Vonage going IPO 221
Diashto writes "I just recieved voicemail on my Vonage phone saying that Vonage is going IPO, and that certain customers may be eligible to purchase common stock at IPO pricing. More information is is available on their IPO site."
Sounds great ... but. (Score:5, Informative)
Not a deal-breaker but just a heads up.
Otherside of the coin (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Vonage is a scam (Score:3, Informative)
I see you were modded a troll, but I'll just assume you don't know what Vontage is. Skype is free. This applies only if you call another Skype user.
What you get for the fee is nationwide calling to regular telephones. Skype out and Skype in are not free. Please compare apples to apples. Vontage includes most of the extras you would get with a phone plan including caller ID, 3 way calling, etc.
Legit or not? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I'm pretty certain... (Score:3, Informative)
Whois Server Version 1.3
Domain names in the
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/ [internic.net]
for detailed information.
Domain Name: VONAGEIPO.COM
Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/ [networksolutions.com]
Name Server: DNS1-NYC.VONAGE.NET
Name Server: AUTH00.KEWR0.S.VONAGENETWORKS.NET
Name Server: AUTH01.KEWR0.S.VONAGENETWORKS.NET
Status: REGISTRAR-LOCK
Updated Date: 08-may-2006
Creation Date: 25-apr-2005
Expiration Date: 25-apr-2012
Re:Vonage is a scam (Score:3, Informative)
Skype is free only for computer to computer calls.
Skype charges 1.7 Euro cents per minute (about 2 US cents) for calls to real phone numbers. And you have purchase that time in advance in blocks of 10 Euros.
If you want to get a real phone number you have to get SkypeIn, which is 30 Euros per year.
Skype can't be used for 911 at all, while Vonage is working on it and has gotten it together in many locales.
All Skype phones plug in only to a computer, not a cable modem.
Yes, Skype is a bargain and I use SkypeOut myself to call a friend in Australia but Vonage it ain't.
That having been said I think Sunrocket [sunrocket.com] is a better deal. $199 a year, they give you the phone, and you don't have to keep your computer on 24/7. Also, you can hack it so you that you can use your home's existing phone wiring to plug in more phones.
Re:Reelin' 'Em in I see (Score:5, Informative)
A story on it over at VoIP Magazine is here [voip-magazine.com].
Their (not yet active) trading charts can be found here [marketwatch.com] under the symbol "VG".
If this is a fishing scam, it's a pretty darn good one. More likely, Vonage wanted their financial issues to be separate from their marketing site and didn't think about how that would look.
Re:Reelin' 'Em in I see (Score:5, Informative)
Registrant:
vonage holdings
23 Main Street
Holmdel, NJ 07733
US
Domain Name: VONAGEIPO.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
vonage holdings itadmin@vonage.com
23 Main Street
Holmdel, NJ 07733
US
732-365-2603
Record expires on 25-Apr-2012.
Record created on 20-Feb-2006.
Database last updated on 10-May-2006 10:08:55 EDT.
Domain servers in listed order:
DNS1-NYC.VONAGE.NET 216.115.31.140
AUTH00.KEWR0.S.VONAGENETWORKS.NET 69.59.252.42
AUTH01.KEWR0.S.VONAGENETWORKS.NET 216.115.30.40
>whois vonage.com
vonage holdings
23 Main Street
Holmdel, NJ 07733
US
Domain Name: VONAGE.COM
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Holdings, Vonage itadmin@vonage.com
Vonage
23 Main Street
Holmdel, NJ 07733
US
732-365-2603
Record expires on 12-Dec-2008.
Record created on 12-Dec-2000.
Database last updated on 10-May-2006 10:09:41 EDT.
Domain servers in listed order:
DNS1-NYC.VONAGE.NET 216.115.31.140
AUTH00.KEWR0.S.VONAGENETWORKS.NET 69.59.252.42
AUTH01.KEWR0.S.VONAGENETWORKS.NET 216.115.30.40
Amazing... Admin contact and DNS servers are the same...
Re:Sounds great ... but. (Score:1, Informative)
Web based interface to voicemail is identical. Simple. Poor. I cannot label/annotate/retitle/file/mark-undeletable messages.
I cannot block calls with no caller ID.
They promised me a real E911 within two months. 2 1/2 years later still no E911. Two years ago it was clear that the telcos were making it difficult for them to implement E911. Now, it seems to be Vonage's problems alone.
I assume they are the market leaders, but with eBay behind Skype,
I would feel better about them technically if they had improved any portion of their service, but it is identical, with no new value for my dollar in 2 1/2 years.
I suspect this IPO will be used to fund the upcoming fights against Verizon and AT&T. It's not clear they will be the winner.
Hey Vonage, as you read through the posts, understand that if you had implemented E911 on time as you had promised me, I wouldn't be writing this.
Posted anonymously: I do want my service (such as it is) to continue unimpeded.
