Dive Brief:
- Communications service provider Ooma and its partners are primed to reap the financial rewards of moving customers from analog phone lines to digital products, Ooma executives said during FY 2027 Q1 earnings call.
- The company grew revenue 9% organically year over year in the quarter ended April 30, 2026. Total revenue, inclusive of the recent FluentStream and Phone.com acquisitions, rose 25% to $81.1 million.
- The provider recruited two resellers for its plain old telephone services replacement product, with one exclusive to Ooma. “With 40-plus resellers now, we have quite a big footprint in the industry, helping us find opportunities,” Ooma President, CEO and Chairman Eric Stang told investors.
Dive Insight:
Opportunity in copper migration is expanding as wireline providers shut down copper telephone lines, which many businesses still use for elevators, alarms and other critical infrastructure. Carriers are promoting vvoice-over-IP, fiber and cellular-based alternatives.
Stang said during the call that AT&T is moving fastest to push customers towards digital alternatives, with Verizon poised to follow.
In the meantime, customers are facing price increases on existing POTS lines that can be 30 times higher than a decade prior, MetTel VP of Product Management and Regulatory Affairs Sean Sullivan told Channel Dive in April.
The Federal Communications Commission has reduced notification requirements for carriers retiring lines, effectively accelerating the market shift.
“Not surprisingly, there are millions of lines out there that are going to have to switch out over the next two, three years,”Stang said. “Customers need to get in front of this.It's an exciting time for us.”
Competition is tough in the POTS replacement market. Customers have numerous service providers and IP-based products to choose from, and POTS migration is a painful process if done wrong.
“Not all POTS replacement solutions are the same, and not all vendors have the process down,” Cloud9 CEO Andy Torres told Channel Dive in an email. “POTS can be tricky, and sometimes customers don’t have the history of the lines accurately recorded. It's almost like opening a hornet’s nest. I’d make sure that the vendor chosen has the breadth of expertise in navigating voice and can manage a project to a successful conclusion.”
Ooma’s channel strategy is multi-pronged. The company partners with mainstream retailers such as Costco and Amazon, especially as it works to expand its residential business. Technology advisors also broker Ooma’s services to business customers. The company’s reseller segment, which Stang highlighted on the earnings call, includes several behemoth service providers: T-Mobile and Comcast are two of the largest.
“Comcast is still only doing a small bit of what we think they can be in the future,” Stang said.
