Consumer VOIP Emerging

The use of VOIP is growing more and more in various different contexts. Consumers received a new form of relief today as Vonage, one of the dominant players in the consumer VOIP marketplace announced a $50 rebate on their installation/setup package.

News.com reports:

The kit, which includes a Motorola phone adapter, is now $30 at Circuit City, Fry's and RadioShack after a $50 mail-in rebate, Vonage said Wednesday. The starter kit, which consists of an adapter and two months of free Vonage service, used to cost $100 at the same stores.

As Vonage's subscriber numbers grow, it has a greater ability to pass on savings to its customers, according to company Vice President Matthew Deatrick. Vonage made a similar argument in mid-May, when it signed up its 150,000th subscriber, saying it had reached an "inflection point" that allowed it to lower the cost of monthly unlimited North American dialing from $35 to $30 a month.

Source: News.com, "Vonage slashes price of Net telephony kit"

This is in addition to Vonage's recently inked distribution deal with Radio Shack, not to mention an alliance with another landline provider. Price drops aside, I am most enthused to see that a VOIP has such widespread distribution channels already in place. 150K subscribers is still just a blip on the radar, however, its still encouraging.

The only thing to look out for now, unfortunately, is the governments attempts to normalize this new technology into archaic paradigms they can relate to. Vonage is already partially getting served some cold tea in New York but they aren't standing still.