VoIP Monitor - VoIP by Region|Asia

VoX Communications Adds Low Cost Fixed Price Calling Plans To Vietnam And Pakistan Mobile Callers Using Its Android Mobile VoIP App

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:23:51 GMT

VoX Communications has now added fixed priced calling plans to Vietnam and Pakistan via its Android mobile voice app available in Google Play. The fixed priced plans include calling to mobile phones in both Vietnam and Pakistan at a price of only seven cents a minute, which is significantly lower than prices charged by other wireless carriers.

A VoX user can subscribe entirely on the phone and choose a U.S. phone number without leaving the interface, which makes the sign up process more elegant than many competitors. The Mobile VoIP paid plans for Vietnam and Pakistan start at $6.95 for the 100 minute plan, which is a low cost of entry for a high quality and reliable VoIP service offering. VoX also offers 250 minutes for $15.95 and 500 minutes for $29.95. These plans include calls to mobile phones, which are typically a higher price than calls to land lines. New subscribers can download the app for a free 60-minute trial and make calls to any country on the unlimited calling list or sign up for the Vietnam or Pakistan specific plan.

Price comparison of calling rates to mobile phones in Pakistan and Vietnam:

Pakistan:

VoX Mobile - 7 cents a minute

Skype - 10 cents a minute

Vonage - 26 cents a minute

AT&T - 42 cents a minute

Verizon - $1.99 a minute

Vietnam:

VoX Mobile - 7 cents a minute

Skype - 13 cents a minute

Vonage - 34 cents a minute

AT&T - 57 cents a minute

Verizon - $1.99 a minute

The VoX Mobile VoIP Android App can be viewed or downloaded here

Japan Communications Integrated SoliCall in Its VoIP Network

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:40:21 GMT

SoliCall announces that Japan Communications has integrated SoliCall’s PBXMate for improving audio quality in its VoIP Network. Japan Communications is one of the major data MVNOs in Japan, offering 3G cellular wireless data communication services in Japan and the US. One of its value adds is VoIP over 3G combined with unique pricing structure and imported smartphone devices. JCI is using a home grown VoIP application focused on smaller bandwidth requirements. It runs on mobile devices and PCs.

SoliCall has developed products for audio quality improvement that can be used both for server-side/network filtering and client-side filtering. SoliCall offers both OEM products and stand-alone plug-and-play products.

FRITT Licenses SPIRIT DSP's Engines for Cross-platform HD Voice and Videoconferencing

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:34:18 GMT

SPIRIT DSP announces FRITT has licensed SPIRIT's TeamSpirit Conferencing product, comprising of SPIRIT's cross-platform, HD voice and videoconferencing engines, including the TeamSpirit Conferencing Server, TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine PC and TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine Mobile clients for iOS and Android.

FRITT was established in 1957 and has successfully developed a set of advanced communication products and won 120 major scientific and technological achievements for China's telecommunications industry.

FRITT will be using the TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine platform running on both server and client sides, allowing FRITT's emergency management customers the unique ability to conduct HD-quality, multi-point voice and videoconferencing across popular PC and mobile devices.

The TeamSpirit Conferencing platform is a set of interoperable software engines for both client and server-side PCs and mobile devices. It handles all the media processing with assured carrier-grade quality to provide clear audio and crisp video for a consistent user experience. TeamSpirit Conferencing supports up to an unprecedented 1000 simultaneous video channels on a standard $4000 server computer, requires no heavy transcoding on the server side and offers scalable media stream adaptation, which allows all calls to be optimized for the highest possible performance on any PC or mobile device.

TeamSpirit Engine is a SDK for real-time IP calling/conferencing communications, allowing application developers and service providers to offer superior quality voice and video products to millions of global users. TeamSpirit Engine software uniquely combines scalable echo- and noise-free audio with scalable video, a necessary marriage to ensure the highest quality videoconferencing experience. TeamSpirit enables many hours of battery life in wideband talk mode. The voice engine includes highly optimized standard voice codecs and a patent-free wideband error-resilient scalable SPIRIT IP-MRTM voice codec (IETF RFC 6262). The video engine includes SPIRIT's H.264 scalable video codec that is able to adapt streams to each peer’s network and PC environments without heavy transcoding and it includes a multi-component stream protection module that compensates for network jitter and packet loss.

Verizon Expands VoIP Services in Asia-Pacific

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 22:26:26 GMT

Verizon has expanded its VoIP service within the Asia-Pacific region, enabling multinational companies in key commercial hubs across the region to take advantage of a wide range of the latest unified communications and collaboration applications to help increase productivity and efficiency.

By leveraging Verizon's expansive global IP network and feature-rich architecture, the VoIP solution offers customers in Australia, Hong Kong, India and Singapore access to applications including social networking, video chats, mobile-device support, instant messaging and presence.

Verizon is also adding intercompany high-definition voice and video capabilities for select VoIP customers that use the service's popular VIPER feature. This is a cloud-based IP-to-IP routing option that eliminates additional per minute domestic and international charges on calls between VIPER-enabled locations customers.

Verizon VoIP Delivers Value

With Verizon's award-winning VoIP service available in more Asia-Pacific countries, customers will realize a variety of benefits. These include Verizon's Burstable Enterprise Shared Trunks capability, which shifts idle trunk capacity at one location to accommodate increased traffic requirements at another; a robust suite of business continuity services; centralized multisite, multicountry design architecture for additional network and cost efficiencies; T.38 faxing capabilities; and online self-service reporting capabilities.

SPIRIT DSP Boosts HD VoIP and Video in South Korea

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:13:15 GMT

LG U+ has licensed SPIRIT's TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine Mobile to power HD-quality VoIP and video-calling on mobile devices.

South Korea has one of the world's most vibrant IP Communications markets in the world backed by strong support from the government. A dedicated area zone for VoIP telephone numbers was introduced several years ago, followed by a number portability options that made it possible for people to move to VoIP-calling without changing their phone number. A wide mobile VoIP adoption thanks to a great wireless broadband infrastructure, new smartphones from Korean handset OEM giants and high smartphone adoption rates were recently reported by the Korea Communications Commission. In just 18 months, the number of smartphone subscribers in South Korea has exploded more than ten-fold to top 10 million (or around a fifth of the population) stimulating local carriers to deploy their own mobile VVoIP services to retain their customers from migrating to Skype and Google mobile voice and video services.

