year to 16.6 million, while the number of establishments will jump by a significant 44.5 percent to 2,190 nationwide.

Senior analyst at IBISWorld, George Van Horn explained: "The VoIP providers industry will easily outperform the wider telecommunications sector this year, given that it is an emerging service which continues to gain greater consumer and business acceptance. As household broadband penetration increases, it will facilitate greater use of digital services, helping to improve the call quality of industry services. In fact, by 2012, we expect revenue growth of 90.2 percent, bringing total revenue to $4.88 billion. By the same time, we predict that the U.S. will have approximately 25.4 million paying VoIP subscribers."

And this year alone, revenue is set to grow an impressive 24.3 percent to $3.19 billion. As services improve and gain greater consumer acceptance, IBISWorld forecasts that many more providers will begin to turn a profit -- with Vonage leading the way. The U.S.'s largest VoIP provider is expected to become profitable for the first time this quarter.

see http://www.ibisworld.com/pressrelease/pressrelease.aspx?prid=115