Whoa, SunRocket Zombie... and a Blender

(Corrected - thanks Chris!)

So late last night someone posted the email from "Sunrocket" that they had received, pointing at two "preferred" services.

One is Packet 8, whom we know, and some even love. I think their "Is the Sun setting on your phone service" ad is really cute.

The other is this company called "Teleblend". Name aside, they're offering service starting at $12.95 a month. If you enter your SunRocket number, it was reported that they showed all your account info. Put in someone elses SunRocket number and you can see all of their info. Scary. Apparently though, they read DSL Reports too, and so fixed that quickly.

But this gets weirder. Some checking around shows the following information:

• The domain was created on July 17, 2007 (link to whois database)
• Looking in the GoDaddy domain database shows different info (and the teleblend.com domain)
  
• Looking up the registrant on WHOIS proper (i.e. Network Solutions) points to the Overgroup, which claims to make telecom billing and provisioning systems, in Florida.
  
• GoDaddy's account shows an address in Kennebunk, Maine
  
• The secure certificate on their site is issued by GoDaddy, and also issued on July 17, 2007.

Tooling around, at least Teleblend/MyTeleblend has a press release.

What's scary beyond this?

• There is no "about us" section on their web site. Their FAQ states "We're your broadband phone company." I guess we're supposed to take them at their word.
  
• They don't list their place of business on the web site.
• Their domain name routes back to Florida or Maine, depending on the registrar.
• Their PR contact on the release has a number in central California.
• They claim to be "privately held, profitable voip provider" on their press release.

Some on Dslreports surmise Myteleblend(er) is owned by USA Telephone, owned by United Systems Access (no web site, showing Google search on filings instead). A link on Yahoo! Finance as well. The Gizmo Password site picked up on this too, although I cannot follow their connecting thread posted there back to Singapore.

Now, United Systems Access Inc. states that it is "focused on acquisition of young or ailing telecommunications companies that exhibit growth potential." The DSL Reports rumor mill feels that they're likely buying SunRocket's physical presence assets (i.e. servers and so on).

Is it just me, or does the attempt to obfuscate seem deliberate? It seems too much to just write off as accedental, and I would suspect even a private corporation like USA (hah! I get it!) would act a bit more transparently than the company it replaces. Riding in on that white horse might even be good PR, although that makes it tough to distance yourself from mistakes.

Stay tuned...