May 10, 2007 9:23 AM PDT

Vonage close to patent fix

By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News

Last modified: May 10, 2007 6:10 PM PDT

Share
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
- Reddit
- Facebook
Email
Print

Related Stories: Court rejects Vonage bid for patent case retrial
May 3, 2007; Verizon urges denial of new Vonage patent trial
May 2, 2007; Vonage requests retrial in Verizon patent dispute
May 1, 2007; Vonage continues legal fight to sign up new customers
April 23, 2007; Vonage tells SEC bankruptcy is possible
April 17, 2007; Vonage CEO Snyder out, spending to be trimmed
April 12, 2007; After setback, Vonage wins temporary relief
April 6, 2007; Vonage's lucky break?
April 3, 2007; Vonage to pay $58 million in Verizon patent case
March 8, 2007

update Vonage is close to coming up with a technical fix that could solve its patent infringement problems, Chief Executive Jeffrey Citron said during the company's quarterly earnings conference call Thursday.

In March, a jury in Virginia found Vonage had infringed on three patents held by Verizon Communications. Vonage is currently appealing the decision.

Citron said the new technology, which will provide a work-around to the first two patents that describe how IP addresses are mapped to telephone numbers, can be installed through software downloads. The fixes are not expected to cost Vonage much to implement, Citron said. And the installation will require minimal effort from customers. He also said the company is working on a solution for the third patent, which deals with the transmission of voice over Internet Protocol calls over Wi-Fi networks.

Vonage's net loss for the first quarter was $72 million compared with a loss of $85 million in the same quarter a year earlier. The company was not publicly traded in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue was up 64 percent to $196 million from $119.7 million a year ago.

But the company's legal troubles may have affected its ability to sign up new customers. In the first quarter, the company signed up 166,000 new subscribers. During the same quarter a year ago, it signed up 328,000 new subscribers.

Vonage, which spent an average of $275 to acquire each new customer in the quarter, said that its churn rate, or the rate at which customers drop its service, rose to 2.4 percent compared with 2.3 percent for the previous quarter.

In April, Vonage said it would cut its advertising budget by $110 million to $310 million for 2007. It also plans to reduce its workforce by 10 percent to help curb spending. The company's CEO Michael Snyder also stepped down last month. Citron, who is acting as interim CEO, said during the conference call that the company will update investors on its next conference call regarding its CEO search.

See more CNET content tagged:
Vonage Holdings Corp., patent, IP, CEO

Add a Comment (Log in or register) 2 comments

Will they drop the ENUM-standard?
by jbosson May 11, 2007 5:47 AM PDT: Lots of other players would be interested to know...

http://www.ripe.net/info/ncc/presentations/ripencc-ietf-ec/index.html; Reply to this comment

I hope Vonage prevails
by yodri August 15, 2007 5:50 AM PDT: There's a simple reason for this, if Vonage looses this trial it would be a major blow for VoIP service, just think about it. If Verizon wins, not only Vonage would be out of the market but they would have the grounds already stated to go for the rest of the VoIP providers. Let's just stop preventing the future.; Reply to this comment

Latest tech news headlines

What you can--and can't--find about Palin on the Internet
Posted in News - Politics and Law by Stephanie Condon

September 4, 2008 10:20 PM PDT
Michael Moore plans Net-only film premiere
Posted in News - Digital Media by Steven Musil

September 4, 2008 9:20 PM PDT
McCain talks up oil drilling, green energy
Posted in News - Politics and Law by Declan McCullagh

September 4, 2008 9:11 PM PDT

Resource center from News.com sponsors

Aligning CIO & CEO visions

What CIOs need to know

It's a simple truth. The closer you and your CEO see things, the greater your chance for success. Our exclusive report can help you get there—and help your business grow. Get the report featuring the views of 765 CEOs on innovation. learn more

What CEOs think: Innovation Insights for CIOs

Learn How CIOs can deliver strategic success for their enterprises

The New CIO: Beyond Technology

Learn how CIOs become heroes

Podcast: Chris Gorog of Napster

Learn about the impact of technology in strategy execution

The future of the Enterprise

RSS Feeds

Add headlines from CNET News to your homepage or feedreader.

More feeds available in our RSS feed index.

Inside CNET News

Scroll Left Scroll Right

Nanotech: The Circuits Blog
Timing rumors surface for AMD plant spin-off
Rumors persist that Advanced Micro Devices is planning to spin off all or part of its manufacturing operations.
Gallery
Photos: Ron Paul's RNC alternative
As the Republican convention took place just miles away, a crowd rallied for the former presidential candidate and his message of limited government, ensured civil liberties, lower taxes, and peace.
Digital Noise: Music and Tech
Was 1980s music that bad?
NPR asks listeners which year featured the best music, and the 1980s emerge as a bleak era. Personally, the '80s figure prominently in my collection, but well behind the 1970s.
Beyond Binary
Microsoft begins big ad push
Microsoft's multi-year push, estimated at $300 million, begins with a spot featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld aired during Thursday's NFL game.
Video
YouTube plays party politics
During the presidential campaigning four years ago, YouTube didn't even exist. Now it's a tool candidates must master to get their message across. CNET's Kara Tsuboi stops by the YouTube upload booths at the Democratic and Republican conventions to find out why Google's video site has such a big presence in Denver and St. Paul, Minn.
News - Digital Media
Michael Moore plans Net-only film premiere
Filmmaker plans to premiere his latest documentary exclusively on the Internet for free, forgoing the traditional theatrical release.
Video
Political party playlists
We know the Democrats and Republicans are split over policy issues, but does their musical taste fall down party lines too? And what kind of gadgets did they bring to the conventions to listen to their music? CNET reporter Kara Tsuboi finds out.
News - Politics and Law
What you can--and can't--find about Palin on the Internet
John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate has inspired a wealth of creativity on the Internet.
News - Cutting Edge
Execs predict next Google-like tech
On eve of company's 10-year anniversary, researchers and business pundits speculate about what technologies might someday have as much impact as Google.
Gallery
Photos: The brains behind Google Chrome
Here's a look at some of the engineers and executives who took the stage at the company's headquarters as they unveiled the new browser.
Crossfade
Ying Yang Twins, 'Look Back At It': Free MP3 of the Day
This amped-up duo gets the party started with a mix of crisp, Southern hip-hop beats and shout-along rhymes. Download a free MP3 of "Look Back At It" courtesy of CNET Download Music.
Green Tech
Clean-tech group forms to support Obama
"Clean Tech and Green Business for Obama" aims to raise $1 million for the Democratic presidential nominee while elevating issues of climate change and alternative energy.