Following discussions of possible bankruptcy by the troubled VoIP provider Vonage, BusinessWeek opined this week they thought recent rumors of Sprint considering a purchase of the company were even more troubling... for Sprint.

Despite an acquisition cost that would amount to, as one analyst described it, "a rounding error" (hey, where I come from, $1 billion is still a lot of money) for the wireless company, it could put to bed a patent suit that Sprint is ready to fight (or leverage?) against Vonage (while offering the chance to poke at Verizon a bit in the process in their current IP proceedings). Most analysts said they it would amount to little more than a distraction from the business at hand for Sprint as the company tries to successfully capitalize on its Nextel merger while also trying to harness partnerships with cable companies like Comcast for faster growth, even as it stems the tide of customer churn in its "postpaid" business.

I say, "BUY 'EM!" - for lots of reasons.

Forgetting for a second how much I despise their marketing, as I mentioned recently, I want Vonage for one simple feature - SimulRing - which allows incoming calls to ring on up to six other lines, effectively delivering as a bonus most of the much vaunted "unified communications" over VoIP that other telcos have touted as premium services. Likewise, Sprint's CDMA-oriented network canopy isn't making any friends with the international jet-set of the world who can't use their phones in Europe or Asia (though China and South Korea have CDMA networks... oh, and Iraq).(read more)

Coincidence is amazing.

After months of waiting, the very same day that I found out Vonage, the VoIP vendor that I want to switch over to (mostly because of their "SimulRing" feature) was now offering my home phone number prefix in the town where I live... I also saw the judgment handed down saying that they couldn't add any more new customers.

Hours later came the stay of execution for this "bullet to the back of the head" (as Vonage's own attorney called it).

Sheesh! So can I get this service or not? Forbes runs it down for us:

Internet telephone company Vonage got a break late Friday in its patent battle with telecommunications giant Verizon Communications.

The U.S. Court of Appeals granted Vonage a temporary stay late Friday, allowing it to continue signing up new customers. An earlier ruling from a federal judge barred Vonage from marketing to new customers while it infringes Verizon's patents.
(read more)