Yeah, I had a little laugh when I read the article too. I am a engin subscriber myself an certainly would think of moving from this 'vulnerable' provider.
The term 'struggling' or 'vulnerable' certainly doesn't reflect a company that has 84,000 active subscribers (not 77k as the article mentions) all paying a monthly subscription fee and a 40% market share. Its like saying Telstra is struggling in PSTN market share or Microsoft is struggling in selling operating systems for PCs.
One thing that is struggling is the uptake of VoIP in Australia. The numbers for the entire market is rather disappointing to date.
However the experience of other countries was a rapid uptake when Naked DSL was introduced, which is only natural. With naked DSL you don't have to pay or have an existing phone line.
While engin has now placed it's Naked DSL roll out on hold, the likes of iiNet, Internode, Exetel have all announced Naked DSL this month. So if the experience of other countries is anything to go by, 2008 and beyond is set for VoIP takeoff.
While I still strongly believe Seven will launch a take over bid early next year, I would still like to see Engin sell it's TiVo interests to Channel 7 and in return use this money to fund the VoIP business.
Either way, VoIP is likely to take off, if Seven don't take them over before hand.
ENG Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
