VoIP News - Vonage Tries To Solve Its Problems With IPO
By Rick Hendershot
Vonage announced on Feb 8 that it intends to issue an IPO in an
attempt to raise $250 million. This move underlines some of the
problems mainstream VoIP providers are having.
The problem for Vonage is that while its subscriber base is
growing, it is still losing money. According to the IPO filing,
Vonage lost $189.6 million on sales of $174 million in the first
nine months of 2005.
The company spends so much on marketing that it is almost
impossible to make money from low spending subscribers. Average
single line subscribers paid $26.73 per month in 2005. But the
company spent $213.77 per subscriber on marketing. That means
it would take more than 8 months to recoup their up front
marketing costs.
Market share is also shrinking and the competition is ramping
up. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are all aggressively entering
the market.
They are also getting squeezed on the expense side. Currently
VOiP providers like Vonage offload the carrier costs to
internet subscribers. But the major telcos are lobbying hard
for approval to charge providers like Vonage extra tool fees
for the ramped up level of service required to make wide scale
VOiP possible.
Pure VOiP providers like Vonage are eating into the traditional
market of the telcos. So it seems almost inevitable that the
telcos will retaliate in various ways to either hold on to
their customer base, or convert customers to their own
services.
**Other developments in VoIP
Microsoft - Gates and company will be entering the VoIP market
aggressively in 2006. The new version of MSN Messenger, called
Windows Live Messenger will have advanced VoIP capabilities,
and an interface with the traditional phone system through an
agreement with MCI. This alliance with MCI is Microsoft's way
of avoiding the threat of telco toll charges.
As with Skype, PC to PC calls will be free using Windows Live
Messenger. Microsoft and MCI claim that PC to landline calls
will cost only a few cents a minute, and much less than some
other alternatives currently being developed.
Google - Much like Microsoft and Yahoo, Google is putting the
pieces together to offer a comprehensive PC to PC chat/voice
service, as well as a PC to landline service. That would take
Google just one relatively small step from becoming a complete
VoIP provider.
Google released Google Talk last August, and recently announced
the release of Gmail Chat which integrates GMail and Chat. For
voice capability, users still have to download the Google Talk
client, but it is just a matter of time before there is one
client for all three services (mail, chat, talk).
The company has also confirmed that it is working with
VoiceOne, a Florida company owned by VoIP Inc. VoiceOne is
providing Google with "click-to-call" services. This free
service lets people speak directly to Adwords advertisers who
come up in searches, with the costs, presumably, being covered
by advertisers.
Yahoo - Yahoo announced in December that they will offer two
new fee-based voice over IP services so customers can make
voice calls from a PC to a telephone and receive phone calls on
a PC.
The new VoIP services are called Phone Out and Phone In and are
part of Yahoo Messenger with Voice.
Phone Out will let users to make calls from a PC to traditional
or mobile phones in more than 180 countries. Projected cost will
be $0.01 per minute to the U.S. and less than $0.02 per minute
to more than 30 international countries.
Phone In will let users receive calls on a PC from traditional
or mobile phones for $2.99 a month. Multiple phone numbers will
be available for travelers, and phone numbers in different
countries will be available so people who call them from that
area will only pay for a local call. This is very similar to
Skype's current offerings (see below).
Skype - EBay bought Skype in 2005 for $2.6 billion, so chances
are they have big plans for the service. Skype offers a range
of VoIP services, but so far all require at least one user be
tethered to a PC with a broadband connection. Services include
free computer-to-computer calls, as well as paid calls from a
PC to the public network (SkypeOut) or public phone to PC
(SkypeIn).
With the release of Skype 2.0, the company has announced a
number of enhancements to their core service such as
teleconferencing capability, and video calling. Another useful
service is Skype VoiceMail. Callers from anywhere can call your
number and leave a voice mail on your computer.
Judging from their web-centric approach to VoIP, Skype does not
have plans to directly compete with the telcos for traditional
phone business. However, they are well-positioned to offer
click-to-call services to everything from community and dating
websites, to EBay itself.
About The Author: Rick Hendershot provides effective Online
Advertising - Link Net | Link Aufbau -
Pagerank-Optimierung durch Aufbau von links -
http://www.thinex.de | Freesms Versenden - Send Free SMS to
German mobile phones - German Mobile Phones
Vonage announced on Feb 8 that it intends to issue an IPO in an
attempt to raise $250 million. This move underlines some of the
problems mainstream VoIP providers are having.
