- StarDial could be described as VoIP-over-satellite
- Ooma is selling StarDial as an accessory to Starlink’s broadband
- Starlink customers can buy the StarDial hardware for $129.99, and then they only have to pay monthly phone fees and taxes for the voice service add-on
The company Ooma has been around for about 20 years, offering its voice-over-IP (VoIP) and unified communications as a service (UCaaS) phone technologies, but now Ooma has come up with a product that lets residential Starlink broadband subscribers add voice to their Starlink service.
Ooma’ StarDial is targeted to Starlink internet users in rural, remote or off-grid locations who may want to also tap their satellite broadband service for voice.
Fierce spoke with Jim Gustke, SVP of marketing at Ooma, who said StarDial could be described as VoIP-over-satellite.
Ooma is selling its StarDial base station and cordless HD handset for $129.99. Customers can connect the base station to their Starlink Wi-Fi and get telephone service basically for free, except for having to pay monthly, applicable phone taxes and fees. They can also upgrade to StarDial’s premium service for $9.99 per month if they want more advanced features such as call blocking, voicemail-to-email forwarding, an instant second line and other options.
StarDial also provides address-based 911 service, so consumers can reach emergency assistance from locations where cellular coverage may be limited.
Gustke noted that satellite internet has historically been difficult for voice communications because of problems with latency. But with the advent of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite broadband, latency is improved because the satellites are so much closer to Earth. Ooma also has adaptive redundancy technology, which detects voice packet arrival. It can detect missing packets in real time and will send duplicate packets to replace those late or lost packets to maintain a clear phone call.
He did make it clear that neither Ooma nor StarDial are affiliated with Starlink or SpaceX, at all. Ooma is selling StarDial as an accessory to Starlink’s broadband. Gustke said, “This fall we're going to be launching at a major brick-and-mortar retailer that also sells Starlink, and StarDial will be positioned as a Starlink accessory.”
Fierce asked if StarDial might help in say, California, where AT&T wants out of its carrier-of-last-resort (COLR) obligations to provide legacy phone service in hard-to-reach locales.
Gustke said, “Absolutely, because voice-over-IP is a solution for anyone who is losing their legacy phone service. And in fact, the residential marketplace is being driven by places like California and by the major telcos that want to get out of maintaining their copper infrastructure. So it's not only California.”
AT&T’s alternative for people who currently rely on its legacy telephone service is AT&T Phone Advanced, which is a VoIP service that runs on AT&T’s cellular network and connects to a box in the customer’s home.
Gustke said the decommissioning of legacy copper networks has already been boosting Ooma’s residential VoIP business even before this new StarDial service.
Another factor boosting Ooma’s VoIP business is the unbundling of cable. Gustke said a lot of cable subscribers are moving over to fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband from the likes of T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon. Or they’re moving to satellite broadband from Starlink. But, they then need to figure out how to get their video and voice. Video is a no-brainer because everyone’s already subscribing to streaming services. But voice can be trickier.
Many FWA subscribers have found their way to Ooma’s residential VoIP services. And now, Ooma is offering StarDial for satellite broadband subscribers.
In addition to providing home phone service, StarDial can be used for Starlink-connected RVs, campers and boats.
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