Vonage has rolled out a brand new calling plan  for consumers who don’t use a lot of minutes and want to save. The plan, called Vonage Lite, sells for $9.99 and available online only.

It offers customers 200 minutes of residential calling to the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Each additional minute goes for 5 cents. International calls are still charged at a low rate. Also, users get an unlimited number of incoming calls.

Among the standard features included with the plan are voicemail, caller ID, call waiting, anonymous call block, three-way calling, portability and more. Of course, 911 service is included.

“In many ways, 2009 was a remarkable year for Vonage,” Marc Lefar, Vonage CEO, said in announcing the financial news in February. “During the past year, we upgraded our value proposition, enhanced the customer experience, reduced costs and better positioned the company for future growth – this has been a breakthrough financial year. Although we faced considerable challenges due to the economy, competition and wireless substitution, we are stronger and more vibrant than ever.”

In fact, some in the industry believe a down economy is actually somewhat advantageous for VoIP players.

For example, Don Witt, president of cyLogistics, wrote a piece  for TMCnet about how the bad economy in 2009 drove a surge in VoIP. In it, he writes: “More and more executives will be under the gun to cut costs. There are a number of ways to cut costs but one way to cut costs tends to jump out at you — the PHONE BILL. This will force many companies to take the digital/VoIP plunge. As a result, VoIP sales will increase significantly over the next year or two.”

By Paula Bernier.