TeamSpirit Engine is an SDK for real-time IP calling/conferencing communications, allowing application developers and service providers to offer superior quality voice and video products to millions of global users. TeamSpirit Engine software uniquely combines scalable echo- and noise-free audio with scalable video, a necessary marriage to ensure the highest quality conferencing experience. TeamSpirit enables many hours of battery life in wideband talk mode. The voice engine includes highly optimized standard voice codecs and a patent-free wideband error-resilient scalable SPIRIT IP-MRTM voice codec (IETF RFC 6262). The video engine includes SPIRIT's H.264 scalable video codec that is able to adapt streams to each peer’s network and PC environments without heavy transcoding and it includes a multi-component stream protection module that compensates for network jitter and packet loss.

Korea Telecom Licenses SPIRIT DSP's Mobile VoIP Engine

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 23:23:13 GMT

SPIRIT DSP announces that Korean Telecom giant KT has licensed the company's TeamSpirit Voice Engine Mobile, an SDK that enables HD VoIP calling on a broad range mobile devices. KT is S. Korea's top fixed-lined operator and the No. 2 mobile carrier in the region.

Internet telephony is Korea's prominent daily communications medium. The VoIP rates are 80 percent cheaper for intercity calls, 20 percent lower for calls to mobile phones and 95 percent cheaper for international calls. According to the Korean Communications Commission, the number of paid Internet telephony subscribers broke the 10 million mark this year.

The TeamSpirit Engine is a SDK for real-time IP calling/conferencing communications, allowing business application developers and service providers to offer superior quality communications products to millions of global users. The TeamSpirit Engine software uniquely combines scalable echo- and noise-free audio with scalable video, a necessary marriage to ensure the highest quality conferencing experience. TeamSpirit enables many hours of battery life in wideband talk mode. The voice engine includes highly optimized standard voice codecs and a patent-free wideband error-resilient scalable SPIRIT IP-MRTM voice codec (IETF RFC 6262). The video engine includes SPIRIT's H.264 scalable video codec that is able to adapt streams to each peer’s network and PC environments without heavy transcoding and it includes a multi-component stream protection module that compensates for network jitter and packet loss.

Voiceserve to Present at CommunicAsia2011 Conference

VoIP Monitor — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:37:04 GMT

Voiceserve will be presenting its industry leading, comprehensive VoIP software and solutions platform this month at the CommunicAsia2011 International Communications & Information Technology Exhibition and Conference from June 21-24 in Singapore.

CommunicAsia2011 is Asia's largest ICT based event. Last year's event attracted over 38,000 industry professionals from over 10 Asian countries such as India, China, Japan, Indonesia and Korea, and provided 37 buyer-groups with 1,300 exhibitors. CommunicAsia2011 will feature emerging technologies, such as the latest innovations in VoIP and the latest advancements in Video-on-Demand.

Report: The Taiwanese Enterprise VoIP Equipment Industry, 1Q 2011

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:39:11 GMT

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "The Taiwanese Enterprise VoIP Equipment Industry, 1Q 2011" report to their offering.

This research report presents shipment volume and value forecast and recent quarter review of the Taiwanese enterprise VoIP equipment industry. The report includes IP phone and VoIP gateway shipment volume, shipment value and ASP, as well as shipment volume and share by maker, solution provider, production location, shipment destination, business type, and customer portfolio. The content of this report is based on primary data obtained through interviews with enterprise VoIP makers. The report finds that in the fourth quarter of 2010, Taiwanese IP phone shipment volume and value saw double-digit year-on-year growth while Taiwanese enterprise VoIP gateway shipment volume and value saw year-on-year declines. Taiwanese IP phone and enterprise VoIP gateway shipment volume is expected to grow upwards steadily and record year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2011. Overall shipment value of the Taiwanese enterprise VoIP equipment industry is also projected to experience year-on-year growth in full-year 2011.

Globe Telecom Chooses JAJAH to Provide Global Calling Solutions

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:26:36 GMT

JAJAH and Globe Telecom announce a partnership to deliver retail VOIP services to Filipinos abroad.

The new services will be built on the JAJAH IP Communications Platform, which enables operators, internet companies and other brands to roll out and manage cutting edge calling services. Globe Telecom is the latest major operator to partner with JAJAH since its acquisition by Telefónica Europe in early 2010.

With an estimated 10 million Filipinos living outside the Philippines, Globe Telecom has chosen JAJAH to deliver retail VOIP services aimed at letting overseas Filipinos call home simply and affordably, using their regular phone through a registration-based service offering.

SK Telink Extends Acme Packet Deployment for Debut of IP International Calling

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:36:29 GMT

Acme Packet announce that South Korean competitive service provider SK Telink has deployed Acme Packet’s Net-Net 4500 session border controllers for use in their SK 00700 international calling and SK Speed 070 IP telephony services. The Net-Net 4500s are located at SK Telink’s access and interconnect borders and supplement existing Acme Packet SBCs that support SK Telink’s IP Centrex service.

SK Telink, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, is one of the leading operators in South Korea offering international calling services. They also offer retail VoIP services to South Korean companies and outsourced data center services for smaller IP telephony service providers. SK Telink currently services hundreds of thousands subscribers who generate hundreds of thousands calls per day from corporate VoIP endpoints.

With the Net-Net 4500 deployment, SK Telink is replacing its TDM-based interconnects with an end-to-end IP architecture, which it intends to leverage into additional and more diverse peering relationships. SK Telink’s initial IP peering arrangement is with a major global service provider. SK Telink selected Acme Packet for its powerful Net-SAFE security framework, as well as the ability for the Net-Net 4500 solution to address complex SIP interoperability challenges.

Acme Packet’s SBCs deliver rich functionality that SK Telink applies to extend service reach and secure its network and service infrastructure. SIP and SDP header manipulation applied at IP interconnect points normalizes signaling interactions between SK Telink and other service providers. The Acme Packet SBCs hide SK Telink’s internal topology from outsiders and prevent bad or malformed packets from infiltrating the service core. They also protect SK Telink’s access network and services by rate-limiting SIP signaling traffic and performing overload protection and protocol conformance verification to prevent service outages from DoS/DDoS attacks. Dynamic and static access controls are also configured to prevent fraudulent use or theft of SK Telink services.

