Cable companies vacillate on VoIP

Grok Headline matches for Cable companies vacillate on VoIP

Big Cable Companies See Next Challenge
Around the Corner

Big Cable Companies See Next Challenge
Around the Corner 07/28/2004 09:46 PM
The cable industry has started to reap the benefits from its spending and building binge started in the 1990's.

Cable Companies And Mobile Solutions...

Cable Companies And Mobile Solutions... 12/29/2004 04:10 PM
The fact that Time Warner is looking to add a mobile phone solution (via an MVNO arrangement) isn't a surprise. They mentioned it in March, confirmed it in June and talked more seriously about it in November. So, it's not entirely clear why everyone is making a big deal out of the fact that the company is now talking to Sprint about using their network. Sprint, of course, has jumped into the MVNO market in a big way, providing the network for most of these new offerings, from Virgin Mobile to the new ESPN mobile phone offering. It's also not surprising that cable companies are looking to add a mobile phone solution -- that too many people are calling a "quadruple play," when it's really more about making the triple play mobile. However, what's more interesting is that it finally appears that other carriers are waking up to the possibilities of the MVNO market. While lots of people picked up on the fact that T-Mobile USA wasn't looking to team up with any other carrier, it didn't receive quite as much attention that part of their strategy to stay relevant is to offer their network to cable companies in an MVNO-style relationship. For all of those who were afraid that the Sprint-Nextel merger was going to mean less competition, the market is rapidly filling up with new companies who are simply using existing networks to offer service. While it does raise questions about the network provider competing with its own virtual operators, it looks like there's still going to be plenty of competition.

Acacia Sues More Cable Companies

Acacia Sues More Cable Companies 09/13/2004 06:12 PM
Acacia Research Corp. filed a second round of lawsuits against cable companies on Monday, targeting several local firms in Arizona and the Midwest.

AT&T Looks To Cable For Help Pushing
VoIP

AT&T Looks To Cable For Help Pushing
VoIP 08/19/2004 12:49 PM
AT&T has been a bit confused lately about what they really want to do. They bought a mobile phone company... and then spun it off. They bought a cable company... and then sold it off. They offered residential long distance... and then they stopped. It seems that there's no long-term planning going on there these days. Lately, they've been focused on their new VoIP offering (who would have thought that AT&T's big play is to be another Vonage?), and to help push it, they're going to partner with the cable broadband providers as a channel. That is, any time someone comes to AT&T without broadband and wants VoIP phone service, AT&T will point them to one of their cable partners. Of course, those cable partners are all working on their own VoIP offering, so what's the benefit in getting service from AT&T? In fact, with cable companies beginning to realize that they should just give away VoIP to reduce churn and better compete with the telcos, there's no reason to go with AT&T at all. Oh well. Given AT&T's recent history, maybe they're just looking to sell off the CallVantage service anyway.

Companies team to provide voice over
cable

Companies team to provide voice over
cable 05/03/2004 09:40 AM
Net2Phone says that by using Level 3 technology it will be able to offer less-expensive Internet-based phone sevices to cable companies.

Cable Companies Looking To Video Games
As Differentiator

Cable Companies Looking To Video Games
As Differentiator 04/07/2005 02:24 AM
As cable companies continue to look for ways to differentiate themselves from telcos and satellite TV providers, it looks like the next big area many are exploring is adding interactive video games to your television set. It's a fairly simple idea. They're not looking to compete with consoles, but are more focused on casual games like poker. This is probably a smart move. Obviously, the set top boxes that deliver these games don't have the processing power of dedicated gaming consoles, but those simple casual games are often the most addictive. At the same time, the cable companies are highlighting the fact that users can easily play against each other -- something that satellite providers would be hard pressed to mimic. While this seems like a small thing, there are a few things that are impressive about it: (1) The cable companies aren't charging for this. They realize that it doesn't really cost them anything, but could help reduce churn or entice new customers while providing yet another feature they can claim differentiates them from telcos (for now). (2) They're hoping to let it expand beyond just the television -- and want to work out ways where you could start a game on your television, but continue it later on your computer or your phone. In other words, they recognize that they can't just lock people into the TV, but have to provide a seamless way to pass the experience across multiple platforms.

AT&T strikes VoIP deals with cable

AT&T strikes VoIP deals with cable 08/19/2004 02:44 PM
Company points potential Net phone customers to cable giants for broadband--all part of Ma Bell's aggressive VoIP plans.

