Vonage iPhone App submission sends stock soaring

Vonage shares have been skyrocketing after reports surfaced about the company's plans for an Apple iPhone App, according to a Bloomberg report [1]. Vonage has been on its largest three day stock rally since May 2006, according to Reuters [2], and the bundled plan the company announced last week just didn't warrant the gains for most analysts.

An approved iPhone app would be a boon for Vonage, which has been languishing with a huge debt load and high churn, unable to grow its subscriber base to reach profitability.  

A Barron's blog report [3], however, said Vonage's request with Apple has been delayed by technical issues, according to an interview with Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. She confirmed that Vonage has submitted an iPhone application for review, however.

Apple's App store and its take on VoIP applications has been in the news all week, as the FCC probes Apple's rejection of Google's Google Voice app. Will Apple allow Vonage's app, which could pose a threat to wireless revenue for its iPhone partner AT&T?

AT&T, which maintains it had nothing to do with the Google Voice removal [4], said its agreement with Apple allows VoIP over WiFi, but prohibits applications that access the 3G cellular network for voice call transmission.

For more:
- see the Bloomberg report here [1]
- see the Reuters report on Vonage's stock rally here [2]
- see the Barron's blog on Apple's comment on Vonage's app here [3] 

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AT&T washes hands of Google Voice iPhone app removal [4]
Vonage posts profit on one-time charge, but higher churn for Q1 [5]