Vonage Extends VoIP Reach

VoIP provider Vonage Holdings has unveiled two marketing pincer movements aimed at bringing its Web telephoning service to broadband subscribers. The firm has established partnerships with a consortium of telecommunications providers and with a firm providing broadband service to luxury apartments.

In partnering with Ygnition Networks, which provides broadband service to 130,000 apartments across eight states from Florida to California, Vonage expects to beat the cable and regional Bell companies to the VoIP punch. "This partnership," Vonage vice president of Wholesale Sales and Canadian Market, Cyrus Driver said in a statement, "offers Ygnition Networks the opportunity to enhance its company's offering and revenue, while reducing churn, thereby increasing the return on investment on existing DSL/Cable modem/T1 infrastructure."

In the deal with Associated Network Partners Inc. (ANPI), Vonage service will be offered in 35 U. S. states through the ANPI's small regional telephone companies. Said Vonage's Phil Giordano, vice president, MSO/Cable Sales: "ANPI's member companies will now have the most full-featured, cost-effective broadband telephony service to offer its customers."

The partnerships enable Vonage to piggyback on existing DSL and cable modem services already established by ANPI and Ygnition.