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Company Based in Virginia Offers Internet Phone Service

Posted on: Friday, 15 July 2005, 21:00 CDT

Jul. 15--The blossoming Internet telephone business just got fuller in Oklahoma with the addition of a Virginia-based company.

A spokesman for SunRocket Internet Phone Service said the Tysons Corner, Va.-based company began offering its services to Oklahomans in the past two weeks.

SunRocket offers subscribers with DSL or cable high-speed Internet service unlimited calling to anywhere in the United States and Canada for a flat $199 annual fee. Spokesman Kyle Russ said there are no added fees, taxes or "gotchas" to that number.

"They send you the whole box, and it has the gizmo in it, which is what they call it," Russ said. "It takes five minutes to set up. You can keep your old phone number, or you can get a new phone number."

The "gizmo," to which Russ alluded is a device that connects a telephone to a high-speed DSL or cable modem.

SunRocket, founded by a pair of former MCI executives, claims almost 27,000 customer nationwide, Russ said. Paul Erickson is chairman and chief executive officer.

Russ said SunRocket is one of the first Internet calling companies to meet the Federal Communications Commission's enhanced-911 mandate.

In May, the federal commission issued a ruling that requires Internet calling companies, known as "voice over Internet protocol" in the industry, to provide the enhanced 911 emergency calling capabilities to their customers.

That means that Internet calling providers must provide emergency operators with the call-back number and locations information of their customers.

FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield said the agency does not yet have subscriber numbers for the fledgling Internet calling industry.

In Oklahoma, Eric Seguin, chief of the Telecom division of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, said the commission staff recently conducted a study on telecommunications competition in the state but did not receive any subscriber numbers. He said that 22 companies that provide Internet calling services said their businesses were open to Oklahoma subscribers.

Telecommunications analyst Jeffrey Kagan in Atlanta said the number of Internet calling providers is growing rapidly.

"I would be surprised if there was only 22 offering VoIP service in Oklahoma," Kagan said. "Anyone who can offer service anywhere in the country can offer service in Oklahoma. This is a new area in telecom industry."

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MCIP,

Source: The Daily Oklahoman

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