Vonage at death's door thanks to federal ruling?
updated 01:20 pm EDT, Fri April 6, 2007
Vonage at death's door?
Already subject to a number of legal and financial problems, VoIP carrier Vonage may be facing a more immediate danger, says the Wall Street Journal. A federal judge has ordered the company to stop signing up new customers until it can avoid infringing on patents held by Verizon, whose networks may soon become off-limits to Vonage should the dispute not be resolved. A $58 million penalty was already paid earlier in March. Though the new ruling will not take effect until April 12th, any income is critical to Vonage at this point, as its stock price has fallen 80 percent since a 2006 IPO. Its only safety net is VoIP Inc., which may be able to help bypass Verizon networks.
