For $999, a lifetime of Internet phone calls

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Date: December 6, 2004 10:35:14 PM EST
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Subject: For $999, a lifetime of Internet phone calls


For $999, a lifetime of Internet phone calls

By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff  |  December 6, 2004

Making unlimited phone calls for a fixed monthly price has proven to
be a key selling point for Internet phone services like Vonage and
AT&T CallVantage.

But an upstart Dedham company is raising the stakes, offering
consumers all the phone calls they want for the rest of their lives.

RNK Telecom Inc. is promising subscribers that for a one-time payment
of $999 they can make an unlimited number of unbilled calls for their
remaining days on Earth.

Customers would have to continue to pay another company for a
broadband Internet connection, however.

RNK plans to begin offering the "Phone for Life" plan today to
Massachusetts consumers, through retail partners including Galaxy
Internet Services of Newton, Pro-Speed.net of Tyngsborough, and
Voip2Save.com of Providence. The same deal will be offered in New
Hampshire and Rhode Island later this month and in New York in
January, company president Richard N. Koch said.

At current rates, compared to the $30-a-month cost of AT&T Corp.'s
CallVantage Internet phone service, with the first month free, RNK's
offer would not save a consumer money until after 34 months of
service.

Likewise, Vonage Holdings Corp.'s "premium unlimited" service would
be a better deal than RNK's until about 40 months had passed. Vonage,
which charges $25 a month, is the biggest US provider of "voice over
Internet protocol" phone service, with over 200,000 subscribers.

...

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2004/12/06/ 
for_999_a_lifetime_of_internet_phone_calls/

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