US-Based VoIP Provider SunRocket Closes

SunRocket, the independent US-based residential (and small-business as well, I believe) VoIP provider, has closed its doors.

According to the company?s own in-house statistics (somewhat dated), SunRocket left the market having 200,000 active customers on its hands. They?ve likely now transitioned into 200,000 angry customers, as SunRocket did not bother so much as to give advanced notice of the closing. On Monday, the company simply left a recording to those calling its customer service line: ?We are no longer taking customer service or sales calls. Goodbye.?

I can?t say I didn?t see this coming. Well, the shut down, at least. Previous reports around the tech sphere told of SunRocket?s decision to refuse requests for service ? a telltale sign of the imminent demise of a service-oriented company.

Unfortunately, this news is only one more piece of evidence that the path of independence in the telecom world, even for those intent on specializing in VoIP services only, have an incredibly difficult time staying afloat, as the (and continuing) troubles documented by the Vonage vs. Verizon court battle have highlighted over past several months. If any sector of the telecom industry were to be a place in which to build new companies from the ground up, it?s VoIP.

It is quite clear that other VoIP services, of an even less expensive variety (Skype comes immediately to mind, followed by Gizmo Project and a number of others) are partly to blame for the travails of SunRocket and Vonage as well. While the big phone monopolies in the US (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) have recently begun offering more economical options to customers in the way of VoIP connections to contend with the small guys (who once were seriously seen as a genuine threat), the ultra-cheap class of VoIP institutions have arguably had an equally detrimental effect on the American market?s first-comers. (In terms of residential connections. VoIP for business has been around for a substantial amount of time.)

When all is said and done, SunRocket will be considered a black sheep of the history of VoIP in the US. That title will be forced upon its name simply due to how irresponsibly it?s handled its failure. While it?s certainly possible for some businesses to leave without so much as a peep, a company based in the telecom field most certainly must make its exit in orderly fashion, with a strong emphasis on orderly.

I can imagine many suits will be filed shortly. Perhaps we?ll even see a class-action come of this mess. Rightly so.