Over the past couple years, VOIP phone companies have been big spenders for online advertising. It was the right target market – but not cheap. Competitors essentially bid up the prices.Well, things may moderate. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal [a paid service] and The New York Times, VOIP provider, SunRocket, has shut down its operations.
Funny enough, if you surf the Net, you will still see lots of SunRocket ads. So, I guess the company still needs to take some cleanup actions.
The firm got its start about three years ago and quickly attracted venture capital from firms like Doll Capital Management, BlueRun Ventures and the Mayfield Fund (which, of course, will now have a write off).
Even at that time, things looked dicey for VOIP providers. Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE: VG) had a strong presence in the market and there was lots of competition from traditional players, like Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T). Of course, there was competition from cable players.
What's more, it appears there are outages at SunRocket, which is certainly a big hassle for customers.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.
Once again, OPEC has killed the goose that lays the golden egg
Closing Bell: Markets bounce after yesterday's sell-off; BA, F, GE, DOW all up, GS down 
Where have all the consumers gone?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-18-2007 @ 1:09AM
Nathan said...
With Sunrocket having shut down, I wanted to mention that myphonecompany is still alive and kicking. They have a promotion where you get the fourth month free with agent sign up... and they also have a plan called mydevice that allows you to use your existing equipment and myphonecompany service for a lower fee. They also have an expanded international calling radius. To find out more, go to the agent site at www.rip2p.com and click the sign up link to be redirected to their site to sign up and receive your fourth month free! You can even port your existing SunRocket Number to myphonecompany for FREE! MyPhoneCompany requires 911 service on your account due to new FCC regulations. It costs a one time $15.00 activation fee, and is an additional $1.50 per month. This surcharge will appear on any and all VOIP services due to the new FCC Regulations.
7-19-2007 @ 12:26PM
Kevin said...
Packet8 Selected as Preferred Replacement VoIP by SunRocket
http://www.phonemag.com/index.php/weblog/read_more/20070719packet8_selected_as_preferred_replacement_voip_service_by_sunrocket/
This service is awesome, so I'm sure they'll all be very happy. Should be good for their stock too (EGHT).
7-21-2007 @ 12:41PM
Mark said...
I went with Packet8 from http://voic.com and am really happy. I get my cell phone and high-speed Internet from them already so why not. But I'm still really pissed of at SR!
Mark
7-26-2007 @ 5:28PM
William said...
Hi everyone. If you are looking for a cheap, easy way to keep you SunRocket telephone number....without having to sign up for new telephone service....check out Phone Number Bank:
http://www.phonenumberbank.com
I did it and now my SunRocket number rings my cell phone!!!