SunRocket Trims Costs Amid Growing VoIP Competition

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7:10 am on July 8, 2007 | Category: Business, VoIP, Telecom Services, Telephone, Corporate

Vienna-based internet phone provider, SunRocket, recently laid off about 30 employees – or a quarter of its workforce – in an effort to reduce costs amid increased competition from major cable companies.

“We’re lowering expenses in order to execute our business plan,” commented SunRocket’s Chief Marketing Officer, Chris Mannella. “We’re on the same path … we’ve just reduced operating expenses in light of the competitive environment.”

A pioneer in residential VoIP technology, SunRocket has signed up 206,000 customers over the past three years, and is second only to Vonage in the broadband phone market. Where Vonage runs flashy TV commercials and incurs massive losses, however, SunRocket employs a more fiscally conservative approach, offering aggressively priced calling packages with very little fanfare.

Like Vonage, SunRocket tends to attract a younger, more tech-savvy user base than cable VoIP providers like Time Warner and Comcast. This presents unique challenges, however, according to TeleGeography analyst, Stephan Beckert, who notes that it is “more difficult” for standalone voice providers “to get a strong and deeply loyal customer base.”

Mannella would not comment on the possibility of SunRocket being acquired by another firm, but did say that executives are “looking at a number of financing alternatives and considering a variety of different structures,” including a new round of venture capital funding. The company has received $80 million in funding, from several different investment firms, since March 2005.

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“We are no longer taking customer service or sales calls. Goodbye.” That’s what I receive from SunRocket crappy service when I try to call them… I’ll just leave my suggestion for every user that is in the same situation as me…

Port your number while you can and switch back to other provider, there are lots of providers offering special offers for getting sunrocket unhappy customers… I will use the trade in program from inphonex www.inphonex.com and get a free adaptor and keep my phone number..

good luck to everyone

Comment by Andreas Gabba — July 17, 2007 #