SunRocket Brings Internet Phone Service to Mainstream America

Business Wire, Nov 1, 2004

VIENNA, Va. -- The "No Gotcha" Company Sets New Standard for Making It Easy for Consumers to Use Broadband to Enjoy Internet Phone Savings

Establishing new benchmarks for value, control and simplicity, SunRocket, the "no gotcha" phone company, today announced the arrival of SunRocket Signature Service(SM), designed to accelerate the adoption of Internet phone service. This new residential primary-line phone service is offered at an all-inclusive price of $24.95 per month, with no activation charges, hidden fees or "gotchas", making it easy and risk-free for mainstream consumers to make the leap to state-of-the-art Internet telephony. Now available in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Boston, SunRocket will be available in cities across America by the end of the year.

"We are the first phone company that gives consumers what they want - an easy-to-try, simple-to-use, feature-rich phone service at a superior value for a fixed monthly fee that eliminates the surprises we call 'gotchas'," said Paul Erickson, chief executive officer of SunRocket. "We recognize the mounting frustration that consumers have with escalating fees, add-on surcharges and taxes that turn an advertised $49.99 price into a $65 monthly phone bill. With SunRocket's Bottom-Line Pricing(SM), members get everything they need for one low monthly price which includes taxes."

Making it even easier for households to experience the future of Internet-enabled communications, SunRocket does not require contracts, term commitments, activation fees, shipping charges, equipment charges or cancellation fees. All necessary equipment is provided at no additional charge for members who sign up for SunRocket Signature Service. Members receive a free self-install kit containing a plug-and-play gizmo that connects to the customer's high-speed modem and sends phone calls over the home broadband connection. Membership comes complete with a no-risk, 31-day money back guarantee.

SunRocket Signature Service comes includes a myriad of features and benefits such as unlimited domestic phone calling and over a dozen free calling features such as enhanced voicemail, caller ID with name, call waiting, 3-way calling, smart call forwarding. In addition to these built-in features and Bottom-Line Pricing, SunRocket offers members these extra benefits at no additional charge:

--Choice of phone numbers. SunRocket members get to choose their phone numbers from a pool of available numbers or transfer an existing number from their old phone company.

--Free International Calls. Every SunRocket Signature Service member receives an allowance for free calls to any international destination, which translates to 100 minutes to any of 13 countries or 30 minutes or more to any of 75 countries. Incremental minutes are priced at SunRocket's low international rates, such as $0.03 per minute to Hong Kong, London, Paris, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Tokyo or Toronto, $0.04 per minute to Mexico City, and $0.05 per minute to Beijing, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Lima, Jakarta, Seoul or Taipei.

--Free Directory Assistance Calls. Members get two free nationwide 411 calls each month.

--Free Signature Number(SM). Two phone numbers for the price of one. In addition to a regular household phone number, members can choose an extra Signature Number to give to another member of the household, complete with its own distinctive ring, calling features and personal voicemail.

--Enhanced 911. Unlike most other Internet phone companies, SunRocket provides Enhanced 911 emergency calling, which routes calls directly to emergency operators along with service location address information and automatic phone number identification.

Paul Erickson and Joyce Dorris, former MCI Consumer executives who pioneered many of MCI's breakthrough innovations, including 1-800-COLLECT and The Neighborhood, founded the company in early 2004. "SunRocket isn't just about great technology at a great price. Our vision is to build a company that is committed to doing the right thing for consumers, something that big phone companies appear genetically incapable of doing," said Erickson.

Nokia Venture Partners, a leading global venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology companies, led SunRocket's initial financing round. According to John Malloy, managing partner of the firm, "Internet-enabled wireless and landline voice services will transform the global telecom industry, producing billion-dollar opportunities for new entrants with the right vision and business model to drive that transformation. Having observed the company's leadership in action and glimpsed the innovations they will introduce, we're convinced that SunRocket will emerge as the leading brand in Internet phone service."

"The interest in Internet phone service has been established. Now, someone has to take it mainstream in a friendly, easy, and motivating way, and let consumers escape from the 'gotcha' traps from other providers," said Dorris, SunRocket's chief marketing offer and former head of MCI's consumer unit. "We know what it takes to convince millions of Americans to embrace change in pursuit of better value, and we're excited to begin to establish SunRocket as the premier brand for personal Internet phone service."