Adding to the company's woes, a researcher just last week reported that Vonage advertisements were linked with spyware. And the company appears to be suffering from technical difficulties: One subscriber has noticed that call activity reports have been unavailable intermittently for weeks.

Sacrificial lamb

For Briere, the true problem with Vonage has been its refusal to broaden its spectrum away from regional Bell operating company territory. "They offered a temporary price benefit in an age where everyone is looking for bundles -- they were bound to lose," he said.

He said telecommunications companies were just waiting for the right time to pounce. "The telcos sat back until they saw something that made them viable [in the VOIP world]. Vonage did all the advertising, vetted all the issues, crossed all the chasms and laid out the technology road map for the telcos to follow."

Rather than fighting a no-win situation, Briere said the company should have gone in a different direction. "Vonage should have taken a cue from billionaire Richard Branson and what he did with Virgin. Its customer base wants to be known as 'bleeding-edge technology leaders.' They should have owned that image," he said.