Covad Adds New VoIP Markets

Covad has rolled out VoIP service for small
and medium businesses (SMBs) in 14 new markets, including New Orleans,
Orlando, Fla., and Salt Lake City.

The San Jose, Calif., company said its SMB VoIP service is now available in
71 markets, with plans to grow to 125 markets by year’s end. Covad’s vPBX
product works with existing equipment. Covad installs the service, trains
users and provides customer support.

The offering features a Web-based user interface that manages local and
long-distance services, visual fax and voicemail, instant messaging, audio and Web
conferencing, call logs, directory services and “Find me/Follow me”
capabilities.

Pavel Radda, a Covad spokesman, said set-up costs vary depending on the size
of the business. However, for a 40-person business, typical start-up costs
are roughly $20,000, he said. The company offers free assessments of VoIP
needs.

Covad offers two monthly plans. The first charges between $26 and $32 per
station plus 3 cents to 5 cents per minute, based on the number of stations
and minutes. The second is flat rate pricing of $36.95 to $59.95, depending
on the number of stations with unlimited local and long-distance calls.

The other cities that are a part of Covad’s latest business VoIP service
expansion are: Austin, Texas; Birmingham, Ala.; Burlington, N.C.; Dayton,
Ohio; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Greensboro, N.C.; Holland, Mich.; Jacksonville,
Fla.; Ogden, Utah; Provo, Utah; and San Antonio, Texas.

Covad has offered VoIP since early this year. Its technology got a boost
this spring when it acquired VoIP provider GoBeam for $48 million. Covad
competes with a number of startups, telecoms and cable companies that are
already offering VoIP or plan on launching the service in coming months.