By Sharla Sikes

Are the days of “pure play” non-bundled VoIP services limited? Some analysts think so. With cable and telecommunications companies jumping on the VoIP bandwagon with package deals.

Without offering something that will lure customers away from the convenience of one bill for several services, companies like Vonage and its brethren will fade away. Today’s consumer is all about one-stop shopping and convenience, which is what makes bundled services from big-name providers so popular.

Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for Infonetics Research, says pure-play VoIP services “have no future.”

“They really need to come up with something new that has nothing to do anymore with who they were in the past.”

Forrester Research VoIP and broadband analyst Sally Cohen concurs. Her recently released report “VoIP Marketers: Price And Features Slowly Win Over Consumers,” found 3 percent of online consumers in 2004 paid for pure-play VoIP and that’s only risen two percentage points since then. Cohen says that slow growth shows Vonage is “marketing to a disinterested public.”

Looking at Vonage’s plans to release a dual-mode phone by the end of this year, Russell Shaw at ZDNet.com says that isn’t the whole story, though.

“I’m sorry. For Vonage, the issue is not in the phone instrument, it is in the  service packages. Unless  they  get wise and  present full-fledged triple-play offerings to the market, they will be a footnote,” he says. “I know I am repeating myself, but what about a package with a hungry upstart such as Cricket Wireless?”

As Vonage battles Verizon over patent infringement, the industry and investors alike may be wondering about Vonage and other pure-play VoIP providers’ future.

“Vonage is definitely looking at getting into new offerings” such as mobility and content, says Brooke Schultz, senior vice president of corporate communications for Vonage. A partnership with Earthlink may also boost Vonage’s services.

Vonage’s main trouble—and the source of Verizon’s suit—is that it connects directly to the PSTN. Other well-known companies in the market like Skype and SunRocket do not … and they as well as other VoIP providers have been actively seeking new markets and new customers. EBay-owned Skype, for instance, has expanded into commerce services, allowing users to send money through its Send Money function. Skype also boasts a search engine aimed at local business listings, and Skype Prime, which allows users to sell services to each other.

SunRocket also plans to offer multimedia emergency calling and possibly video within 2007.

These expansions, as well as the other endless possibilities, are the weapons in VoIP providers’ arsenal to stay current in a rapidly-changing market.  

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