SUNROCKET FAILURE PUSHES PHONENUMBER BANK EXPANSION

Dedham, MA (August 22, 2007) - Phone Number Bank, a solution that enables consumers to keep (or "bank") their phone numbers for as long as they want, is being expanded into another 80 U.S. markets faster than it had anticipated due to demand from subscribers to recent failed VoIP services.

The provider of the Phone Number Bank, RNK Inc., dba RNK Communications, is a regulated telco and a provider of other telecom products and services. Phone Number Bank's service requires a one-time $29.95 activation fee, which includes the first month of service, followed by a monthly bill of $9.95 that automatically is charged to a credit card.

Says Richard Koch, president and CEO of RNK Communications, "Until now, your phone number never really belonged to you. It was part of the phone network and was just a routing mechanism to make your landline or cellphone rings when someone called what they believed to be 'your' number. Times have changed and people have changed. The average American moves more than 10 times in his life, often having to change his number with each move. Phone Number Bank is similar to a bank...and will safely store a consumer's number."

Koch adds it's the phone number that's often valuable and not the associated lines for which a consumer is paying, on average, more than $50 per month. As such, Phone Number Bank allows these individuals to "bank" their phone numbers and forward calls coming into those multiple numbers to a single phone."

RNK's decision to expedite its nationwide launch plans was based, in part, on the sudden loss of service experienced by more than 200,000 customers of the now-defunct SunRocket, a VoIP provider that shut its doors with little notice (TelecomWeb news break, July 16). With approximately 80 percent of recent Phone Number Bank inquiries originating from SunRocket customers, the telco RNK recognized the need to serve consumers who wanted to move and manage their telephone numbers.

With Phone Number Bank, SunRocket and other VoIP customers can keep their numbers, opting to bank them, move them or forward calls through them. "SunRocket's sudden demise is a harsh reminder of the potential vulnerability facing VoIP customers, as we are all operating in an emerging market in which governing rules and regulations are still being defined," adds Koch. "There remain important distinctions between VoIP and traditional telephone service, including notice requirements prior to loss of service - often not mandated for VoIP providers. As a fully regulated telephone company, which offers both PSTN and VoIP service, RNK is in the unique position to offer a truly secure option for VoIP and traditional telephone subscribers to keep their telephone numbers for as long as they like."

Like with SunRocket customers, Koch says Phone Number Bank would have been useful to a group of GrandCentral Communications Inc. customers who recently were notified by the company that the phone numbers these customers were told they would have for as long as they liked, were being changed. "If these GrandCentral customers and SunRocket customers had 'banked' their numbers with Phone Number Bank, they need not have been in the position of losing them," he concludes.