Acme Packet Powers Expansion of Super Broadband Networks’ Hosted VoIP Service

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:59:49 GMT

Acme Packet announces that Thailand’s Super Broadband Network has deployed additional Acme Packet Net-Net session border controllers as part of an expansion of its popular DataTalk service. DataTalk is a hosted VoIP service that enables local, international and private branch interconnect calling via SIP trunks connected to SBN via its leased and broadband access network. Acme Packet’s SBCs are used at SBN’s access and interconnect borders to deliver high quality of service, secure SBN’s service infrastructure and extend its services to a wide variety of enterprises and consumer subscribers.

An Acme Packet customer since 2008, SBN operates under the auspices of Thailand’s National Telecommunications Commission and is largely held by Advanced Info Services Plc, the number one mobile operator in Thailand. SBN markets fixed line and mobile services to both businesses and consumers. Its DataTalk service is marketed to small, medium and large enterprises. More than 30 organizations across Thailand are currently using the service, which SBN expects to extend to home users beginning in 2011.

SBN’s recent SBC deployment is extending the reach of the DataTalk service to a wider audience by addressing interoperability challenges that exist between enterprises whose IP PBXs support dissimilar VoIP signaling protocols. The Net-Net SBCs interwork H.323 and SIP signaling, making DataTalk available to a wider enterprise audience. So that its customers receive high service reliability and quality, SBN has deployed high availability (HA) pairs of Net-Net SBCs, which utilize advanced DoS/DDoS protection to secure SBN’s service infrastructure against threats such as session overloads and protocol fuzzing attacks. The Net-Net SBCs also load balance session traffic among SBN’s softswitches, helping to optimize SBN’s network performance and service availability.

SBN is also using its Net-Net SBCs to monitor and aggregate QoS statistics and call usage data for each DataTalk customer. The SBCs generate call detail records that SBN uses to provide its customers detailed service and quality level reporting.

Cordia Signs Agreement for Wireless Local Landlines in the Philippines

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:02:29 GMT

Cordia has entered into an agreement with Bayan Telecommunications to resell Bayan’s wireless landline services throughout the Philippines. This allows Cordia to private label a whole new set of services under the Cordia WiLL brand – combining the freedom of a mobile phone along with all the cost benefits of VoIP service. Cordia expects to launch the new suite of services during this quarter.

Wireless local landline works in a similar manner to traditional mobile services. The customer has the flexibility to use their local service both in the home as well as on a mobile handset outside the home. To date, Cordia’s VoIP offerings have been restricted to end-users with access to a high speed internet connection and an interface device. By bundling Cordia’s new products with a wireless landline phone (eliminating the equipment and technology requirement), Cordia will be able to expand its global offerings to all end-users located throughout Bayan’s footprint in the Philippines.

Cordia’s new suite of WiLL services will initially include:

Cordia WiLL Connect – unlimited local calling in the same area code
Cordia WiLL Unlimited – unlimited calling to the U.S., Canada and Hong Kong
Cordia WiLL Global Unlimited – unlimited calling to over 50 countries
Cordia WiLL Free – Free daily calling to over 150 countries including mobile phones
Cordia WiLL Connect Home – standalone unlimited inbound international calls

Report: Demand Up, Prices Down for Carrier VoIP and IMS Equipment, Led by China

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:34:32 GMT

Market research firm Infonetics Research released its third quarter (3Q10) Service Provider VoIP Equipment and Subscribers and IMS Equipment and Subscribers market share and forecast reports.

ANALYST NOTE

"The number-one story that will come out of 2010 for the IMS and carrier VoIP equipment markets is China, where conditions are driving volumes up and pushing prices down. There are large network transformation projects underway in China, so demand for equipment is very strong, but at the same time, vendors are willing to push the pricing limits to get into strategic accounts. In the third quarter of 2010, every product category except media servers was impacted by pricing pressures, so while shipments were up for most segments, total worldwide revenue took a hit. Looking at the long-term prospects, the network elements that are best poised for solid growth are those that facilitate the migration to all-IP networks, such as session border controllers," notes Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research.

SERVICE PROVIDER VOIP MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

The total service provider VoIP equipment market, including trunk media gateways, SBCs, media servers, softswitches, and voice application servers, decreased 9% from 2Q10 to 3Q10, to $511 million
While revenue is down for the quarter, shipments for almost all segments in the market are up sequentially
Asia Pacific is the only region expected to post year-over-year revenue growth in 2010 for service provider VoIP equipment
In 3Q10, GENBAND leads the combined carrier VoIP and IMS equipment market for worldwide revenue

IMS MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

The worldwide IP Multimedia Subsystem equipment market, including IMS core equipment and application servers, grew 4% in 3Q10, on the heels of a 34% jump in the previous quarter
In 3Q10, the 4 top vendors, Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia Siemens Networks, continue to fight it out for new deals and replacement RFPs Ericsson and Nokia Siemens saw revenue growth with CSCF in a relatively flat quarter
Overall, the IMS equipment market is experiencing strong and healthy growth, driven in the near-term by the continued adoption of VoIP services and service provider migration of VoIP services to IMS networks
Longer-term, the IMS market will get a boost from the push for enhanced mobile services, with LTE being the most significant driver

NTT Com to Launch VoIP Service for Global Internal Dialing

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:22:39 GMT

NTT Communications announces on November 4 that it will become Japan's first telecom carrier to offer multinational customers a VoIP service for internal dialing between global offices, including Japan, beginning December 1. Plans to launch other new IP communications services also were announced.

NTT Com's new service will enable customers to establish high-quality global-scale internal dialing networks on a quick, low-cost basis using IP technologies. Making calls will be as simple as dialing the base office's extension and then the receiver's extension.

The service will be offered through NTT Com's managed network service for enterprise customers, called Arcstar Global IP-VPN, which will help to eliminate connection failures sometimes encountered with Internet-based VoIP services. Linkage with existing private branch exchanges and NTT Com's VoIP gateway service in Japan, as well as billing for calls on a fixed-rate basis, will help to minimize costs.

The one-stop service combines NTT Com's network and VoIP gateway infrastructure, integrates voice and data, and includes facility operation and maintenance.

Startup will cost just 11,000 yen per base office, and the monthly charge will be only 4,000 yen per base. The service will be available in all 159 countries where NTT Com offers Arcstar Global IP-VPN services. Payments in local currencies will be accepted.

