25 August 2005 US-based IP telephony company Vonage is reported to be lining up a $200 million IPO, as interest in the technology intensifies.
According to the online financial site The Daily Deal, Vonage executives are planning to raise $200 million through an IPO this autumn. It has already raised $400 million in venture capital from companies including Bain Capital, 3i Group Plc and Institutional Venture Partners.
US-based IP telephony company Vonage plans to launch on the stock market in order to raise funds, according to the Wall Street journal.
Vonage mainly provides cheap Internet-based telephone calls to households in the US – where it has 800,000 users, but launched in the UK in early 2005, and began offering services for small businesses. As Internet telephony becomes more established it Vonage is expected to offer more business services.
Research house Infonetics recently published a report predicting enormous growth in the North American VoIP sector. VoIP service revenue, which was $1.3 billion in 2004 will reach $19.9 billion by 2009, an increase of 1,400%, the report found.
To date, Vonage services depend on having a broadband internet connection already installed. Earlier this month, Vonage announced that it had struck a deal WiMax provider TowerStream that will allow the company provide a wireless broadband connection along with its telephony service.
