From Russell Shaw:
Does SunRocket’s sudden close show more VoIP regulations needed? by ZDNet’s Russell Shaw — When last week’s failure of SunRocket left some 200,000 subscribers scrambling for an alternative home phone service, many saw this as the free market at work. Free market as in, survival of the fittest, and the availability of other choices waving discounts to former SR customers as the wisdom of the markets. A somewhat contrarian view [...]
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 | Posted in SunRocket | No Comments »
Here’s a piece from Om Malik with SunRocket VoIP, who’s "happy to be number two":
It should hardly come as a surprise that we remain highly skeptical of the competitive voice service provider business, especially in light of recent shutdowns and overt reliance on discount pricing as a lure for the customers.
It was the same skepticism with which we approached our interview with Lisa Hook, Chief Executive Officer of SunRocket, the Vienna, VA.-based CVSP that has also raised substantial amounts of venture capital investment. Now it is a company that has been put under the microscope by us, and others who have bitterly complained about company’s infrastructure.
Hook, talked to us about her company, and the industry in general, and why she thinks SunRocket is going to be around, despite doubting Thomases. She was quick to point out that the company has grown from 50,000 subscribers at the start of 2006 to over 175,000 subscribers.
Read the rest…
Another article on the SunRocket VoIP deal with GE:
SunRocket
Inc., an Internet phone upstart from Vienna, has struck a joint marketing deal with electronics giant Thomson Inc. to roll out GE-branded cordless phones capable of making calls over the Internet.
The deal announced Friday is an important one for the two-year-old SunRocket, which will provide the Internet service for the new phones.
Providers of Internet phone service, such as Vonage, SunRocket and 8×8, have been steadily attracting customers with unlimited calling plans and lower rates than traditional telephone service. But to break out, they must tap the mainstream market. All three have been trying to do that by partnering with telephone manufacturers to boost their brands’ name recognition and credibility.
"It’s exciting to work with a company that has such a major presence in landline phones," said Lisa Hook, SunRocket’s chief executive. "The GE brand is iconic. It’s like the really nerdy girl being picked to dance by the quarterback."
Other providers are taking the same approach. Vonage, the largest Internet-calling service provider, has partnered with VTech Holdings Ltd. to produce Internet-compatible telephones. Similarly, 8×8 has entered an agreement with Uniden America Corp.
SunRocket one of the nation’s fastest-growing Internet phone service providers, today announced that Thomson, Inc., licensee of the GE brand for telephony products and the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of landline phones, will enter into an agreement to explore various promotional activities to expand the presence of SunRocket’s VoIP services. The agreement also includes the development of future GE branded product(s) that will leverage various feature capabilities available through SunRocket Internet phone service.
"Thomson’s reputation for reliable, easy-to-use consumer telephony products has no equal in the minds of millions of consumers, which is why SunRocket is thrilled they have selected us to launch some of these next generation network products into the residential Internet phone service market," said Lisa Hook, president and chief executive officer at SunRocket. "From the beginning, we have prided ourselves on delivering consumer-friendly Internet phone service at an unprecedented value, so our relationship with Thomson to market SunRocket’s service is a natural fit."