Picture brighter for cable companies in
2005, report says

Picture brighter for cable companies in
2005, report says 04/04/2005 11:46 PM
globetechnology.com Apr 5 2005 4:19AM GMT

Acacia Gets Cocky - Sues Satellite And
Cable Companies

Acacia Gets Cocky - Sues Satellite And
Cable Companies 06/15/2004 06:24 PM
It looks like patent hoarding company Acacia is getting a bit cocky these days. Last year, the company made a lot of news for getting a questionable patent on "streaming media" and then suing porn sites, since they knew people wouldn't pay as much attention to them. Many sites felt the need to pay up, and Acacia used that war chest to go after bigger companies like Disney. Along the way, they got all excited because a judge upheld their patent rights - but only because no one showed up to contest them. These wins seem to have made Acacia cocky, and they've now decided that any company offering video on demand over cable or satellite services are also violating their patents. Thus, they've sued Comcast, Cox, Charter, DirecTV and EchoStar for violating the patents. These are companies that have a lot of money, and hopefully at least a few of them will stand up to this blatant patent extortion. People have been talking about video-on-demand service for ages. It's not a new concept, and it's unclear (again) how this helps innovation in anyway. Right now, it only looks like it's going to make video-on-demand services more expensive. In fact, Acacia will even tell you how much more expensive: they want $1.25 for every digital cable subscriber with video-on-demand, $1 for every digital cable TV subscriber and $0.50 for every analog cable TV subscriber. If they win, expect to see these charges added to your next bill. Apparently, higher bills count as innovation these days.

Viacom May Seek Cable Networks, Web
Companies (Reuters)

Viacom May Seek Cable Networks, Web
Companies (Reuters) 04/19/2005 08:45 AM
Reuters - Viacom Inc. is interested in buying cable networks aimed at older audiences and Internet companies focusing on video games and community sites, a top executive said on Tuesday.

Report: Cable VoIP Subscriptions
Blasting Off

Report: Cable VoIP Subscriptions
Blasting Off 02/05/2005 09:59 PM
TechWeb Feb 6 2005 1:29AM GMT

Broadcasters, cable companies fighting
over rules of new digital TV world

Broadcasters, cable companies fighting
over rules of new digital TV world 01/27/2004 05:19 PM
San Jose Mercury News Jan 27 2004 10:06PM GMT

Cable Companies Profit From Demand for
High-Speed Internet

Cable Companies Profit From Demand for
High-Speed Internet 07/28/2004 03:10 PM
New York Times Jul 28 2004 6:46PM GMT

Cable companies are feeling the DSL
heat, offering tiered services

Cable companies are feeling the DSL
heat, offering tiered services 07/27/2004 11:00 PM
Comcast currently offers 3Mbps down/256kbps up to all broadband subscribers for US$42.95, provided they also have cable. The new 4Mbps down/384kbps option weighs in at $10 more, for $52.95.

Time Warner Cable reaches VoIP deals

Time Warner Cable reaches VoIP deals 12/08/2003 08:20 PM
The cable company and two U.S. telephone service providers announce agreements that may help the cable company's attack on the local and long-distance phone service market.

VoIP Spells Bundle of Issues for Cable
Giants

VoIP Spells Bundle of Issues for Cable
Giants 06/02/2004 06:56 AM
TheStreet.com Jun 2 2004 11:13AM GMT

HyperFone Offers Revolutionary VOIP
Technology Through Both DSL and Cable

HyperFone Offers Revolutionary VOIP
Technology Through Both DSL and Cable 01/06/2005 11:50 AM
New technology opens up worldwide VOIP communication to small and independent business owners. [PRWEB Jan 6, 2005]

AT&T dials up VoIP service with
cable deals (USATODAY.com)

AT&T dials up VoIP service with
cable deals (USATODAY.com) 08/19/2004 12:04 PM
USATODAY.com - AT&T (T) is teaming with America's big cable TV operators to offer phone service over their broadband Internet lines, marking the telecom giant's first big move since it announced plans to abandon its traditional consumer long-distance business.

Federal Court Sides With VoIP Companies
(AP)

Federal Court Sides With VoIP Companies
(AP) 12/29/2004 04:22 PM
AP - A Minnesota agency may not regulate calls through cyberspace as it does calls through traditional phone lines, a federal appeals court ruled.

