UPDATE 1-Vonage quarterly loss narrows
NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Internet-based calling company Vonage Holdings Corp (VG.N) reported a narrower third-quarter loss on Thursday, although subscriber growth slowed as it controlled spending on advertising.
Vonage, a pioneer in selling Web phone services to consumers looking for cheaper alternatives to regular phone lines, said the loss narrowed to $7.8 million, or 5 cents a share, from $158 million, or $1.01 a share, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting a loss of 4 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue rose about 7 percent to $226 million, compared with the analysts' average forecast of $230 million.
Vonage has struggled with tough competition from traditional phone and cable operators, which are offering bundled services of video, Internet and phone services. Other Internet phone services, such as eBay's (EBAY.O) Skype, are also competing.
Vonage said it added 9,500 net subscriber lines and finished the quarter with more than 2.6 million lines. In the same quarter a year earlier, it added 78,000 subscriber lines.
Shares of the Holmdel, New Jersey-based company closed at 85 cents on Wednesday, having fallen 95 percent since its market debut at $17 in May 2006. (Reporting by Tiffany Wu and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
