The abrupt shutdown of Internet phone carrier SunRocket left more than 200,000 customers scrambling for alternate service and raised questions about the viability of other standalone Internet phone providers, an Associated Press report said.
SunRocket, like other companies that only provide phone service over broadband, attracted customers with cheap plans and innovative features, the report said.
But traditional phone and cable companies also lowered prices and started bundling their services, it added.
The Associated Press report said competition proved too much for the No. 2 standalone Internet phone company after Vonage Holdings. SunRocket ceased operations without warning on Monday.
Nobody at SunRocket was available to explain its quick exit.
SunRocket CEO Lisa Hook did not return a call seeking comment.
At the company's Tysons Corner headquarters, the phones went unanswered, the doors were locked and a cardboard sign with 'Out of Business' scribbled on it hung inside the glass front door, the report said.
It was not clear whether SunRocket customers have any recourse with government regulators.
SunRocket's customer service line offered callers a brief recording: 'We are no longer taking customer service or sales calls. Goodbye.'
Meanwhile, a California company that is overseeing SunRocket's liquidation, Sherwood Partners, said it is in talks with other service providers to take over portions of SunRocket's customer base, the report further said.