In a recent posting, Ray noted that AT&T and Vonage have engaged in a VoIP "price war," with CallVantage now $29.99 per month and Vonage $5 cheaper. For the time being at least, it looks like Time Warner Cable is sticking to its guns, offering its VoIP "Digital Phone Service" in NYC for anywhere between $39.95 (bundled) to $49.95 (unbundled) per month. This pricing strategy is comparable to traditional, all-distance pricing packages offered by RBOCs.
While a number of early VoIP adopters will shop purely on price or use FWD or Skype, it will be interesting to see whether this marketing strategy will hold up as VoIP continues to penetrate the mass market, particularly once there is RBOC entry. I would guess no, but according to a Time Warner Cable spokesman in yesterday's Communications Daily:
"Our services are not identical" to those of AT&T and Vonage, he said, noting that Time Warner offered E911, was fully CALEA-compliant and used its proprietary network rather than the public Internet. He said cable companies providing VoIP had a marketing advantage because they could bundle phone and broadband with video. "We won't get into the price war," he said.