The problem for Vonage is that while its subscriber base is
growing, it is still losing money. According to the IPO filing,
Vonage lost $189.6 million on sales of $174 million in the first
nine months of 2005.
The company spends so much on marketing that it is almost
impossible to make money from low spending subscribers. Average
single line subscribers paid $26.73 per month in 2005. But the
company spent $213.77 per subscriber on marketing. That means
it would take more than 8 months to recoup their up front
marketing costs.
Market share is also shrinking and the competition is ramping
up. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are all aggressively entering
the market.
They are also getting squeezed on the expense side. Currently
VOiP providers like Vonage offload the carrier costs to
internet subscribers. But the major telcos are lobbying hard
for approval to charge providers like Vonage extra tool fees
for the ramped up level of service required to make wide scale
VOiP possible.
Pure VOiP providers like Vonage are eating into the traditional
market of the telcos. So it seems almost inevitable that the
telcos will retaliate in various ways to either hold on to
their customer base, or convert customers to their own
services.
**Other developments in VoIP
Microsoft - Gates and company will be entering the VoIP market
aggressively in 2006. The new version of MSN Messenger, called
Windows Live Messenger will have advanced VoIP capabilities,
and an interface with the traditional phone system through an
agreement with MCI. This alliance with MCI is Microsoft's way
of avoiding the threat of telco toll charges.
As with Skype, PC to PC calls will be free using Windows Live
Messenger. Microsoft and MCI claim that PC to landline calls
will cost only a few cents a minute, and much less than some
other alternatives currently being developed.
Google - Much like Microsoft and Yahoo, Google is putting the
pieces together to offer a comprehensive PC to PC chat/voice
service, as well as a PC to landline service. That would take
Google just one relatively small step from becoming a complete
VoIP provider.
Google released Google Talk last August, and recently announced
the release of Gmail Chat which integrates GMail and Chat. For
voice capability, users still have to download the Google Talk
client, but it is just a matter of time before there is one
client for all three services (mail, chat, talk).
The company has also confirmed that it is working with
VoiceOne, a Florida company owned by VoIP Inc. VoiceOne is
providing Google with "click-to-call" services. This free
service lets people speak directly to Adwords advertisers who
come up in searches, with the costs, presumably, being covered
by advertisers.
Yahoo - Yahoo announced in December that they will offer two
new fee-based voice over IP services so customers can make
voice calls from a PC to a telephone and receive phone calls on
a PC.
The new VoIP services are called Phone Out and Phone In and are
part of Yahoo Messenger with Voice.
Phone Out will let users to make calls from a PC to traditional
or mobile phones in more than 180 countries. Projected cost will
be $0.01 per minute to the U.S. and less than $0.02 per minute
to more than 30 international countries.
Phone In will let users receive calls on a PC from traditional
or mobile phones for $2.99 a month. Multiple phone numbers will
be available for travelers, and phone numbers in different
countries will be available so people who call them from that
area will only pay for a local call. This is very similar to
Skype's current offerings (see below).
Skype - EBay bought Skype in 2005 for $2.6 billion, so chances
are they have big plans for the service. Skype offers a range
of VoIP services, but so far all require at least one user be
tethered to a PC with a broadband connection. Services include
free computer-to-computer calls, as well as paid calls from a
PC to the public network (SkypeOut) or public phone to PC
(SkypeIn).
With the release of Skype 2.0, the company has announced a
number of enhancements to their core service such as
teleconferencing capability, and video calling. Another useful
service is Skype VoiceMail. Callers from anywhere can call your
number and leave a voice mail on your computer.
Judging from their web-centric approach to VoIP, Skype does not
have plans to directly compete with the telcos for traditional
phone business. However, they are well-positioned to offer
click-to-call services to everything from community and dating
websites, to EBay itself.
About The Author: Rick Hendershot provides effective Online
Advertising - Link Net | Link Aufbau -
Pagerank-Optimierung durch Aufbau von links -
http://www.thinex.de | Freesms Versenden - Send Free SMS to
German mobile phones - German Mobile Phones
posted by Content Marketers at 1:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home