Who Would Buy Vonage?

CNNMoney.com postulates that Vonage may be a better takeover or buyout category than an IPO.

Hmmm...who would want it is the big question? The author suggests Sprint, Qwest or Verizon, but I'm thinking more of someone like a T-Mobile who wants a ground game to compliment their air game. Rumors out of Seattle describe a new service that T-Mobile is trialing dubbed something like T-Mobile at home that delivers IP based telephony to users of thier mobile phone service.

In my mind this is the best possible link up. T-Mobile has the money. Both companies market to similar "value" oriented customers. Neither is selling services that are at the bleeding edge of what telephony technology can offer, but both offer a solid, service. From T-Mobile Vonage would pick up a solid and very respected customer service team as well as retail store front distribution via both company owned and independent retailers. Additionally, T-Mobile Hotspots could provide Vonage and T-Mobile the ability to deploy rapidly emerging dual mode handsets that combine 3G/GSM/GPRS and WiFi resulting in a more economical model.

Lastly, T-Mobile has a penchant for being a savvy buyer of companies with technology that can do something different. Their MobileStar purchase led to the growth of not only their hotspot business, but really propelled the market.