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By Mavis Scanlon
Voice over IP, otherwise known as digital phone, will be a major focus for MSOs large and small this year. With its own dedicated network and a fat pipe into consumers' homes, cable may have an advantage over the telcos in the red-hot VoIP market, which Yankee Group estimates will balloon to 17.5 million households by 2008.
However, cable also will have to fend off fierce competition from independents that are pushing low prices and big buckets of features. Vonage, the leader among independent VoIP providers, added 115,000 lines in the fourth quarter of 2004 and now has more than 400,000 subscribers. Cable's pay-one-price VoIP offerings generally are more expensive than other offerings, have fewer features and do not provide for lower-priced options. That may change this year as competition intensifies and more MSOs get into the game and broaden their VoIP availability. Here's a look at five of the top VoIP providers and samplings of the features they offer.
Broadband Phone Companies
| Company |
Plan |
Price |
Service |
Features |
| AT&T |
CallVantage |
$29.99 |
1 month free, unlimited local, long distance in U.S. and Canada |
conference calling, voicemail, call log, phone book |
|
|
$19.99 |
unlimited local, long distance in Canada and U.S. 4 cents/minute |
same as above |
| Broadvox |
Residential Unlimited |
$19.95 |
unlimited local, regional and long distance in U.S. and Canada |
caller ID, caller ID block, voicemail, call logs |
|
Residential Choice Plus |
$9.95 |
100 outbound minutes, unlimited inbound minutes |
same as above |
| Lingo |
Unlimited Plan |
$19.95 |
1 month free, unlimited U.S., Canada and Western Europe calls |
call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail |
|
Basic |
$14.95 |
500 U.S., Canada, Western Europe and in-network minutes |
voicemail, call forwarding, call waiting, caller ID |
|
Lingo Link |
$7.95 |
unlimited calling to Lingo subscribers |
call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail |
| Verizon |
Verizon VoiceWing* |
$29.95 |
unlimited U.S. local and long distance, including Puerto Rico |
caller ID, three-way calling, enhanced call forwarding, |
| Vonage |
Premium Unlimited |
$24.99 |
unlimited calls anywhere in U.S. and Canada |
voicemail plus, caller ID, call waiting |
|
Basic 500 |
$14.99 |
500 minutes anywhere in the U.S. and Canada |
same as above |
For all companies, equipment fees, setup fees and shipping fees vary. *$29.95 when combined with Verizon Online DSL; $34.95 for VoiceWing only. Source: Companies
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