WASHINGTON, D.C. - A major player in the burgeoning broadband Internet telephone business, Vonage Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Citron, will speak and answer questions from a panel of financial and policy analysts on Friday, February 6, at a lunch sponsored by The Progress & Freedom Foundation.

This Friday, at noon in Salon D of Washington's J.W. Marriott, Citron will comment on the promise of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology and what Internet voice means for consumers and the communications marketplace. The analysts are Blair Levin of Legg Mason, Scott Cleland of the Precursor Group and Blake Bath of Lehman Brothers. Those interested in attending the event should register by contacting Eileen Goulding at 202-289-8928 or egoulding@pff.org .

F ounded in January 2001 and based in Edison, NJ, Vonage uses existing high-speed Internet connections to enable customers to make and receive phone calls with a touch-tone phone. The privately held company bundles phone service with enhanced Internet Protocol communications services for residential and business customers. The company says it has completed over 100 million calls - over 4 million per week - on 85,000 active lines.

"Even discounting the hype of recent news coverage, VoIP is a promising technology with huge potential consequences for consumers and the marketplace," says Raymond L. Gifford, president of The Progress & Freedom Foundation.  "From a communications policy standpoint, it could be near-revolutionary to the legacy regulatory structure.  At any rate, it is causing policymakers, regulators and industry participants to take notice and, in some cases, to panic."

Foundation experts have written and spoken widely on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. Senior Fellow and Director of Communications Policy Studies Randolph J. May published a recent article, VoIP: The Metaphysics of Telecom Markets, which points to regulatory challenges posed by the new technology.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.