NTT Com also announced plans to launch three more high-quality global IP telephony services from or after April 2011:

Unified voice, video, web conferencing and instant/unified messaging
High-quality, low-cost external dialing and call receiving from worldwide bases, and
Cloud-based global call centers.

SPIRIT’s Voice and Video Software Platforms Unify China Mobile’s On-line and Mobile Communities

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:33:50 GMT

SPIRIT DSP announces that its TeamSpirit platform is now powering the latest release of Fetion – a unified, cross-network communication IM service that seamlessly connects Internet and mobile subscribers of China Mobile. Fetion has been developed by ASPire Technologies, a subsidiary of China Mobile, the world's largest mobile operator with more than 560 million subscribers and ranked in the 2009 Fortune Global 500 list. The service is immediately available to China Mobile's subscribers.

The voice and video over IP software platforms licensed by ASPire from SPIRIT include TeamSpirit Voice and Video Engine for PCs, TeamSpirit Voice and Video Engine for Mobile and TeamSpirit Conferencing Engine. TeamSpirit Conferencing Engine is a massively multi-point video server software with an unprecedented level of scalability, supporting up to 1,000 concurrent video channels on a standard $4000 РС server. SPIRIT video server software enables real-time, multi-point video conferencing for office productivity applications, social networks, online multi-player games and IM.

O-Zone and Vyke Launch Mobile VoIP Service in Delhi

VoIP Monitor — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:06:38 GMT

O-Zone and Vyke begin to roll out of their exclusive and strategic partnership to provide Vyke’s mobile VoIP service to O-Zone’s loyal and growing base of wireless customers across India from 1st of August 2010.

The initial launch sees Vyke and O-Zone give away 1,000 free virtual top-up vouchers to lucky customers in 5 Cafe Coffee Day shops in Delhi NCR, before rolling out the service to 50 Cafe Coffee Day shops across Delhi NCR. In August the mobile VoIP service will be available in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Kolkata. The vouchers will allow users to make upto Rs.50 of free international calls to over 50 countries. O-Zone Wi-Fi users will benefit from cheap international calls from their mobiles to landlines and mobiles, with savings of up to 98%, using Vyke’s mobile VoIP service.

Southeast Asian Service Providers Deliver New Fixed and Wireless VoIP Services with Acme Packet

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:07:05 GMT

Acme Packet announces four new customers across southeastern Asia. These incumbent, wireless and competitive service providers rely on Acme Packet’s Net-Net session border controllers to control the delivery of trusted, first-class IP communications to their customers. With these four customers, Acme Packet SBCs are now deployed by over 100 service providers in 19 Asia Pacific countries, ranging from Australia to China and India to Japan.

These new customers have deployed Acme Packet’s Net-Net SBCs at fixed and wireless broadband access borders to support residential and business services. The Net-Net SBCs provide critical control functions, satisfying requirements in five major areas: security, service reach maximization, SLA assurance, revenue and profit protection, and regulatory compliance. Acme Packet’s Net-SAFE security architecture protects service provider VoIP networks, assuring network availability and service uptime, with topology hiding and denial of service protection from malicious attacks and non-malicious overloads.

Acme Packet’s new customers include incumbent and competitive service providers from four countries:

Packet One Networks, Malaysia’s first and leading WiMAX service provider with the country’s widest WiMAX network, sells VoWiMAX VoIP services, using Acme Packet SBCs to secure, control and quality-assure the WiMAX access border.
SingTel, Asia’s leading communications company, has deployed Acme Packet’s SBCs as a component of its i-PhoneNet service to deliver secure SIP trunking and hosted voice services for its business customers.
Suntel, a competitive service provider in Sri Lanka, uses Acme Packet Net-Net SBCs in its next-generation network as well as IMS access networks, to provide hosted IP PBX, PSTN emulation and SIP trunking services to its business customers. Suntel utilizes Acme Packet’s sophisticated QoS monitoring capabilities to proactively monitor and assess quality in their network.
TOT, the Thailand incumbent service provider, has deployed Acme Packet’s SBCs to provide hosted voice and secure SIP trunking services. TOT uses Acme Packet SBCs to protect the core network and provide interoperability among several endpoints and softswitches.

These new Acme Packet customers reflect a time of increased VoIP adoption in the Asia Pacific region. In a series of May 2010 reports, Infonetics Research forecasted that service providers will invest $4.3 billion in VoIP and IMS equipment from 2010–2014 in order to serve over 100 million residential and business subscribers in 2014 in the Asia Pacific region.

VocalTec Powers Cambodia-based Digi's VoIP Network

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:14:16 GMT

Digi has selected VocalTec's VoIP solution as part of its plan to launch Cambodia's first triple-play service. VocalTec will provide its core Voice-over-IP solutions accompanied by a wide range of supporting applications and prepaid billing solutions. This broad offering will enable Digi to provide VoIP services to both enterprise and residential users in Cambodia. VocalTec's Class-5, Essentra BAX, VoIP Application Server will enable Digi to offer its subscribers the latest in IP telephony services. Additionally, the deployment includes VocalTec's Essentra EX, VoIP Peering Manager and Essentra iCX, Integrated SIP-to-SS7 solution, which provide complete Class-4 capabilities including secure interconnection between disparate VoIP networks, as well as seamless interconnection to legacy PSTN environments.

Nortel Named Asia's VoIP Vendor of the Year for 2009

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:11:04 GMT

Nortel Carrier VoIP and Application Solutions has been named VoIP Network Vendor of the Year in the Telecom Asia Readers' Choice Awards. This recognition reinforces Nortel's long-standing leadership in the global carrier VoIP and softswitch market, a position Nortel has maintained since 2002, according to industry analyst firm Dell'Oro Group.

Nortel CVAS received the VoIP Network Vendor of the Year award for its industry-leading Carrier VoIP portfolio, which has been successfully deployed by leading service providers worldwide to help generate new revenue streams, improve subscriber loyalty, and reduce network costs.

Telecom Asia Readers' Choice Awards recognize the technology innovations and contributions to the industry made by top telecommunications vendors operating across Asia. Nominations for 22 categories were open to analysts, consultants and high-level telco executives in September. A total of 56 telecom insiders submitted more than 1,150 nominations.

