On 7/19/07, Tim Booth <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > what happens when a big provider like this goes under, do lines just > stop working or have the passed/sold their customer base to another > provider? >
it depends, some people do try to wholesale off their customer base, however it apepars that sunrocket went under while trying to negotiate a buyout (or so some of the press about this leads one to believe). Some of those that were listed as potential buyers denied ever having an interest and have no current interest. So its unclear at best if they were really trying to sell to a specific person, or just to anyone with enough cash to rescue them. The mere fact that one report said they had raised $80M and still went under like they did indicates that the company wasnt run as efficiently as it could be. Customer revenue plus VC/angel money should have been more than enough to carry them for a while. Wonder if they were part of the 90s tech boom, where the 'burn rate' was more important than an actual product (burn rate refers to how quickly you spend money). If you look at their pricing, they were selling 1 year (often with 2 free months) for $199, that works out to $175 or so after USF contributions, which means $12.50-$15 per month per customer, which is somewhat discounted, although volume and low marketing overhead should have been able to compensate. Vonage runs negative because they spend more in marketing than they receive in a year, sunrocket doesnt do nearly as much advertising. I did hear rumors (not from any direct employee, but a friend of a friend type thing) that they were playing it fast and loose with buying equipment and other things. Equipment that wasnt required but would have been fun to have. That indicates a management problem, where managers were getting equipment to put on their CV/resume as opposed to ordering what is actually needed and within a budget. I have seen that at other places that went through a similar end result. -- Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com Bret McDanel Belfast +44 28 9099 6461 US +1 516 687 5200 http://www.trxtel.com the phone company that pays you! _______________________________________________ --Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com-- asterisk-biz mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-biz
