Vonage buddies up with WiMax provider

TowerStream, a provider of high-speed internet services using cutting-edge WiMax tech, has teamed up with net telephony giant Vonage in one of the first co-marketing agreements of its kind.

Starting today, TowerStream, of Middletown, Rhode Island, is selling New Jersey-based Vonage's internet telephony plans as part of its regular line-up of services. It will be one of the first such partnerships between a major net telephony provider and a web service using WiMax - a wireless method for distributing high-speed internet access which rivals wired net services from telephone and cable operators.

WiMax, another name for the 802.16 standard for wireless broadband, has a range of up to 30 miles and can deliver broadband at a theoretical maximum of 75Mbps, which is more than 20 times the speed of the fastest wired broadband available commercially.

WiMax serves as a partial successor to the popular Wi-Fi wireless protocol, which works over far shorter distances - measured in feet rather than miles.

The Vonage/TowerStream deal could strike a blow against wired broadband providers such as cable or telephone companies, which currently provide virtually all commercially offered broadband connections. WiMax providers could challenge the status quo because their technology could be used to deliver high-speed internet services by cutting out traditional broadband providers altogether.

With almost 800,000 subscribers, Vonage is among the leading providers of net telephony, also known as voice over Internet Protocol (or VoIP), which is a method used to digitise phone calls, then route them over the internet. Calls to other VoIP users are free, while calls to and from traditional landline phones or mobile phones cost a few pennies per minute. Vonage offers unlimited dialling to any phone in north America for a flat monthly rate that is cheaper than traditional phone company charges.

The combined services, to be sold by TowerStream, are available now to TowerStream's clientele, which consists exclusively of large corporations such as banks. TowerStream typically charges about $600 per month for a 1.5Mbps connection. The services are available to businesses in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, and will be extended to more cities in the near future, according to a spokeswoman for TowerStream.

Ben Charny writes for CNET News.com