Wireless giant, AT&T Inc., revealed earlier this week that it is cutting its rates on calls to Mexico, allowing American cell phone users to call Mexican landlines for as little as $0.05 per minute on the AT&T World Connect Mexico plan.

Wireless-to-wireless calls to and from Mexico, meanwhile, will cost $0.21 per minute under the same plan.

AT&T is currently attempting to target the fast-growing U.S. Hispanic market, who are known to spend more on long distance calling than the national average. Mexico has recently become the number-one international calling destination for U.S. wireless users, according to Carlton Hill, the vice president of voice products and devices at AT&T.

Source:
http://www.mexico.vg/mexico/att-offers-discounted-calling-rate-to-mexico/328

As reported by the Washington Post and others, SunRocket VoIP decided to pull the plug on their operation earlier this week. It has also been reported that their CEO, Lisa Hook, resigned last Friday. We reported a couple of weeks ago that they were having financial difficulties but had no idea the crash would come this soon. SunRocket had more than 200,000 customers so they were a large player in the VoIP startup business, second only to Vonage. Many customers, including us, prepaid for services so they (we) will likely lose whatever prepaid time remains. Thousands of customers have apparently already lost service but our SunRocket phone is still working this morning. SunRocket VoIP was an aggressive marketer but it seems they had pretty poor financial management, reports indicate they burned $80 million in rocket fuel over the past two years. A few venture capatalists also got burned.

SunRocket has not yet notified customers of anything. ... (more)

Qwest Communications International Inc. has added Qwest OneFlex Smart Connect to its lineup of hosted VoIP solutions for business customers. The solution is available through the Qwest Business Partner Program.

Smart Connect combines local, long-distance and Internet services to simplify network communications so businesses can respond to customers quickly and easily – and calls can be routed to reach subscribers wherever they travel, the company said.

Qwest Smart Connect is for businesses that need a single network to provide voice and data access for six to 48 employees per location. For one bundle price, Smart Connect includes the T1 local loop, router and Internet port – even front-office equipment including console and handsets. Smart Connect is a fully managed communications solution, so Qwest provides the technical expertise, security firewalls and the benefits of the same hosted VoIP network used by Qwest's larger enterprise customers. ... (more)