Building value for VoIP investors

VoIP might be a good business to be in, but it might not be such a great business to invest in. Although Skype's metrics are good--more subscribers are paying more money each--the numbers are small. Skype brought owner eBay [1] 30 cents per subscriber last quarter; eBay's core auction business netted $5.64 per subscriber. And when Vonage reported its most recent quarterly results, its stock sagged 9 percent, even though the 42-cent per share loss was in line with expectations. The trouble is that it's costing Vonage $579 to gain each new customer, up 65 percent in six months. That's the wrong direction on a trend line.

For more on VoIP as an investment:
- read this article [2] from The Street