IP Democracy: SunRocket Bites the Dust

Everyone has been predicting this for a very long time, but now the reality has set in: independent VoIP providers are going extinct. The first up is the once-hot Vienna, VA-based SunRocket, which has gone gentle into that good night, shuttering operations and turning off its phone lines. (BTW, I think Om had a scoop on this as early as last Friday but no one seems to be giving him credit for the news. Update: Karl tells me that Broadband Reports got wind of this development last Thursday, so I guess that makes The New York Times five days behind the blogosphere.)

SunRocket and all the other indie Internet-based voice providers simply can’t compete with the triple-play and emerging quadruple-play offerings of the incumbent telcos and cable operators. They’re one-trick ponies, with no other diversified services to lure new subscribers.

What about the 200,000 saps, SunRocket’s former customers, who are stuck with no phone service? Om offers his pointers on what to do here and Vonage, the leading independent VoIP provider that is also doomed to disappear sooner or later (even without its lethal patent litigation woes), is getting the word out that SunRocket customers can transfer to its service at no charge.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on July 17, 2007 9:30 AM to IP Democracy