Sprint May Be In Trouble, But It's Got Enough Sense To Avoid Buying Vonage

from the think-that-one-over-again dept

Tue, Apr 17th 2007 2:06pm — Carlo Longino

As Vonage continues to search for a way out of its Verizon-inflicted patent mess, rumors are kicking up that Sprint is in talks to buy the company, with a deal "on the table". However, as Eric Savitz at Tech Trader Daily points out, it's quite hard to see Sprint inserting themselves into the situation before the litigation runs its course, while Vonage's poor prospects for profits don't help. It's probably worth noting that the site fueling these rumors is a sister site of the one that was behind the speculation about a buyout of Palm -- with its anonymous sources insistent that a deal was imminent. Of course, no such deal happened, and it's unlikely there will be a deal for Vonage, either.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

8 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Rusty, 17 Apr 2007 @ 3:04pm

Pump & Dump
It's a simple pump & dump hype.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Wyatt, 17 Apr 2007 @ 3:31pm

No way..
There’s no way Sprint would buy out Vonage while they are in litigation that could potentially wipe them out. It is total BS that someone is pushing to get a thrill. I don’t think this story deserves to be posted. It’s only taking away from the core of the story which is that Verizon is out of control and a lame, short sited, anti-innovative company.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Apr 2007 @ 3:40pm

Unfortunate for Vonage I almost wish the tables were turned and it was Verizon being sued. They had such shitty customer support. And the crap with there supposed unlimeted downloads limited to 5gigs. But with that a side thats for posting blubish.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
insomniac4104, 17 Apr 2007 @ 3:48pm

yeah sure that'd be smart one
Lets by a company that may not even exist in a month so they can take down sprint with them. Makes picking a provider a lot easier. Two less to choose from. May even provide better quality phone service and companies that can maintain the equipment rather than have multi networks and non compatible lines. The less companies may help stabilize pricing, better gov't regulations and overall better service. So it sucks for Vonage but in the long run may be better off.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Urza, 17 Apr 2007 @ 6:29pm
  
  Re: yeah sure that'd be smart one
  I hope to god that you're kidding. That kind of shit is why there are people that pay $60 a month for 500kbps internet service, and why there are people (myself) who have to deal with uptimes less than 50% (not even exaggerating, I calculated it) for several months, because we have no other options.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 17 Apr 2007 @ 4:30pm

What if Sprint has access to technology that does'nt infringe on any verizon patents? Then I guess, this is the perfect time for Sprint to buy Vonage.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pedro, 17 Apr 2007 @ 6:27pm

Vonage is giving away free taco's...
Go to any Taco Bell, hum the Vonage song and get a free taco!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
FreeToCompete, 25 Apr 2007 @ 2:20pm

FreetoCompete.com
Check out how Vonage is defending itself, creating public awareness and letting consumers voice their opinions at FreeToCompete.com.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]