Nortel continues to lead the global Carrier VoIP market according to Dell'Oro Group, Infonetics Research and Synergy Research. All three leading analyst firms' recently published reports rank Nortel as the global leader with the largest revenues in the carrier IP market for the third quarter of 2009.

Nortel has a strong track record of success in the Carrier VoIP space. Nortel has shipped more than 118 million Carrier VoIP and Multimedia ports, including over 10 million SIP lines to leading wireline and wireless carriers globally - including major service providers across Asia Pacific such as Chunghwa Telecom, Hong Kong Broadband Networks, LG Dacom, Maxis and Optus. Nortel CVAS has consistently ranked as the number one supplier in the carrier VoIP market since 2002.

Government Blocked VoIP Services, May Be Difficult to Continue

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:54:17 GMT

China VoIP & Digital Telecom announced that as a result of the political riot on July 5 in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, the country issued an order in July 2009 to block VoIP services, which may be difficult to continue. The government has not removed the order to resume services.

Mr. Li Kunwu, CEO of the company, said: “The indefinite block of VoIP services is a political need at this time and we cannot change the government’s policy. CVDT is considering discontinuing the VoIP service and focusing on providing the virtualization solutions and services.”

In addition, Mr. Li added, “While the block that happened this time is a special issue, it is beyond our expectations that the government has not lifted the order to resume VoIP services. As a result, the company's telecom service business has suffered tremendously. We hope that all investors understand that the company’s future VoIP operations are facing great uncertainties and challenges.”

Report: VoIP Market in India

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:53:24 GMT

VoIP in India is yet to gain acceptance in India, but possesses great future prospects. Low call-rates as compared to conventional telephony and increasing Internet penetration are set to drive growth of the VoIP-based services in India. The market is expected to change the dynamics of the Indian telecom industry once the necessary regulatory changes are in place.

The report provides a brief introduction to VoIP services, talking about its business and revenue models. The report touches upon the regulations on VoIP services in India, TRAI’s recent proposal and talks about DoT’s current stance for opening up the market. The report describes the current market conditions and its future potential. Low call-rates, Internet penetration, and end-user segments have been discussed at length.

The competitive landscape identifies the services provided by the licensed service providers in the country and also talks about the grey market and government’s stance for the same.

Table of Contents :

Page 1: Executive Summary
Introduction
Page 2: Introduction to VoIP - Advantages and Disadvantages
Page 3: Classification by terminals, State of affairs in India
Page 4: Business Model
Page 5: Proposed Revenue Model
Regulations on VoIP in India
Page 6: VoIP History
Page 7: TRAI’s recommendations, DoT’s current stance

ANET Launches Desktop Video Conferencing with GIPS

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:56:17 GMT

ANET has launches its FRESH VOICE HD desktop video conferencing system with the strength of Global IP Solutions Video ConferenceEngine inside. ANET is providing enterprises with a sophisticated video conferencing system that offers Full HD voice and video, desktop and document sharing and the ability to invite and schedule conferences. It also connects up to 50 locations, which is suitable for linking large groups or corporate meetings.

FRESH VOICE HD desktop video conferencing allows enterprises to improve productivity and offers savings of up to 40 million yen ($425,000) in costs each year.

GIPS Video ConferenceEngine is a software solution which enables a superior video conference experience on any IP device. GIPS engineers are world leading experts at resolving the diverse problems of IP communications such as synchronized voice and video, jitter, packet-loss and lip synchronization. Device and bandwidth constraints are also resolved providing conference providers, application developers, telecom equipment and mobile device manufacturers a faster time-to-market, minimal resource costs and a sophisticated HD video conference experience for users.

NextGen to Offer Sonus Networks' Solutions to Carriers Across Japan

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:10:34 GMT

Sonus Networks has entered into a distributor agreement with NextGen to offer and support the full portfolio of Sonus Networks' carrier-grade IP communications solutions to the Japanese market. The relationship has already proven successful with a major Japanese carrier choosing NextGen to undertake the nationwide deployment of its IP trunking and switching network. Using a Sonus IMS-based next generation network, this deployment will include the Sonus GSX 9000 media gateway, the Sonus PSX centralized routing and policy management server and the Sonus SGX signaling gateway.

The contract was awarded following a series of rigorous evaluations by the carrier, which included solutions from local and global IP network vendors. The Japanese carrier stated that it was the proven robustness, reliability and scalability of the Sonus solutions, combined with the SIP/VoIP implementation expertise of NextGen that led to the contract being given to NextGen with Sonus Networks.

With the distributor agreement with Sonus Networks and the construction of the large-scale system using Sonus solutions, NextGen plans to further enhance its SIP/VoIP portfolio and to continue providing solutions that meet demanding needs in the carrier market.

BroadSoft Delivers VoIP to Korean Households

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:28:40 GMT

BroadSoft announces that it is providing the IP voice technology for Samsung Networks residential 070 VoIP service, WyzHome, which was launched in October 2008. Samsung Networks provides a full portfolio of communications services, including network, telephone and digital multimedia services, which leverage the company's global infrastructure. Today's announcement extends BroadSoft's relationship with Samsung Networks, which dates back to 2006. Samsung Networks also uses BroadSoft's BroadWorks VoIP application platform to deliver Hosted PBX and SIP trunking to large enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses in South Korea. Samsung Networks has successfully deployed 300,000 seats on the BroadWorks platform.

IMS-compliant BroadWorks provides a comprehensive range of advanced communications and multimedia applications, including Hosted Unified Communications, Hosted Video Communications, Mobile PBX, Business Trunking and residential broadband services fully integrated into a single VoIP application platform.

BroadSoft's Korean branch office was established in 2004, and is responsible for more than 75 percent of business VoIP deployments in Korea. Four of the top five business VoIP service providers and two of the top five residential VoIP service providers have deployed BroadWorks in their networks.

VoIP adoption in South Korea is growing rapidly with the number of VoIP subscribers now amounting to about 12 percent of the total number of fixed-line phone users, according to data gathered by VoIP providers. Yonhap News recently reported South Korea had more than three million VoIP subscribers at the end of February. Adoption is expected to grow rapidly when new telecommunications regulations are passed that make it easier for consumers to keep their existing phone number when switching to VoIP.

