Jul 18, 2007

[VoIP] Goodbye, SunRocket

SunRocket logoThe surprise closure of SunRocket, purported to be the #2 VoIP provider in the US after Vonage last Monday certainly has the telecommunications industry reeling from a very surprise turn of events. While everyone knew SunRocket had some financial issues over recent months, I don't think anyone could have predicted how rapid this change came to be.

If you visit their website, you'll have no clue as to the fact that they're no longer operating. I couldn't resist trying to call their 800 number just now and got the now infamous recording which states:

"SunRocket - the 'No Gotcha' phone company. We are no longer taking customer service or sales calls. Goodbye."


Now that is cold.

So what now? There are said to be over 200,000 SunRocket customers now scrambling to find alternative providers. Many are sure to jump on-board with Vonage, given they're currently wooing former SunRocket customers with two months of free service along with a supposedly smooth transition process. On the other hand, many customers may now feel 'burned' by the VoIP industry in general and may opt to return to traditional landline service or perhaps go with cabled solutions like the Digital Phone service offered by many of the cable companies in the US.

Hop on over to the SunRocket Forum on Broadband Reports to check out the on-going threads about what alternatives customers might have now. Over there everyone's money appears to be going with ViaTalk instead.

This raises a lot of questions about the VoIP industry as it stands. While they do offer much cheaper service as compared to traditional telephone companies, their advertising costs are just as big in their efforts to win new customers over from telephone and cable companies. Quality is always a mixed bag being so dependent on broadband service quality and of course there's the whole issue around reliability of their alternative 911 services.

The industry has been under fire in the legal arena as well with Vonage taking the front lines in their patent dispute with Verizon and a pending case with Sprint, should that ever push through. Clearly the big boys in telecom aren't going to sit idly by while these newer VoIP players try to eat into their customer base.

Should we stick with VoIP providers or is the demise of SunRocket merely the harbinger of darker things to come? What do you think?

4 comments:

  1. I've had SunRocket, too and now I'm switching to a much better and reliable Voip provider. They have all the same features I'm used to and prices are affordable, too. $20 monthly or $17 when paid year in advance. More details here:

    http://www.jdoqocy.com/at122ehpdlo2458B37524378C476

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  2. that's good to hear! I'm glad you found an alternative provider despite all this SunRocket fuss.

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  3. How about Ooma? It's getting good press nowadays...

    TechCrunch's blog entry is informative.

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  4. Nah, I think Ooma is only getting media buzz because they're trying to figure out when did Ashton become a VoIP expert. And with them following the same cash-up-front model SunRocket used, I'm highly skeptical.

    This entry is getting a lot of traffic related to users looking for SunRocket alternatives - do any of the other readers have things so share?

    Apart from ViaTalk (which is getting a lots of buzz on Broadband Reports), Vonage is currently offering two months free service, waived activation and free overnight shipping. Packet8 is offering 1 month free and free activation last I checked.

    Are there any other SunRocket-specific offers in the market?

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