Vonage Churn: Not an Issue if it Survives

Should Vonage survive, it might be able to get its churn rates under three percent a month. But it would be a surprise if, even under the best of circumstances, it got churn below two percent a month.

That's a big "if," but history suggests lower churn is possible, if not easy. The reason is that, over time, customers learn the value of a new type of service or application, and gradually come to have a better understanding of why it is they actually need and use a service. There always is lots of churn at first.

The U.S. cable industry struggled precisely with churn at the same levels Vonage grapples with, in the late 1980s and 1990s. Today's churn levels are far below that, but not much below two percent a month. And there's a reason even for that level of churn.

People move. That's called "uncontrollable" churn because there isn't a heck of a lot most providers (except those with a huge footprint) can do about people moving. Wireless providers used to have three percent a month churn as well. These days, most save Sprint Nextel are down just a hair under two percent a month.

They don't necessarily have the "customer is moving" problem so much with the advent of continental U.S. calling buckets that mean local calls cost the same as long distance. A new dwelling in a new area doesn't necessarily mean any change in calling rates and charges, so there is less "uncontrollable" churn.

Still, even the largest of the wireless carriers have just a bit under two percent a month churn. So far, in the consumer markets, that's about as good as it gets.

In the commercial markets, guess what the monthly churn rate is for many smaller independent service providers? Three percent.

That's not great, but the point is that it is hardly unusual, especially for new services, smaller providers and any service tethered to a location. The good news for Vonage is that, like a mobile provider, its service is not tied to a physical location. Over time, and should it survive, it can expect, with diligence and the passage of time, to get its churn down to about two percent a month.

The issue is simply to stay in business long enough for the learning effects to kick in.