Netcom Selects VocalTec for VoIP Network Rollout in Kirgizstan

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 26 May 2009 20:16:30 GMT

Netcom has selected VocalTec as the solution provider for its Next Generation VoIP network. Netcom will deploy VocalTec’s solutions throughout its network across Kirgizstan. At the heart of the deployment is VocalTec’s Essentra BAX Class-5 application server, providing a comprehensive set of innovative residential and enterprise VoIP services. The deployment also incorporates VocalTec’s Essentra iCX - an Integrated SIP-to-SS7 Solution – providing seamless interconnection between VoIP and TDM networks, and VocalTec’s Essentra EX - VoIP Peering Manager – allowing the interconnection between disparate VoIP networks.

This complete solution will enable Netcom to provide its customers with state-of-the-art packet based telephony services, while maintaining strong quality of service and a high level of voice quality. The solution will also enable Netcom to cost effectively carry telephony traffic across its network and provide PSTN termination services throughout Kirgizstan and worldwide.

The deployment will serve to strengthen Netcom’s infrastructure and presence in Kirgizstan, and will effectively position Netcom for future network growth and expansion.

4PSA VoipNow to be Distributed in Asia-Pacific Markets

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:18:18 GMT

Rack-Soft announces their partnership agreement to distribute 4PSA VoipNow, the Integrated Communications System in Asia-Pacific region. Digital Techniques (Asia) provides a highly refined selection of quality hardware and software products developed and implemented using innovative engineering techniques, primarily based on Open Source. The company is the regional distributor for many other VoIP products.

4PSA VoipNow is a PBX solution for service providers and enterprises that allows these to deliver advanced IP telephony services at a very attractive cost of ownership.

KINX Partners with XConnect to Launch National Peering Federation for IP Communications

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:14:24 GMT

XConnect has entered an exclusive agreement with Korea Internet Neutral Exchange to launch a Korean peering federation for IP communications. The new joint venture will provide advanced VoIP and NGN peering capabilities to Korea’s IP communications providers, including mobile, fixed-line, and Web-based service providers and ITSPs. The agreement will also enable inter-federation peering with other initiatives around the globe, such as those formed through XConnect’s Global Alliance and DirectRoute services. Peering will enable Korean operators to exchange calls via IP interconnection, which increases call quality and reduces unnecessary transit costs. Peering also enables these operators to securely offer services that the PSTN cannot carry, such as video and high-definition voice, across network boundaries.

SIP Peering, security, identity management

With all major leading Korean service providers already exchanging IP data packets through its facilities, KINX will use its partnership with XConnect to enable innovative ENUM registry and SIP interconnection services, as well as security and identity management capability, to deliver flexible and policy-based peering.

The full suite of XConnect’s services will be deployed. These services include a multi-lateral interconnect platform, SIP interoperability, and optimized routing via the multi-protocol XConnect directory server, available through both hosted and locally resident options.

Access to other federations will be made available in several forms. International settlement-free peering will be offered through XConnect’s Global Alliance. Federation member providers will also have the option to earn termination revenue from global wholesale carriers through XConnect’s DirectRoute service, and to form separate, customized bilateral peering agreements with their own policies and settlement terms.

The Korean national federation announcement follows XConnect’s development of similar national peering federations in the Netherlands and Brazil.

Cordia Agreement to Deliver VoIP Services to the Philippines

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:53:30 GMT

Cordia has entered into a reseller agreement with IP-Converge, an Asia Pacific data center and telecommunications company with operations and facilities in the Philippines, Singapore and Hong Kong.

"We are elated to have Cordia as a partner for VOIP services. Their array of products and services augur well with IPC's thrust to empower business through IP technology," says Percival C. de los Reyes, Senior Vice President for Sales at IP-Converge. "More and more companies are now using IP-based business solutions and telecommunications for their operations, and we see this becoming a standard across enterprises and organizations. This gives us an excellent opportunity to address the market together with Cordia," de los Reyes adds.

Kevin Griffo, President of Cordia Corporation stated, “We are excited to enter this relationship with IP-Converge. We have been expanding our Philippine based operations over the past year and half by adding a customer service department to support our US CLEC operations and continuing to grow our outbound telemarketing sales network. This new agreement with IPC will now allow us to take advantage of their license in the Philippines and continue our global expansion of offering voice and data services along with the existing efforts taking place in Brazil, India and Hong Kong.”

Mr. Griffo further stated, “The Philippine market is rich with opportunity for Cordia to establish itself as a leading internet telephone company. We expect to develop a strong agent network as well as hire a direct sales group in the Philippines to target not only the residential market but also the enterprise business customer which we can offer dedicated access products and data services.”

Voxbone Strengthens Foothold in Asia Pacific

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:18:19 GMT

Voxbone opened its new Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. At the same time, Voxbone also announced the appointment of Lee Tian Yew as vice president for Asia Pacific to direct its sales, business development and operations in the region. Furthermore, Voxbone said it had received licenses to operate in both Japan and Hong Kong. Voxbone now operates in 44 countries and 5,000 cities globally.

Tian Yew comes to Voxbone with more than 15 years’ experience, most recently with Singapore-based Pacific Internet (now PacNet), where he built a team that implemented SIP broadband telephony across eight countries in Asia. He began his career at SingTel and had held various senior management positions at VSNL, Teleglobe and Mediaring.

Voxbone services, which include DID and toll-free numbers, are deployed by mobile operators, PSTN carriers, VoIP providers, call center operators and NGN service providers worldwide. Voxbone is a recognized member of the International Telecommunication Union and part of the study group that is responsible for numbering standardization around the world.

China VoIP Could Reach $100m by 2010 for Buzz

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:51:10 GMT

Buzz Technologies will launch its new VoIP Service to China's Internet Cafes on the 27th of July 2008 and has already made arrangements for it to be installed on close to 200,000 PCs in Internet Cafes in China immediately and 400,000 by January 2009. The new VoIP system from Buzz will offer paid discounted calling and discounted ad supported calling across China. The service is being integrated into Buzz's Free SMS service to be launched at the same time.

VoIP, ad supported VoIP and Free ad supported SMS will provide Buzz an edge on Google and Baidu in the highly competitive Online Ad and Search Marketing in China. Buzz Technologies is currently testing APIs from other Ad Networks with a view to ad sharing agreements with some of the largest ad networks in the world. The move will help build the Buzz Brand as well as increase revenue by up to 30%.

