In the latest, weirdest twist to the crazy trading in Vonage, there apparently are rumors that the company could be acquired by AT&T. That just might be the dumbest rumor I’ve ever heard.
For starters, AT&T a few years ago started its own voice over IP service called CallVantage–but quietly shut down the service earlier this year.
Wait, wasn’t VoIP supposed to change the world and cripple the Bells? Well, it certainly has made a dent, but the damage is being done largely by the cable companies, rather than Vonage. The company posted an operating profit of $2.8 million in Q4, but lost 14,700 subscribers during the same period.
When AT&T grudgingly agreed to break itself up 25 years ago, it was seen as a truly momentous event in the history of the telecommunications industry. Today, however, some experts question not only whether the breakup of AT&T was necessary, but whether it even had any long-term impact on the telecom market.
Scott Goldman uses his mobile phone to call friends and business contacts all over the world, from Britain to Australia. But the Southern California-based consultant doesn’t pay a dime in international tolls to his mobile-phone carrier, AT&T, the biggest in the U.S.
Like many Americans today, the economy is currently using me as its punching bag. So, I’ve decided to take a hard look at my monthly expenses and lop off anything I think I can live without–a financial amputation before gangrene sets in, if you’ll permit the metaphor. First in the crosshairs is my landline; I’m [...]
Like millions of other Americans and many of New York City’s “bridge and tunnel” crowd, I live in the ‘burbs. While I do a great deal of travel for my full-time job, I am also classified as a “mobile” employee, so I’m not formally attached to an office. Currently, I’m a cable modem subscriber. I pay approximately $65 per month for Optimum Online’s boost plan, which gives you up to 5Mbps/30Mbps in theoretical upstream and downstream bandwidth. In practice, however, I’ve become accustomed to a number of service interruptions, where my broadband can go down for hours at a time, and days where the local XBOX kiddies and torrenters are clearly over-saturating the network.
Choosing a smartphone reminds me of the old adage from product-design people: “Good, fast, cheap: Pick two.” Much more so than a personal computer, a smartphone is an exercise in compromise. This will continue to be obvious even after Apple announces “iPhone 2.0″ at this week’s conference for Macintosh and iPhone software developers.
It should come as no surprise: Incumbents are beginning to act like incumbents. But while the cable companies are the first ones to jump on the tiered broadband bandwagon, they won’t be the last. Their argument for limiting bandwidth and data transfers based on price sounds like a good idea, especially as a way to get bargain hunters to buy. In the long run, however, tiered broadband is a terrible idea that will bring the innovation inspired by flat-rate broadband to a screeching halt.
AT&T, in conjunction with some 10 to 15 incumbent telecom carriers–British Telecom, Deutsche Telekom and NTT among them–is plotting to launch a Skype competitor, according to a research report issued by ThinkEquity analyst Anton Wahlman. This is Wahlman’s theory for now, but his track record is full of theories that have eventually been proven right.
VOIP insiders have recently started talking about taking a platform approach to the convergence of Web and voice, an approach for which start-up Ribbit is offering perhaps the most audacious (and equally risky) strategy.
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