TechCrunch has an interesting item about struggling phone operator  Vonage testing a device gateway that blogger Michael Arrington likens to Ooma’s hardware solution for voice-over-IP phone service.  Ooma’s box lets people make unlimited domestic phone calls once they’ve purchased its box.

Vonage is signing up beta customers to test the device. What isn’t clear yet is what business model Vonage might build around these gateways. Is it considering some sort of one-time, hardware based model like Ooma, one which would potentially cannibalize its existing subscription-based model? Or does it see the new gateway as a premium product for which it could charge its customers extra?

Either way, Vonage CEO Jeffrey Citron probably is asking himself some hard questions in the wake of SunRocket’s demise and an ongoing patent battle with Verizon (VZ). As a pioneer in VOIP, he surely has taken notice of the excitement Ooma is generating among tech types - the same people who thought Vonage was so innovative three or four years ago.

Now Vonage (VG) is considered a mainstream product, not cutting edge. And Ooma? The thing most non-techies probably know about Ooma is that its creative director is a guy named Ashton Kutcher, an actor who is married to Demi Moore.  While Vonage’s foray into Ooma territory doesn’t require the addition of a celebrity creative director, we hear Kutcher’s That 70’s Show costar Wilmer Valderrama is available for corporate gigs.