Om Malik must not be sleeping these days, as he’s on a telephonic roll over the past few days, which is one of the reasons I’ve laid back on the Vonage announcement of their new money.
If you start to look at things both Skype and Vonage have in common one also has to look at what is the end game. For Skype it’s change and likely move forward. For Vonage the investors need a pay out. That pay out can only come from a few places. Here’s my picks.
1. Microsoft–if you look at their history they start working on software then acquire. Given they own parts of cable companies a Microsoft and Vonage combo means the ATA can be a Media Center and X-Box on/off ramp. They also have the money or stock value to buy Vonage at the blink of an eye.
2. Bell South-They’ve been really quiet when it comes to VoIP. They have a growing broadband base and already market well.
3. Qwest-Originally the leader of the pack when it came to fiber and IP, when they were US West. The post dot.com bubble and some lousy sales directions led them off the right track, but they still have one of the largest territories. Vonage and Qwest would be an interesting move, especially if Qwest is done fighting over Verizon.
4.Sprint/Nextel–A marketing machine they both know how to sell and own customers. Vonage could get them back into the home in a neat way. If anyone has the thinking to bridge the home and mobile. Vonage could be the missing link, because what they lack most of all, technology, has been Sprint’s strong suit.