Overhype

Overhype

by Mike Masnick




Verizon Tries Launching VoIP Offering Yet Again

from the maybe-if-it's-actually-competitive... dept

Verizon has been offering a VoIP solution called VoiceWing for quite some time now, but it seemed like it was a secret. Despite launching it last summer, Verizon was barely pitching it at all. Also, to make it as unpalatable to customers as possible they priced it much higher than just about any other VoIP provider out there (around $40/month). Basically, it was VoIP from a phone company that really didn't want to cannibalize it's existing telephone business. Of course, anyone who can do the basic math would see that this is a fairly shortsighted plan. Very few would sign up for VoiceWing -- but instead they would go to competitive VoIP offerings from independents or companies like AT&T. No wonder Verizon has been trying to avoid offering naked DSL. Without a competitive VoIP offering, it's just likely to drive more users away. Well, it took almost a year, but Verizon is now relaunching VoiceWing with much more competitive prices. They're still not on the low side, but they're basically the same as AT&T's CallVantage offering. So, now that they're finally ready to really offer VoIP, rather than just pretend they are, does it mean they'll get around to their promised naked DSL offering?

1 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

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  1. Apr 7th, 2005 @ 6:20am

    Verizon has missed another tie-in

    I have Verizon service and Verizon DSL. Their Voip plan would double the cost of my DSL service, and obviously I'd get better value if I just paid more for faster DSL. But Voip won't save me that much because I also have an excellent Verizon Wireless plan!

    SO here are the obvious observations:

    (1) For $30, verizon shouold offer voip PLUS faster DSL.

    (2) Verizon needs a voip plan for its customers who also have verizon wireless, that costs a lot less than $30/mo.
    - Precision Blogger
    http://precision-blogging.blogspot.com

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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