With the current nature of the online ad market and the uncertainty of the Google, Yahoo, Microsoft situation regarding mergers Buzz feels it is best to be prepared for any and all outcomes. Various APIs will be tested on sites and search over the next month and be completed prior to the Olympics.

The main benefit in any ad sharing deal will be a faster and more profitable roll out across the USA.

The Company is preparing for an IPO in Hong Kong under which the current BZTG shareholders will be able to exchange 1 share in BZTG for 1 share in the new entity at the time of listing. The share structure of the new entity will exactly reflect the current 300m with no additional issue. After which the new entity will take control of the Texas entity and will see it trading as an ADR on the NASDAQ.

Participants in the IPO will need to acquire BZTG stock on market as will Investment Houses and Brokers involved in the IPO. Two Hong Kong brokers are competing for the IPO and an announcement for the lead position will be made in the coming weeks.

Challenger Mobile Expands Presence and Focus in Asia/Pacific

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:05:34 GMT

Challenger Mobile announces the opening of the company's new offices in Singapore. The announcement follows on the heels of the recent hiring of two key Challenger Mobile executives and a commitment to a significant Asian marketing partnership.

According to Gartner Inc., while worldwide sales of mobile phones increased by 13.6 percent from Q1 2007 to Q1 2008, sales in the Asia/Pacific region increased by 26.6 percent, nearly twice the worldwide growth rates, over the same period. Most Asian countries remain strong markets in large part because mobile phones are the primary means of communication for many individuals. Mobile VoIP is well-suited for these markets because it offers significantly lower costs for roaming, long-distance and international calling, and international calls are commonplace for many Asians.

On May 28, 2008, Challenger announced the addition of Esa Pollari to its executive team as the company's Director of Business Development. Pollari will lead Challenger's in-region initiatives from the new Singapore offices, including day-to-day interaction with the company's new Asian marketing partner. Pollari is a seasoned leader in the mobile industry with 15 years' experience -- most recently as Nokia's head of business development for rich media Internet applications.

China Internet Café Union to Begin Testing BuzzTel VoIP

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:49:37 GMT

The Green Power Internet Café Union has agreed with Buzz Technologies to 'hardwire' all of their PC homepages to the Chinese Language Version of www.12buzz.com. They will also begin testing the BuzzTel VoIP platform.

Green Power Internet Café Union consists of over 10,000 PCs in 50 plus Internet Café locations, bringing the total number of PCs dedicated to Buzz in China to 40,000. Internet cafe PCs' market size in China is between 6 million and 10 million units, and these PCs are upgraded every 18 months. Buzz is aiming to capture the majority of these PCs through working with the various Internet Café Unions and rolling out VoIP, ISP and regional IT services across the country in an effort to catch the 2 market leaders in China, Google and Baidu.

"By 2012 there will be 373 million Internet users in China, 150 million more than in the US at the same time," says Ben Macklin, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, "Online Advertising in China: The Olympic Year." "Despite this fact, the Chinese Internet market is still relatively immature and only in its first phase of growth.

"This makes China a large -- and growing -- opportunity for online advertising."

eMarketer forecasts that online advertising spending in China will grow from RMB7 billion ($924 million) in 2007 to RMB29.26 billion ($4.9 billion) in 2012. In projecting yearly growth rates, eMarketer assumed a strong uptick in 2008 due to the Beijing Olympics and annual growth above 30% to 2012.

"The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be a significant driver of advertising spending growth," says Mr. Macklin, "but positive underlying economic and demographic indicators point to continued advertising spending growth well beyond this year."

VoSKY PBX-to-Skype Application Gateways Extend Skype to China SMB Market

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:54:00 GMT

VoSKY announces a major global expansion of its VoSKY Exchange VoIP application gateway business through an agreement with Digital China. VoSKY Exchange is the first Skype solution for business to be sold through the Digital China network, reflecting growing market interest in the gateway's ability to add enhanced VoIP-based business applications and Skype trunks to any traditional or IP-based office phone system.

Effective immediately, Digital China's 6,000 VARs have access to the full VoSKY Exchange product line, including seven four-port and eight-port editions that seamlessly connect to any PBX with no modifications to existing PBX equipment, desk phones or user PCs. This will enable resellers to offer low-cost, easily deployable, value-added VoIP solutions to the 8.3 million small and medium businesses in China.

With VoSKY Exchange, VARs can equip business customers with free Skype calling between company offices in different cities and/or countries, free PC-based inbound calls to the PBX from remote or mobile users, free Web Click-to-Call connectivity from business websites, and low-cost long distance and international calls from the PBX to outside phones. Free interoffice communication is possible even with disparate PBXs, using Exchange application gateways to create a private voice network.

All VoSKY Exchange applications enable users to make or receive free or low-cost Internet-based Skype calls using standard desk phones without PCs or headsets. The VoSKY platform also centralizes Skype provisioning and management, eliminating the need to install Skype on each desktop.

VoSKY Exchange is the only enterprise-grade PBX-to-Skype application gateway that has earned Skype certification, ensuring seamless interoperability with Skype features and services. It is also the only product in its class that has been co-branded by Skype.

TRUE Corporation Selects NICE SmartCenter for its VoIP Call Center

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:14:59 GMT

TRUE Corporation has selected NICE SmartCenter for its VoIP contact centers. NICE Perform and the NICE workforce management solutions will replace competing systems being used today. TRUE selected NICE SmartCenter to leverage the synergies of the NICE solutions, to improve customer service, dispute resolution capabilities, and operational efficiency.

TRUE Corporation is Thailand’s leading and only fully-integrated provider of telecommunications services, with more than 10,000 employees, and operates five core businesses, including: mobile, business, online business, pay-TV, digital commerce, and digital content. TRUE’s contact centers handle over 8 million annual customer calls covering topics such as account information inquiries, telephony needs, and technical support requests.

With NICE SmartCenter TRUE will be able to leverage the synergies of the NICE solutions for liability recording and workforce management to better link its customer interactions with its planning and management processes. The NICE solution for 100% interactions capture of inbound and outbound calls will enable TRUE to efficiently handle and manage information archives regarding topics such as billing, payments, collections, and telesales. The NICE solution for workforce management will help TRUE efficiently manage and optimize scheduling of agents.