Federal Court Sides With VoIP Companies

Federal Court Sides With VoIP Companies 12/29/2004 06:14 PM
AP via Daily Press Dec 29 2004 8:39PM GMT

The cable and phone companies are locked
in a battle royal to provide you with
new high-speed voice, data, and

The cable and phone companies are locked
in a battle royal to provide you with
new high-speed voice, data, and 09/18/2004 08:34 PM
US News Sep 18 2004 11:21PM GMT

Microtune's New MT2060 Silicon Tuner
Breaks the Power Barrier For VoIP Cable
Phone Services

Microtune's New MT2060 Silicon Tuner
Breaks the Power Barrier For VoIP Cable
Phone Services 04/26/2004 03:46 PM
Linux Electrons Apr 26 2004 8:05PM GMT

INGATE® DELIVERS THE SKINNY ON VOIP AT
ABP’S “VOIP SIZZLES!” EVENT IN
DALLASEvent Educates Resellers on
Turning Today’s Heightened VoIP Interest
into Sales

INGATE® DELIVERS THE SKINNY ON VOIP AT
ABP’S “VOIP SIZZLES!” EVENT IN
DALLASEvent Educates Resellers on
Turning Today’s Heightened VoIP Interest
into Sales 07/10/2004 03:16 AM
Ingate® Systems (www.ingate.com), which produces and sells the world’s only fully Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-capable enterprise firewalls, will be participating in “VoIP Sizzles,” held in Dallas from July 22-23, 2004. Hosted by ABP Technology, this event for resellers will focus on the specific opportunities and challenges for traditional data VARs and telecom dealers who are moving into the Voice over IP (VoIP) market. [PRWEB Jul 10, 2004]

Cable Operators To Assess Future
Opportunities And Challenges At Kagan
Cable MSO Summit, Nov. 9-10, NYC

Cable Operators To Assess Future
Opportunities And Challenges At Kagan
Cable MSO Summit, Nov. 9-10, NYC 09/23/2004 03:04 AM
What are the key future revenue drivers and most serious competitive threats for cable operators and how will they be addressed? Top executives from leading multichannel service operators will discuss their plans for taking the cable platform to the next level at the Kagan Cable MSO Summit, Nov. 9-10 in New York. [PRWEB Sep 23, 2004]

EUPEN Cable Inc. Revises Pricing on
Corrugated Copper Cable Line

EUPEN Cable Inc. Revises Pricing on
Corrugated Copper Cable Line 12/24/2004 12:47 PM
EUPEN Cable Inc. has announced a change in the pricing structure of its premiere line of cable, connectors and jumper assemblies. This increase in pricing is in response to sustained increases in material costs for the products used to produce cable [PRWEB Dec 23, 2004]

At least 85 percent of money managed by
Coalition Provisional Authority going to
U.S. companies—not to Iraq
companies, as promised

At least 85 percent of money managed by
Coalition Provisional Authority going to
U.S. companies—not to Iraq
companies, as promised 08/04/2004 05:05 PM
pretty pathetic

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37822-2004Aug3.html
track this site | 3 links

3WTel’s Superior VoIP - Lightyears Ahead
in VoIP Security and Dial-Up Capability

3WTel’s Superior VoIP - Lightyears Ahead
in VoIP Security and Dial-Up Capability 02/01/2005 08:48 PM
Hackers can easily access confidential information from customers of VoIP services that utilize open and interpretable industry standard codec and industry standard protocol. VoIP services offering secure lines hosted on proprietary patented technology are reaping the benefits because of the optimal security it creates. [PRWEB Jan 31, 2005]

HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911™ Voice
Over IP (VoIP) Solution for VoIP
Providers and the Emergency Services
Industry

HBF Group, Inc. Announces I-911™ Voice
Over IP (VoIP) Solution for VoIP
Providers and the Emergency Services
Industry 06/14/2004 02:24 AM
i-911 addresses the deficiencies in other commercially VoIP 911 available solutions by providing a 911 emergency calling service that is deployable immediately , requires little or no change to the public safety answering points (PSAPs). i-911 offers a significant improvement over other VoIP solutions as it delivers accurate call back and location information from a 9-1-1 call in real-time. [PRWEB Jun 14, 2004]

VoIP Signs Agreement with VOIP-4U;
Lucent Announces Contract with Verizon
Wireless and AT&T to Launch Internet

