alarm:clock

News & Updates - Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Dead Sprint

We like to bring you fresh news and opinion here at the a:c, but you must occassionally indulge us while we reaffirm our love for Voice Over IP (VoIP), otherwise known as making phone calls over the Internet. If you need further evidence that incumbent phone companies are under pressure, Sprint posted mediocre earnings this morning and announced a layoff of 700 employees. According to Howard Janzen, president of Sprint's business solutions division: "The long-distance business isn't what it used to be and we have to maximize the value of these assets."

One Company. Many Problems.

The long-distance business certainly isn't what it used to be, as our monthly statements from Vonage so dramatically illustrate. We're down to a $16/month flat-rate bill with all the bells and whistles. It's not too late for the incumbents to join the VoIP revolution, but they must be prepared to assault their own core businesses. It won't be pretty.

Read: Sprint Reports Loss in the Third Quarter - [AP via Yahoo!]
Read: Fully VoIP and Cellular - [alarm:clock - 08.11.04]