I wrote this entry after going to the independently owned and operated Vonage Forum and reading various lists that rank the most read news stories and reviews. Given that this Forum tends to attract the most interested of Vonage users, a list of this Forum's most read news stories is a pretty accurate indicator of what concerns these folks.

First, I have some very exciting news. Yesterday at 3:13 p.m., the Vonage Forum got our 15 millionth page view since we started up in March, 2003. Every time you click on a page, that's one page view. So keep those page views- and those clicks- coming!

December 5, 2005

By Staff

Nearly ten-million homes and businesses now use the Internet to make their phone calls. That new way of phoning is called Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP, for short. It's supposed to save you money. Consumer Reports just checked it out.

Ginny Persico is one of millions of people who make calls via their high-speed Internet connection, having dumped their traditional phone service.

"The bills were getting higher and we ended up getting the digital service. Saves about, the bills are about half of what they used to be," Ginny said.

December 5, 2005

By Staff

Vonage and TiVo executives said they're content with net neutrality provisions in the House Commerce Committee telecom reform draft. The issue is so central to their business models that they're inclined not to quibble over minutiae, which might result in delaying the legislation's passage or stalling the bill indefinitely. Those outcomes would spell disaster for the 2 high-tech companies, Congressional staffers heard at a Public Knowledge (PK)- sponsored lunch Fri.

"If it can't be better because we need to get the bill passed, I can live with it, because I need it," said TiVo Gen. Counsel Matthew Zinn, calling net neutrality the most important component to his company in the Telecom Act rewrite. Under the "gatekeeper model" being proposed by major telcos like BellSouth and AT&T (WID Dec 1 p2), "we don't have a role; we're done," he said. Vonage Vp- Govt. Affairs Chris Murray said net neutrality is "the most important issue to get right in terms of the way the Internet is going to evolve over the next decade." The topic must be approached with much humility and considerable deliberation, he said.

December 5, 2005

By Lore Croghan

Growing numbers of people are turning to the Internet - for phone service.

Voice over Internet Protocol has drawn 3.6 million subscribers nationwide, a staggering fourfold increase in the past year, according to TeleGeography Research.

To be sure, VoIP is dwarfed by the 93 million residential lines that traditional phone companies have. But it's going to keep growing, said Stephan Beckert, TeleGeography's director of research - because it's cheaper than regular phone service, especially if you make a lot of calls to other countries.