Telecom Italia Sparkle, iBasis Activate First All-IP Bilateral Operational

iBasis and Telecom Italia Sparkle have migrated all their bilateral traffic between Italy and the Netherlands to IP, using i3 Forum specifications. "We are pretty sure this is the first all-IP bilateral agreement," Chris Ward, iBasis senior director says.

All traffic over the connection uses iBasis premium voice service, with quality of service guarantees.

"I already sense some real energy about what we are doing, where there is greater access to the full range of resources at KPN," says Ward, because of the recent acquisition of all of iBasis by KPN.

Right now iBasis represents about seven percent of KPN revenue, but KPN obviously expects that to grow significantly. In part, that optimism results from a change in iBasis strategy of late.

"We have been very focused on margin growth over the past couple of years," says Ward. "But revenue growth is now more important."

KPN's corporate resources will play a part, but also KPN's status as a "member" of the global carrier club. To the extent that financial stability and resources are an important requirement for carrier business partners, the new ownership structure should prove reassuring.

But the iBasis core strategy hasn't changed. It wants to be a leading provider of global voice operation outsourcing for carriers who frankly have many other priorities and might prefer to focus on customers and products with 30-percent profit margins rather than the four percent to seven percent margins international long distance now provides.

"You can't be Neiman Marcus and Wal-Mart all at the same time," says Ward. "You have to choose."

As carriers migrate traffic to IP, we are a natural partner for outsourced international voice operations, says Ward."It doesn't make sense to run international long distance, for most people, unless you are a specialist."

"It's sort of like email, in a way," he says. "Don't devote resources to it, if you can avoid it."

Pingo Launches Smartphone-Based Global Calling Service

Pingo, the prepaid international calling service from iBasis, now has released a smartphone application enabling simple international calling from a wide variety of smartphones, including the iPhone, Blackberry, Treo and phones using operating systems such as Nokia Symbian, Windows Mobile and Google Android.

"Pingo EZ Dial" automatically syncs with the mobile's address book, so dialing happens the way it always does, but the Pingo client recognizes that an international number is being called and routes the call using the Pingo network.

EZ Dial users don’t dial access numbers, PIN codes or change their calling behavior in any way and does not require users to connect to Wi-Fi. Users will consume domestic or local airtime minutes of use, but incur no global calling charges from their mobile provider.

Users go to the Pingo Web site (http://www.pingo.com) to sign up for a prepaid account. Users of iPhone devices can download the client for free from the Applie App Store. Users of other phones simply enter a phone number and Pingo sends out a text message with a hot link that initiates the over-the-air client download.

Pingo thinks the move is important since more calls are being initiated from mobile handsets these days, so more global calling also is being initiated from handsets.

Users with feature phones can get the same low rates, but will have to dial a local access number, since those phones cannot download the EZ Dial client.

All of that will change as Long Term Evolution or WiMAX networks become more ubiquitous, since all devices operating on those networks will be data devices able to download clients.

In many ways, the Pingo mobile calling capability is a reflection of the broader shift to mobile-originated and terminated calling. Pingo long has been a huge supplier of white label wholesale services to other retail providers, and most of those providers were wired network providers.

Since the U.S. market is by far one of the largest global markets in the world, mobile support is important for any company that makes a living from international voice traffic. Also, mobile origination is more important in the U.S. market, since the ratio of origination to termiantion is about three to one outbound compared to inbound, says Jayesh Patel, iBasis VP. "Most countries don't have that sort of  imbalance."

Recently, iBasis has noted more use of its calling plans by business users as well, so EZ Dial is offered in a business account version that allows easier administrative setup and call tracking.

VON Coalition Europe to Provide Input to EC

The Voice on the Net (VON) Coalition Europe has formed to provide policy advocacy for IP communications in Europe. The coalition will work to educate, inform and promote responsible government policies that enable innovation and the many benefits that Internet voice innovations can deliver.

The recent release of formal Proposals by the European Commission to amend the existing regulatory framework for communications marks the start of a wide ranging review by the Council of Ministers and European Parliament.

Founding members of the VON Coalition Europe include iBasis, Intel, Google, Microsoft, Rebtel, Skype, and Voxbone.

Global Voice Traffic Keeps Growing

Despite all the new ways people can talk to each other, and all the other ways people can communicate using text, global voice traffic keeps growing at a steady rate, according to TeleGeography.