New World Brands announces a strategic alliance between its IP Gear Connect services division and NewGen Technologies for the launch of the first of four innovative retail VoIP offerings. The test version of an unlimited-use, low-cost retail VoIP service from Jamaica to the US, Canada and the UK hits the market before the end of Q4, 2006. The venture with NewGen enables New World Brands’ VoIP services division, IP Gear Connect, to extend its superior quality VoIP offering further into the expanding consumer marketplace.

New World Brands and NewGen are committed to situating VoIP in the hands of consumers using methods that follow the traditional sales model for retail calling products. As of early 2006, at least 73% of consumers that switched to VoIP were unaware of the technological shift, research firm In-Stat stated in a report predicting that in 2009, the number of worldwide VoIP subscribers will have grown to more than 55 million. Analyst firm Point Topic reports that VoIP subscribers increased 83% in 2005, from 10.3 million subscribers to 18.7 million subscribers worldwide.

There is a growing international need for niche retail VoIP programs that utilize quality connections over a lower-cost VoIP infrastructure. Interconnecting with the IP Gear Connect VoIP Network operated by New World Brands allows NewGen to deliver clear calls over high quality routes for a fixed subscriber price. IP Gear Connect, the New World Brands division dedicated to provisioning VoIP services, intends to use the program as the development template for future retail VoIP programs targeted to specific segments of the international market.

Duy Tran, Vice President of IP Gear Connect Carrier Services for New World Brands, says, “We are very excited about executing on the project with NewGen. Together we have developed a customized retail VoIP option that will be cost-effective, reliable and easy to use. NewGen’s expertise in the locality will speed up our successful entry into the retail market.”

Lowell Lawrence, Managing Director of NewGen, adds, “This range of retail VoIP brings a much needed diversity and value to the Jamaican technology landscape, assuring program success. Jamaica is the ideal market for these offerings and we are very pleased to share in this opportunity with IP Gear Connect.”