VoIP Signs Agreement with VOIP-4U;
Lucent Announces Contract with Verizon
Wireless and AT&T to Launch Internet 07/16/2004 03:44 PM
Financial News USA Jul 16 2004 5:58PM GMT

Pure VoIP Won't Be Regulated, Phone-Like
VoIP Might Be

Pure VoIP Won't Be Regulated, Phone-Like
VoIP Might Be 02/12/2004 02:16 PM
As expected, the FCC ruled on the Pulver VoIP petition today, and gave something of a split decision. They claim that "pure" VoIP systems shouldn't be regulated, since they're just like email or any other internet application. However, they're reserving judgment on VoIP systems that more resemble regular phone service, such as Vonage that touch on the PSTN. This seems like something of a cop out, and may be difficult to sustain over time. Most of the "pure" VoIP systems are offering (or planning to offer) gateways that let them connect to the telephone system. Where do they fall along the regulatory spectrum? This would take away the incentive of VoIP providers to connect to regular phone service, creating two different levels of phone service, rather than connecting the two and leading to a more orderly migration. Of course, it still remains to be seen what sorts of regulations they will include for PSTN-connected VoIP. Chances are, they're talking about adding in 911 service and phone-tapping abilities.

3WTel’s Superior VoIP Adds Newest
Features Including Call Transfer to Cell
Phones/Telephones Plus Accessibility to
Personal VoIP Account Anywhere in World
When Travelling

3WTel’s Superior VoIP Adds Newest
Features Including Call Transfer to Cell
Phones/Telephones Plus Accessibility to
Personal VoIP Account Anywhere in World
When Travelling 02/05/2005 09:23 PM
Lightyears ahead in VoIP security and ability to be used on dial-up, broadband, wireless or satellite connections, 3WTel’s Superior VoIP now rocks the VoIP industry by offering its customers additional free features such as call transfer, worldwide login capability, group folders, audio devices, and proxy support. [PRWEB Feb 3, 2005]

Cable Modem Hackers unlock Cable Modem

Cable Modem Hackers unlock Cable Modem 02/10/2004 02:44 AM
A very amazing article on the Register on how a group of hackers have unlocked a certain brand of cable...

Aspiring Screenwriters Battle it Out in
the First National Screenplay Showdown -
The Competition Gives the Best New
Screenwriters from Around the Country an
Opportunity to Work With A-List
Agencies, Management Companies and
Production Companies Presented by the
Nashville Screenwriters Conference

Aspiring Screenwriters Battle it Out in
the First National Screenplay Showdown -
The Competition Gives the Best New
Screenwriters from Around the Country an
Opportunity to Work With A-List
Agencies, Management Companies and
Production Companies Presented by the
Nashville Screenwriters Conference 06/09/2004 04:35 AM
Bridging the distance between the Hollywood film industry and the best new screenwriters across the country, the Nashville Screenwriters Conference announces its first National Screenplay Showdown. After six years of presenting the best writers and filmmakers in the entertainment industry at the Nashville Screenwriters Conference, the organization has teamed up with Ed Rugoff from the prestigious Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project to give aspiring screenwriters an opportunity to take their work west – all the way to Hollywood. The Showdown evaluates screenplays solely on the basis of story-telling ability, meaning that all genres have the same chance of winning. The winning screenplay writers will find themselves in front of the most prestigious literary agencies and management companies in consideration for representation. [PRWEB Jun 9, 2004]

The telecommunications Industry
Handbook: Covers Asymmetrical Digital
Subscriber Line (ADSL), Data Over Cable
System Interface Spectrum Standard
(DOCSIS) cable modems, Very High Data
Rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) and
more

The telecommunications Industry
Handbook: Covers Asymmetrical Digital
Subscriber Line (ADSL), Data Over Cable
System Interface Spectrum Standard
(DOCSIS) cable modems, Very High Data
Rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) and
more 07/08/2004 03:39 AM
Research and Markets are delighted to announce the addition of 2004 Technology - Infrastructure, Fixed Voice and Data Report to their offering. [PRWEB Jul 8, 2004]

Voting Machine Companies Make Political
Contributions to Both Democrats and
Republicans - New Report Traces Campaign
Contributions of Companies that Produce
E-Voting Machines

Voting Machine Companies Make Political
Contributions to Both Democrats and
Republicans - New Report Traces Campaign
Contributions of Companies that Produce
E-Voting Machines 08/13/2004 03:15 AM
New research on the political campaign contributions made to Democrats and Republicans by voting maching companies. [PRWEB Aug 13, 2004]