The IPO offer is real (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Legit or not? (Score:2, Informative)
Domain Name: VONAGE.COM
Administrative Contact , Technical Contact :
Holdings, Vonage
itadmin@vonage.com
23 Main Street
Holmdel, NJ 07733
US
Phone: 732-365-2603
Record expires on 12-Dec-2008
Record created on 12-Dec-2000
Database last updated on 30-Jun-2004
Domain Name: VONAGEIPO.COM
Administrative Contact , Technical Contact :
vonage holdings
itadmin@vonage.com
23 Main Street
Holmdel, NJ 07733
US
Phone: 732-365-2603
Record expires on 25-Apr-2012
Record created on 20-Feb-2006
Database last updated on 08-May-2006
Also, if you try to register with bunk info, you get the following:
Registration Failed
The information you supplied did not match any record for a Vonage America customer that may be eligible to participate in the Vonage Customer Directed Share Program.
If you are having trouble registering, please try the following tips:
Vonage Account Number
To find your Vonage account number, please log into your Vonage web account, located at www.vonage.com. Once you log on, you will see your 10-digit Vonage account number in the top right corner of the screen.
Zip Code in the Credit Card Billing Address
You must enter the 5-digit zip code on record with Vonage as part of your billing address as of February 1, 2006. If you have changed your billing address since February 1, 2006, you must use the previous zip code.
E-Mail
You must enter the e-mail address at which the Vonage account holder was receiving Vonage e-mails as of February 1, 2006. This e-mail address is the address to which Vonage may have sent an e-mail notifying you of the Vonage Customer Directed Share Program. This e-mail address does not need to be valid as of today's date, and you will have an opportunity to update this e-mail address later.
Re:Reelin' 'Em in I see (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Reelin' 'Em in I see (Score:2, Informative)
Would you buy stock from this man? (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1272830/000 104746906006601/a2169686zs-1a.htm [sec.gov]
The past background of our founder, Chairman and Chief Strategist, Jeffrey A. Citron, may adversely affect our ability to enter into business relationships and may have other adverse effects on our business.
Prior to joining Vonage, Mr. Citron was associated with Datek Securities Corporation and Datek Online Holdings Corp., including as an employee of, and consultant for, Datek Securities and, later, as one of the principal executive officers and largest stockholders of Datek Online. Datek Online, which was formed in early 1998 following a reorganization of the Datek business, was a large online brokerage firm. Datek Securities was a registered broker-dealer that engaged in a number of businesses, including proprietary trading and order execution services. During a portion of the time Mr. Citron was associated with Datek Securities, the SEC alleged that Datek Securities, Mr. Citron and other individuals participated in an extensive fraudulent scheme involving improper use of the Nasdaq Stock Market's Small Order Execution System, or SOES. Datek Securities (through its successor iCapital Markets LLC), Mr. Citron and other individuals entered into settlements with the SEC in 2002 and 2003, which resulted in extensive fines, bans from future association with securities brokers or dealers and enjoinments against future violations of certain U.S. securities laws. The NASD previously had imposed disciplinary action against Datek Securities, Mr. Citron and other individuals in connection with alleged violations of the rules and regulations regarding the SOES. These and other matters are discussed under "Information Concerning our Founder, Chairman and Chief Strategist."
There is a risk that some third parties will not do business with us, that some prospective investors will not purchase our securities or that some customers may be wary of signing up for service with us as a result of allegations against Mr. Citron and his past SEC and NASD settlements. We believe that some financial institutions and accounting firms have declined to enter into business relationships with us in the past, at least in part because of these matters. Other institutions and potential business associates may not be able to do business with us because of internal policies that restrict associations with individuals who have entered into SEC and NASD settlements. While we believe that these matters have not had a material impact on our business, they may have a greater impact on us when we become a public company, including by adversely affecting our ability to enter into commercial relationships with third parties that we need to effectively and competitively grow our business. Further, should Mr. Citron in the future be accused of, or be shown to have engaged in, additional improper or illegal activities, the impact of those accusations or the potential penalties from such activities could be exacerbated because of the matters discussed above. If any of these risks were to be realized, there could be a material adverse effect on our business or the market price of our common stock.
Re:Reelin' 'Em in I see (Score:2, Informative)
How could anyone call this a phishing scam? Not only that but what does someone have to gain from accessing your vonage account? They get to see who you've called? You can't add services or lines without entering some personal information that the phisher wouldn't be privileged to.
Re:I'm pretty certain... (Score:2, Informative)
However, they should never have sent out email with a link to a site other than their own.
-There's no way to verify through whois records that the site is legit
-Best you could do is if the whois has a DNS server listed on vonage.com's domain
-Their dns servers are not authoritative for the domain
-It would not be hard to net scan for vonage SIP phone adaptors, then connect to them to leave voicemail faking out the CID to look as if it where from "system"
In today's world of phishing scams, shame on Vonage for not being vigilant. This just encourages users to fall for phishing ploys.
