courtesy of
http://www.myvoipprovider.com/SunRocket
SunRocket was founded in 2004 by some MCI executives that decided they wanted to compete directly with Vonage, CallVantage, Verizon VoiceWing -- all the big dogs in residential VoIP phone service.
And SunRocket was competing. SunRocket had 200,000 customers in 2007, in large part due to their exceptional promotional offer: 2 years of service for $199!
There were minor murmurs and tremors, though, signs that something was wrong: SunRocket affiliates stopped getting paid. Staff started getting laid off, here and there. Then the sales department went.
And then the service cut out.
SunRocket greeted all callers with a helpful message: "We are no longer taking customer support or sales calls. Goodbye."
Note: You can no longer hear this message in all its glory. Someone else bought the number.
And that was it for communication. Most customers only found out about SunRocket's demise when they picked up the phone - and heard nothing on the line.
SunRocket ... disappointed its customers. SunRocket's collapse also caused a wave of damage to the VoIP industry: 200,000 angry subscribers poured into the subscriber market.
Some switched back to cable and traditional PSTN providers, swearing off VoIP for life. Some subscribers inundated other VoIP providers and caused service overloads. Most lost money - some lost lots of money.
SunRocket's meltdown is the nadir of VoIP collapses. 200,000 households shoved into the cold.