Concerned about VoIP security? VoIP
Security Alliance wants to hear from you

Concerned about VoIP security? VoIP
Security Alliance wants to hear from you 03/28/2005 06:17 PM
ZDNet Mar 28 2005 9:25PM GMT

Constructech Magazine Names ELAN™ as One
of Technology’s Hottest Companies
Leading Construction Automation
Technology Magazine Recognizes ELAN as
One of the Year’s Most Innovative and
Exciting Companies in the Home Building
Market for Second Consecutive Year

Constructech Magazine Names ELAN™ as One
of Technology’s Hottest Companies
Leading Construction Automation
Technology Magazine Recognizes ELAN as
One of the Year’s Most Innovative and
Exciting Companies in the Home Building
Market for Second Consecutive Year 07/28/2004 02:37 AM
Leading Construction Automation Technology Magazine Recognizes ELAN as One of the Year’s Most Innovative and Exciting Companies in the Home Building Market for Second Consecutive Year [PRWEB Jul 28, 2004]

Stem-cell-companies.com: Launch of the
Stem Cell Companies Directory

Stem-cell-companies.com: Launch of the
Stem Cell Companies Directory 06/05/2005 11:58 PM
Kaeria SARL is launching a directory of companies who work on stem cells, so that the various industry players can be identified and presented. [PRWEB May 25, 2005]

USB Cable Bag

USB Cable Bag 06/17/2005 06:12 PM

Reader Kurt sent us this odd duck: It contains just about every connector you could ever need, including USB to Ethernet (??) and USB to phone jack (??) adapters. If anyone can figure out why you'd need those two jacks, please let me know.

Then there's the weird headphone jack thing. What's that all about? Generally, there are a few very useful things in here like the Firewire to Firewire and USB to USB cables—which you can't find anywhere—but the rest of that stuff looks like a mistake.

UPDATE - Justin says...

Many companies use “proprietary” cables to connect PC’s to their equipment, I have an APC UPS that connects to my pc with an Ethernet to USB cable. I’ve also seen the same with RJ-11 to USB on some quirky devices such as room temperature monitors.

Also, it appears that there are two Ethernet headers in there, so you can make your own Ethernet cable. I get it now.

Product Page [MomentumFire]

Grok Description matches for Cable companies vacillate on VoIP
GrokA matches for Cable companies vacillate on VoIP

Vonage previews wireless VoIP phone,
service

Vonage previews wireless VoIP phone,
service 01/04/2005 08:58 AM

Broadband Surf Report: Vonage and more
Vonage

Broadband Surf Report: Vonage and more
Vonage 03/30/2005 04:55 PM
Blog: Our daily look at telecom news around the Web: Vonage defends manually activated 911 calling--eWeek ...

Texas Vonage suit: here's what Vonage is
'guilty' of

Texas Vonage suit: here's what Vonage is
'guilty' of 03/23/2005 02:29 AM
ZDNet Mar 23 2005 6:18AM GMT

Vonage to Introduce Wi-Fi Phone

Vonage to Introduce Wi-Fi Phone 01/04/2005 03:18 PM
Broadband telephone company Vonage is expected to announce plans Tuesday for a Wi-Fi phone that could make calls through a customer's wireless home network or at wireless hotspots, USA Today reported Tuesday. Vonage says it would work like a cell phone, but would not cost the subscriber any additional fees to use the service.

Vonage Offers Wi-Fi Phone

Vonage Offers Wi-Fi Phone 01/04/2005 12:45 AM
Engadget slips the news that Vonage ships its F-1000 Wi-Fi handset: The handset will work over hotspot networks allowing Vonage customers to use their service while roaming. Boingo and Vonage had a deal in place to test out VoIP over Wi-Fi hotspots, but it's unclear here in the late evening how that ties together. Also, Vonage's site doesn't yet list the announcement, so we don't know if they've partnered with various networks to ease authentication. Authentication, or providing credentials that let you use a given hotspot network--whether a paid login or a WPA encryption key or handling 802.1X, even--is the biggest stopping block in allowing VoIP over hotspot to work. A technology like EAP-SIM, which would use a GSM SIM module to authenticate, might be one method of logging in. But it requires every hotspot or hotspot network that wants to allow this sort of connection to build the back-end to handle it....

