| Internet Telephone Company Vonage Shares Drop in NYSE Trading Debut NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Vonage Holdings Corp., the Internet telephone pioneer, dropped in their trading debut Wednesday after pricing late Tuesday at $17 a share, the middle of the expected range. Shares of Vonage fell 70 cents, or 4 percent, to $16.30 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They trade under the symbol "VG." In earlier regulatory filings, Vonage said it had expected to sell the 31.25 million IPO shares for $16 to $18 each. At the final price, the IPO is worth $531 million, making it one of the larger launches this year. Much of the money raised by the IPO will flow into advertising, which the Holmdel, N.J-based company has used to attract 1.6 million subscriber. It is currently the largest provider of Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, service. Vonage subscribers plug their phones into adapters that connect to their broadband Internet connections. Under one of its plans, it charges $25 a month for unlimited calling to the United States, Canada and parts of Europe. It is a business that has attracted a lot competition. Cable companies are signing up their customers to VoIP, providing the convenience of a single bill for video, broadband and telephone service. Computer-to-phone calling companies are competing on the low end by slashing prices -- Skype recently made calls to the United States and Canada free. |
