Sprint rumored to be considering Vonage purchase
At the same time that embattled VoIP provider Vonage attempts to reorganize and cut costs during the company's darkest hour, rumors are beginning to fly that an acquisition may be imminent, and at the top of the list of potential buyers is none other than Sprint-Nextel. You see, not only does Vonage need to litigate its way out of the Verizon mess, it's facing yet another potential setback in September (if it even lasts that long) when an infringement lawsuit brought by Sprint is scheduled to begin. So even if Vonage manages to to fight off the impending permanent injunction, Sprint is waiting in line to take a bite as well, and now Light Reading is reporting that company execs may decide that the best way to settle this dispute is to simply sell Sprint the keys to the office. Now it's pretty obvious why Vonage would want to cash out and dump its mess on another firm, but what does Sprint have to gain from such a deal? It's not clear why the wireless carrier would want to get into the internet telephony game at this point, and even if it did, the court may soon rule that in effect, Vonage doesn't even have anything worth selling -- except maybe its customer list. Obviously we'll be keeping our eye on this, because we have to admit, Vonage is a lot more fun to cover now than it used to be.
[Thanks, Travis]