Vonage to Get Internet Phone Competition

Vonage to Get Internet Phone Competition 04/13/2005 11:59 AM
ABCNEWS.com Apr 13 2005 3:35PM GMT

Vonage to Produce a WiFi Phone

Vonage to Produce a WiFi Phone 01/04/2005 03:26 PM

Vonage VOIP Phone to Run Over Wi-Fi
Networks

Vonage VOIP Phone to Run Over Wi-Fi
Networks 08/30/2004 06:31 AM
Small businesses mapping out WLAN strategies will soon have another alternative to consider.

Vonage expands UK service

Vonage expands UK service 03/23/2005 12:46 PM
But gets into hot water with the state of Texas

New York classifies Vonage as phone
company

New York classifies Vonage as phone
company 05/19/2004 10:23 PM

Vonage UTStarcom F1000 VoIP Phone

Vonage UTStarcom F1000 VoIP Phone 01/04/2005 01:43 PM

Vonage is dropping some killer gear on us today, with product announcements that include this new Wi-Fi Voice-Over-IP handset from UTStarcom that will let Vonage subscribers make calls anywhere they can log onto a Wi-Fi connection. With an 80-hour standby time and three to four hour talk time, the F1000 looks practical enough to use as your primary phone, not to mention extremely handy to have around as a secondary communications sidearm. Plus, you're sort of getting a Wi-Fi location device for free.

The UTStarcom F1000 is a standard SIP phone, as well, meaning it can be used with other Voice-Over-IP platforms besides Vonage.

Press Release [UTStar]

Vonage Adds Software Phone for Mac
(28-Jun-2004; 1.4K)

Vonage Adds Software Phone for Mac
(28-Jun-2004; 1.4K) 06/28/2004 09:40 PM

Vonage offers VoIP mobile phone

Vonage offers VoIP mobile phone 01/05/2005 01:12 AM
The Register Jan 5 2005 5:09AM GMT

Vonage voice over IP service comes to
Mac users

Vonage voice over IP service comes to
Mac users 06/24/2004 09:56 AM
As expected, Vonage announced today that it has completed interoperability testing of an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) version of Xten's X-PRO SIP SoftPhonefor Mac-based Vonage subscribers...

Texas sues Vonage over 911 service

Texas sues Vonage over 911 service 03/30/2005 06:53 AM
Plus: Nortel's latest losses; BellSouth adds Centrex enhancements

Vonage extends service to Ottawa

Vonage extends service to Ottawa 05/12/2004 06:45 PM
globetechnology.com May 12 2004 11:14PM GMT

Vonage launches Canadian service

Vonage launches Canadian service 04/12/2004 02:19 PM
globetechnology.com Apr 12 2004 6:46PM GMT

New York State Classifies Vonage As
Phone Company

New York State Classifies Vonage As
Phone Company 05/20/2004 08:30 AM
Slashdot May 20 2004 12:44PM GMT

Texas sues Vonage over emergency service

Texas sues Vonage over emergency service 03/22/2005 07:27 PM
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Vonage Holdings, accusing the fast-growing VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) provider of not warning customers about limits to its 911 emergency dialing service.

Texas Sues Vonage over 911 Emergency
Service

Texas Sues Vonage over 911 Emergency
Service 03/23/2005 04:43 PM
The Texas attorney general files a lawsuit against Internet telephone service Vonage Holdings Corp., saying the company fails to clearly tell consumers about the limits of 911 emergency calling over its service.

Texas Instruments, Vonage in Internet
Phone Deal (Reuters)

Texas Instruments, Vonage in Internet
Phone Deal (Reuters) 01/09/2004 09:59 PM
Reuters - Vonage Holdings Corp., seeking to make Internet-based phone service simpler for home users, said on Friday it has inked a technology deal with Texas Instruments, the supplier of most voice-over-Internet microchips.

Texas sues Internet phone company Vonage
over lack of 911 access

Texas sues Internet phone company Vonage
over lack of 911 access 03/22/2005 05:11 PM
National Post Mar 22 2005 9:40PM GMT

Texas Sues Vonage After Crime Victim
Unable to Call 911: Internet Phone
Firm's Marketing Cited

Texas Sues Vonage After Crime Victim
Unable to Call 911: Internet Phone
Firm's Marketing Cited 03/23/2005 02:29 AM
Washington Post Mar 23 2005 6:25AM GMT

CyberTuesday Final: Vonage Launches
Canadian VoIP Service; Google Gambit:
Stop Limiting Trademark Sales; Ex-B-

CyberTuesday Final: Vonage Launches
Canadian VoIP Service; Google Gambit:
Stop Limiting Trademark Sales; Ex-B- 04/13/2004 09:02 PM
AVN Online Apr 14 2004 0:43AM GMT

Why Vonage is Just a Fad

Why Vonage is Just a Fad 05/20/2004 08:33 PM
ZDNet May 21 2004 0:40AM GMT

Vonage

Vonage 07/28/2004 03:08 PM

Start-up finds talk is cheap with Vonage: I've heard a lot about Vonage and seen their ads, but I was never able to pin down exactly what they did. Turns it its commercial Skype with hardware.