Re: Vonage is a scam?? No... (Score:3, Informative)
- Free call from anywhere in the world to home/Vonage phones if you can get Internet access, for $6/month (softphone). 500 minutes anywhere else. I used this in Inda for a month, big savings. I also use it when I travel, there are still occasional places where I am charged roaming fees and I hate the surprise when I get my bill, even if I do charge it back to my company.
- Local phone numbers so your mother/father/daughter/son/etc can call without having a long distance charge. Or 800 numbers.
- For that matter, several phone numbers for one phone.
- Fax service. Some people, notably real estate agents and lawyers, still need fax because they need real signatures, not electronic ones.
- Several phones in the house. I have 4 phones, one in the living room, one in the kitchen, one in my bedroom, and one out by the pool. I don't have to carry my cell phone everywhere, especially around the pool. I don't mind accidentally dropping a $20 cordless in the pool as much as my cell.
- Kids
... a ladyfriend's daughter spends thousands of minutes a month talking to her friends in another state.
- Bad cell phone coverage at home
It's not for everyone, but for those that need certain features, it's a lot more economical, convienent, and easy to use than anything else. If I was single with parents that had money and decent cell phone coverage at home and never traveled, I wouldn't have it either. But for $30/month, it is saving me more money than it is costing me. A 60 min. call from India to home paid for my Vonage for 3 months.Re:Aside from the debt... (Score:3, Informative)
Re point 2, yes, the landline phone market is pretty saturated, so they'll have to take customers from RBOCs. No news there.
Point 3 is rather obvious.
I didn't RTFA, so I'm not sure if the shares cost $100 each or if you have to buy at least $100 worth of shares, but if it's the latter, you should know that $100 is nothing in the stock market. You're going to pay about $20 to a broker to sell the shares, so there's no point unless you're going to put in a couple grand (IMHO).
NO TOUCH! (Score:3, Informative)
Again, from the SEC filing,
"Jeffrey A. Citron, our principal stockholder, founder, Chairman and Chief Strategist, will own 48,427,617 shares of common stock, or 31% of our common stock."
More detail about the fraud he conducted. [sec.gov]
Pay careful attention to the following quote. The guy is into illegal profiteering:
("NASD") rules restricted use of the SOES system to small retail customer orders and prohibited broker dealers from using SOES to trade for their own accounts. By fraudulent means, defendants Sheldon Maschler, Citron, McCarty, Erik Maschler, and Heartland used the SOES system to execute millions of proprietary trades, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits. The great majority of these profits were paid to Sheldon Maschler and Citron, but other defendants profited as well. The fraudulent scheme was carefully planned and orchestrated, and was concealed from regulators through the use of sophisticated software, the creation of nominee accounts and fictitious books and records, and the filing of false reports with the Commission. Defendants Sheldon Maschler, Citron, McCarty, and Erik Maschler carried out the fraudulent scheme from 1993 to March 1998 while in control of Datek Securities. Defendants Sheldon Maschler, McCarty, and Erik Maschler carried out the scheme from April 1998 through June 2001 while in control of Heartland, which had purchased Datek Securities' day-trading business on March 30, 1998. Defendant Raft Investments, Inc. ("Raft") aided and abetted the SOES fraudulent scheme.
Re:Sounds great ... but. (Score:1, Informative)
First - if you are going to read the red herring (prospectus document) then you need context. Read 5 or 10 of these docs from the IPO of companies you respect or revile (Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Apple). Only with that context will you understand that the prospectus is not meant to inform. It is written as probably the longest legal disclaimer document.
It's easier to summarize all IPO docs: "This offering is for professional investors. You may very likely lose all your money. Gamble if you are interested, but don't whine if you lose your shirt. But due kiss our butts if we make you rich."
Second - VoIP is "hot" area now so a multi-billion dollar valuation for a real company with real customers and no profit is very realistic. Afterall, EBay bought Skype for billions of dollars and that's a company with very little revenue and questionable business model. That sets a value in the market very high for all VoIP companies.
Third - Clearly, the exit strategy for Vonage is simple: Spend everything you can beg, borrow, or raise from others to increase your subscriber count. Then either achieve an economy of scale that lets you eke out a small profit while burying your competition or sell-out to a traditional telco/cableco that wants your large subscriber base and has been on the sidelines through the current VoIP hype and growth while watching their traditional PSTN subscribers decline.
The VoIP market is like the mid-tier days of the ISP market. Get big either by flooding the world with sign-up CD's (AOL) or buying up lots of smaller guys (Earthlink). The remaining little/regional guys either duck-and-cover (survive in niches) or get swallowed up sooner or later.
Lots of VoIP unknowns are now in the market with one marketing strategy "Cheaper than Vonage". That shows you how strong the Vonage brand is but doesn't really say whether the whole market can survive in the long run.
Short term, for your 2nd line or extra line, shop around and get the best deal. I recently dropped one of our Vonage lines and replaced it with a $4.95/mo line from ZingoTel. Has only 100minutes at that price, but that's all I needed for this "extra" line.