• The Washington Post, Friday, March 9, 2007 11 AM

Vonage Holdings was ordered by a federal jury yesterday to pay $58 million to Verizon Communications for infringing on five of its patents. Verizon immediately asked the court to issue a permanent injunction, preventing Vonage from using the technology for connecting its Internet network to the public telephone system.

If the order is granted, Vonage's 2.2 million customers could be limited to using the service to communicate only with one another.

Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, says an injunction against Vonage was likely. She predicts that the jury's verdict would have little effect on companies other than Vonage, but that the ruling might offer an opportunity to smaller Internet competitors if Vonage is forced from the market.

A federal judge has scheduled a March 23 hearing on Verizon's request. If an injunction is imposed, Vonage will seek a stay from the Federal Court of Appeals, a spokeswoman says. She added that customers could expect their service to remain unaffected.

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