Earlier this week, VOIP guru Jeff Pulver issued a list of 15 predictions for
2005. One of the most intriguing - at least from the perspective of a
business reporter - was Pulver's assertion there will be a resurgence in
VOIP IPOs while some VOIP start-ups will disappear due to a lack of
marketing funds, customer base and vision.
The IPO idea is intriguing because despite the hype surrounding VOIP, there
has not been a commensurate amount of excitement surrounding investment
opportunities. Once in a while, I get e-mails about little, publicy-traded
companies but it's more touting than sizzling. That said, as the Internet
telephony market starts to gather momentum, it's likely a number of the
leading players will start looking for money from capital markets.
Vonage remains the big fish with a market capitalization that could top
US$2-billion depending on the market's health and the company's ability to
maintain its momentum. If Vonage takes the plunge and its stock does well,
the IPO market could be flooded with VOIP opportunities.
For investors, it will be a case of caveat emptor. While there will be
viable companies seeking financing, you can also expect some dogs. Anyone
who took the lessons of the dot-com boom and bust to heart will do their
homework and maintain some sense of pragmatism before betting their life
savings on a "can't miss" VOIP investment opportunity.

There aren't that many large venture capital deals these days so it's newsworthy when a $30-million financing is unveiled for an unknown company. Barrett Explore Inc., which provides high-speed wireless Internet services, received the cash from New York-based Sandler Capital Management.
Woodstock, N.B.-based Barrettt said it will use the money to expand its access business in "unserved and underserved" markets across Canada - starting with suburban consumers in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver.
The technology behind Barrett's roll-out will be provided by Motorola, which could pull in as much as US$53-million if Barrett reachs certain sales targets.
Barrett claims it's "Canada's largest and fastest growing broadband wireless service provider" but it didn't provide subscriber numbers. I wonder what the folks at TeraGo Networks think given they call themselves Canada's "leading broadband data communications provider" or AlternativeBroadband.com, which claims it is "Canada's only national fixed wireless internet service provider."
From what I can tell, fixed broadband wireless consists of a very small niche in the market. With the carriers and cablecos ready to battle it out for the "triple play", it is hard to see how or where wireless broadband will see its growth.