AT&T cuts cord on VoIP service

AT&T has pulled the plug on its CallVantage voice over IP phone service, according to letters from subscribers this week.

The service competed with other VoIP services like Vonage. VoIP services use broadband networks to place phone calls. These services are much less expensive than traditional landline phone services and cost between $20 and $30 per month. But even this price is proving too high for consumers who are cutting their traditional phones to use their cell phones or are signing up for voice services with their cable providers, which are bundling the phone service in with broadband and TV service.

AT&T launched CallVantage in 2004 when AT&T was still just a long-distance phone company. But the company hasn't disclosed subscribers numbers in recent years. The Associated Press reports that at the end of 2004, the service had 53,000 subscribers.

It is not a huge shock that AT&T is getting rid of the service. Last summer, the company stopped signing up new subscribers. Also AT&T has been pushing a new flavor of the VoIP service that it sells to its U-verse customers. U-verse is a new fiber network that AT&T is building to deliver high-speed broadband, TV, and phone service to consumers. Like the cable companies, AT&T is bundling the voice service with TV and broadband.

Verizon Communications also recently shut down its VoIP service called VoiceWing. It also sells an IP-based telephony service to its Fios fiber-to-the home customers as part of a triple play package.

An AT&T spokesman has said that the CallVantage service will be disconnected in phases throughout the year. And the company will send several more reminders to its customers before it shuts down the service.

[chipotlecoyote]

Minor error -- in the last paragraph it should say "CallVantage," not "VoiceWing," I believe? (A friend of mine used to dub those kinds of errors "thinkos".)

[Maggie Reardon]

Thank you for pointing out my error! And you are right it was a "thinko" error! I apologize for the error.

[hhandyman]

the best ive found so far is Magic jack have had less probelms with it than Ma bell it workd when the cell towers here died in the Kentucky Ice storm. the hard part was AC power outage for 11 days in the middle of a Downtown Madisonville block.
the Price leader is Magic jack my neighbor has two voip service accounts and he pays as much in a month that i pay a year for my service. The hero here was the underground phone lines that saved phones for Ma bell the high wire act and cellphone service was a joke in the state emergency.

[PrivettP]

AT&T gave up its POTS lines to get into VOIP. Now without VOIP, I see a lot of eggs in one basket that is highly competitive It appears AT&T has got about all it's eggs in with the iPhone.

[JCPayne]

AT&T will be fine.... AT&T has all kinds of Government hand outs to reap rewards from Universal Service Fund and all that other stuff they charge all their customers..... Municipal agreements, government contracts.... plus their in the phone call spying business for uncle sam... AT&T will be fine.

[joelpatrick]

AT&T gave up its POTS lines? That's funny considering I still install POTS lines for AT&T all the time. Also, your iPhone statement is waaay out there.

[cismith3]

CallVantage is/was a terrific service, and it is regrettable that AT&T is so shortsighted in discontinuing it. In their wisdom, they are going the "all or nothing" route with uVerse. We'll see how that works for them. By their own admission, only 25% of CallVantage customers will be able to use uVerse, and to do so they must reconnect to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), from which the rest of the world is fleeing in droves due to add-on fees, taxes and scams allowed by the biller. Not to put too fine a point on AT&T's poor thinking, but as of today, if you want to use AT&T for voice without being connected to the PSTN, you must live in Jacksonville, FL. Sheer genius.

[lenagainster]

There are lots of other good, inexpensive VoIP service providers, discussed daily in the forums on Broadband Reports. VoicePulse, Callcentric, VOIPo, VoicePulse, Vonage, Phone Power, VoicePulse, Future Nine. Did I mention VoicePulse?

[Edliv]

I set up voicepulse in 15 business and home locations, and I have to say they are the leader in providing reliable yet affordable voip.

[Noneyabeeswax]

Forget AT&T, I like Ooma. Pay for the hardware once and calls are free after that, with very very low international rates. Ooma pays for itself in less than a year. Even the premium plan which is optional is a lot cheaper than other VOIP providers.

[solblack]

I use skype. 3 bucks a month and the cost for your tel. number.

[SamCrawford]

I dumped my POTS for Voisepulse and can't be happier.

VoicePulse is amazing when it comes to quality, price, and customer service!

[paulimusmaximus]

Verizon didn't stop doing VOIP. The Verizon Hub, which they just introduced is VOIP.

[JCPayne]

Verizon Hub costs like $35 dollars... After you factor in the cost of DSL it is still ~ $60.... The Magic Jack ( $20 a year), T-Mobile@Home ($10 a month), or even Vonage $24 a month all beat the pants off Verizon still.

[sharmajunior]

We need a decent open SIP based VOIP service. Vonage is crap..Try talking to their customer service. I just need a VOIP service that will let me use my own VOIP based phones with no crap modems that these companies lock you in with.

[lrparks2009]

I was going to do a review on the CallVantage service and found out that it was off the market. I was wondering how this is going to affect all their customers. Well there are lots of companies that these customers can choose from.

www.businesswealthtrends.com

[FH1042]

ATT as always doesn't want share revenue with other services. With fiber optic they can lock you in to multiple services, which is the name of the game today.. They do a terrible job in terms of responsibility to the public, making decisions based purely on profitability. There was a reason all the old pots companies were so heavily regulated!

http://hosted-voip-business-phone-system.blogspot.com/