Another player targeting the consumer market, Yak Communications, has announced their intentions to compete in the DSL/Cable Voice market.
A second company, CloseCall America also announced new services today.
Somehow I don’t see these being the last entry into what will become a very crowded space. If one looks back at cellular telephone many small players dotted the landscape, along with some of the bigger names in telecom. As time went by consolidation occured. I expect the same thing in the VoIP industry to happen, but predicting who the winners will be, other than the long established brands, right now is difficult.
What will make companies winners? Well hype sure won’t. There are still to many skiddish analysts and investment professionals healing from the dot.com bubble burst. Nor will using the “announcement” strategy of “market” launches, something Vonage was known in the past for doing.
No, what will help win the battle is service, especially strong customer service. The company which can deliver on its promise and bring PSTN quality and RBOC’s of the past/cable companies of today grade, heck, Nordstrom type customer service will be the winners.