Vonage... Please Just Go Away!

Last week Vonage managed to get a stay on the order requiring them to stop signing up new customers until their appeal is heard and Vonage, fearing for it's life, has started a campaign called "Free to Compete" (http://www.freetocompete.com/) that is urging it's customers and supporters to fight the "wrongful" tactic of Verizon to shut them down. The claim, in short, is that Verizon doesn't like Vonage because they are offering competitive rates which lure their customers away and that Verizon likes to rip people off...

While I do like lower prices, I have to admit that Vonage's long term plan on making money is non existent and even without the lawsuit, I think Vonage would have been out of business within 5 years anyways. Their cost per acquisition is just way too high and they are not physically responsible for paying for the wires that supply our homes with Telephone and Internet, both services that Vonage could not exist without.

Your Cable provider and Verizon, have to charge higher rates because they are responsible for providing and maintaining these wires into your neighbourhoods and houses. It is for this reason why you have to pay more... Verizon has to pay for the infrastructure and they don't charge the higher rates because they want to be greedy pigs but because they have to!

There is no doubt that Verizon maybe a little greedier than they should be and that competition will benefit the end user, I just don't feel like Vonage's business model and pricing should be allowed considering all of the issues above.