WASHINGTON, D.C. - A major player in the burgeoning broadband Internet telephone sector, Vonage Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Citron, will be the featured speaker at a February 6 policy lunch sponsored by The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Beginning at noon in Salon D of Washington's J.W. Marriott Hotel, the program will include comments by Citron on the promise of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and what Internet voice means for consumers and the communications marketplace. He will answer questions from a panel of financial and policy analysts and, time permitting, lunch attendees.

Founded 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 an article recently, VoIP: The Metaphysics of Telecom Markets, which points to regulatory challenges posed by the new technology.

Those interested in attending the Vonage/Citron event should register by contacting Eileen Goulding at 202-289-8928 or egoulding@pff.org. Lunch will be served.

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.