Not long ago, a situation involving hundreds of thousands of abandoned phone subscribers would be the lead story on the evening news, or even warrant a Congressional hearing, according to Joe Nordgaard, director of Spectral Advantage.

    “But SunRocket has a lot of wiggle room because today most people have cell phones so they have alternate means of communication,” he said. “It’s still an inconvenience for the subscriber, but they do have options.”

    Also the average VoIP user is a relative early adopter, according to Mr. Nordgaard. The user is quite likely to be an independent professional who uses VoIP more for its portability than its price.

    “To be a SunRocket or a Vonage user you need a broadband or WiFi connection, so that places them on the higher end of the economic scale,” Mr. Nordgaard said. “So this is not about a phone company abandoning poor consumers.”