Its service is simple. Vonage sends customers an Internet phone box, which looks like a small cable TV box. The box plugs into most high-speed Internet connections. Almost any telephone plugs into the box.

The phone works like any other phone, but Vonage is routing the calls over the Web. (If the person on the other end of the line is not a Vonage user, the call will hop onto a regular phone line for the very last leg of its journey.)

This is the future.

Cl ick here to comment on this entry

Vonage-Click2Call-0.10

Vonage-Click2Call-0.10 09/21/2004 07:05 PM

Vonage reviewed

Vonage reviewed 03/13/2003 10:24 AM
Raffi Krikorian's review of Vonage's Voice-over-IP phone-service is a great, info-civilian-oriented overview of the best way to secede from your phone company.

The Edison, New Jersey based company gives you one Cisco ATA186 and a phone number in an area code of your choosing (I had a little piece of northern New Jersey in my living room). You have a choice of two different levels of service to go along with this box: for $25.99/month you get unlimited local/regional calling (where local/regional is defined by the area code you choose for your phone number) and 500 minutes of free US long distance, and for $39.99/month you get unlimited long distance. And you also get international rates that rivals most common calling cards. The only problem is that the service only delivers one ATA186, and that specific model is required to use the service -- no other SIP compatible devices are supported yet. If you want to use more than one phone with the box, you will either have to rig up a network of telephone splitters and wires; or you can do what some have done and hack your house to plug the Cisco box into your house's in wall telephone network.

Link Discuss

Vonage, 2nd try for IP telephony

Vonage, 2nd try for IP telephony 12/17/2004 06:36 PM

Last summer I switched to lingo.com, an IP phone service that proved to be cheap but unreliable.  Starting last week Lingo failed altogether and their tech support folks (available only by phone, which is kind of irksome) failed to call back, so I ordered Vonage, which is the same $25/month but does not include Western Europe in its unlimited calling region and has higher international rates.

Here's how Vonage has worked...

• Vonage sends you a brand-new Linksys broadband router with included IP phone jacks and three Ethernet jacks; if you were relying on your old router for 802.11b or to use as an 8-port hub you may have to buy some new networking gear
• the customer service Web site is very slow and about 25% of the time page requests produce an error page with a "try again later" instruction
• tech support is available through a form on their Web site; this form asks for your name, phone number, account number, etc., even though you've already logged in and it should have all of his info as part of your account profile
• tech support via phone results in a "we're experiencing an unsually high volume of calls; try again later"; customer service (billing, etc.) can be reached after a 15-minute wait in queue
• they say that they never received my FAXed letter of authorization to transfer my old number from Lingo and want it refaxed
• when set to simultaneously ring my cell phone Vonage does ring the cell but I can't hear callers (they can hear me though)

They say that it will take two months for them to transfer the phone number from Lingo, so I'll have to pay $25/month to Lingo for forwarding until that happens.

[Update:  I believe that I unfairly maligned Vonage in regards to not being able to hear callers on calls simultaneously rung to my cell phone.  It turns out that it is my PalmOne Treo flaking out on the very day that I installed Vonage!  This makes Treo #10 that has failed, I think.  It lasted about two months, just like the others.  Anyone have a suggestion for a GSM phone that will do a calendar and contacts sync with Microsoft Outlook?]

[Dec 3 Update:  When voicemail is pending, the Vonage system fails to change the dial tone.  A second try to reach technical support (at 1:30 pm Eastern time) resulted in the same "we're too busy to talk to anyone" recording.  The voice quality of calls is somewhat low, with some constant static.]

Vonage Now Available in Canada

Vonage Now Available in Canada 04/12/2004 03:37 PM
Techfocus Apr 12 2004 8:10PM GMT

Cable companies vacillate on VoIP

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