Agreement to Launch VoIP Network Construction in Shunyi, Beijing

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:45:52 GMT

The Smooth Global (China) Holdings has signed an agreement with Beijing Shunyi Investment Promotion Bureau for the launching of ''VoIP Networkwork Construction'' service in the Shunyi District of Beijing, which offers the construction of VoIP Network for brand named companies in the district of Shunyi in Beijing, targeting for $1.2 million gross margin annually.

According to the general plan of Beijing Municipality, Shunyi is located in the middle segment of the East Development Band with the concept of ''2 axles - 2 bands - multi-centers". With this plan, Shunyi District will be awarded with four functions: modern manufacturing, a logistics hub, an international exchange and holiday relaxation. Shunyi District has attracted over 300 large and medium foreign enterprises from over 18 countries including some famous brands such as Ericsson, SONY, JVC, AIRBUS, Panasonic and Citizen. More than 20 factories and R&D companies, which are listed in the World's Top 500 Companies, established their business in Shunyi District based on its predominant investing environment, excellent office settings and well-served daily assistance.

According to this agreement, Beijing Shunyi Investment Promotion Bureau will partner with Beijing GRT to start its ''Intragroup Call'' service and ''VoIP Network Construction'' service promotion, providing the chance of annual gross margin of approximately $1.2 million.

Partnership Brings VoIP Services and Video Sharing to Taiwan

VoIP Monitor — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 18:02:05 GMT

A partnership bringing free video sharing and VoIP services to Taiwan was announced Friday by Globe7 and ChinaTimes.com.

The agreement will allow ChinaTimes.com to provide users with Globe7’s free Internet calling to 25 countries as well as free sharing and downloading of pictures, videos and music. One of Taiwan’s largest domestically owned Websites, ChinaTimes.com is the fourth largest recipient of online advertising in Taiwan.

“Taiwan is a very important market and we are extremely happy to launch these new services,” said Clayton Haswell, Globe7’s president and CEO. “This is a key partnership for Globe7. ChinaTimes is a major media company and we are pleased to add them to our growing Asia media network.”

“Globe7 has some of the most innovative web 2.0 services,” said Ader Su, Associate Vice President of ChinaTimes.com. “ChinaTimes can rely on them to better serve our customers. We are really looking forward to our co-operation.”

VoIP-PAL Expands Market to South Korea

VoIP Monitor — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:17:28 GMT

VoIP-PAL.com is pleased to announce that the Company will be expanding its market to 50 million users by launching its first foreign e-commerce Web site to South Korea. The Web site will enable users in South Korea to purchase the Company's VoIP products online, which will build VoIP-PAL.com's customer base substantially.

VoIP allows voice and data transmissions to be sent across a wide variety of Internet networks, allowing users to talk to each other using PC phones over the Internet. Consumers and businesses will be able to utilize VoIP at home or at the office for all of their communications needs, providing them with an alternative to expensive long distance telephone costs, saving them up to 70 percent.

VoIP-PAL.com recently held a nationwide teleconference to update shareholders on recent developments, discuss the Company's unique contract to sell a leading VoIP product and its position on becoming an acquisition candidate.

Buzz to Promote Free VoIP, SMS and Mobile Services in China

VoIP Monitor — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:35:17 GMT

Buzz Technologies is pleased to announce a series of developments in the company’s mobile unit. One of them is a WAP based VoIP that allows mobile phone users to make low cost calls directly from their mobile phone. “This service is free to all members of Buzz’s Social Networking Sites, BuzZMe In and the Chinese Xirxi. Services such as VoIP, video, music, radio, news and instant messaging coupled with mobile devices such as a WiFi enabled iPod, and the ubiquity of broadband will result in 100 million consumer mobile VoIP users in 2011,” says Sutida Suwunnavid, Chairwoman of Buzz Technologies. “WiFi enabled mobile entertainment devices will make up 36% of all mobile VoIP devices sold in 2011.”

Buzz needs no special equipment or software, just a WAP enabled phone. Sutida also predicts that by 2011 Skype will have 25% of the world's VoIP users and $1.2 billion in voice service revenues. Buzz is aiming at Market penetration of 12.5% and $600m in revenue by 2011.

Buzz has also released the Beta version of its Mobile Search Engine which operates in all major languages. With this engine Buzz joins a very small group of companies offering a full service Mobile Web Site. The development is around 6 months ahead of schedule and will require the company to move forward promotional programs.

Buzz is about to hit China promoting free VoIP, SMS and Mobile Services. Our Search is already operating in Chinese and a Chinese Section in our PPC ad server is being added today. Buzz Search Engine is fully operable in all major languages including Chinese. www.xirxi.com and www.xarso.com as well as www.7123000.com will be relaunched aimed specifically for the Chinese Market. China has 162 million people online. In addition, China is the largest cellular market in the world and has passed the 500 million connections mark.

Try the Mobile Site at www.mobi.12buzz.com or visit www.12buzz.com

VoIP Services Through Users' Cable TV from SK Telink

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:34:54 GMT

SK Telink announces at the BroadSoft Connections 2007 Executive Users Conference that it will work with five major cable providers in South Korea to bring VoIP services to residential consumers, small businesses and home offices using BroadSoft's BroadWorks application platform.

SK Telink's new offering integrates VoIP with customers' set-top television cable boxes. The BroadWorks-based services work through customers' cable boxes to display caller ID, a phone directory and other phone services on the TV, while customers watch television programs. These calling features can be controlled with the TV remote control. Residential customers can get premium services such as call pick-up, call transfer and shared-call appearance to use among family members.

"This is the first carrier-grade residential VoIP service based on cable infrastructure in South Korea and establishes SK Telink's commitment to remain a leader among carriers in Korea and globally," said Mr. Min-Lae Cho, CEO of SK Telink. "We will focus on rapid growth of residential customers in the next three years. Using BroadWorks allows us to inter-operate with cable TV boxes to offer features such as instant group call, sequential call, shared-call appearance, remote office and other residential services."

"SK Telink's move to team up with cable providers to offer these services is significant because it's the first time that integrated carrier-grade VoIP services based on cable will be offered to residential cable TV customers in Korea," said Jonathan Reid, vice president of Asia Pacific for BroadSoft. "BroadSoft specially configured the BroadWorks platform to enable SK Telink to deliver this unique offering. This new service demonstrates the platform's flexibility for offering a diverse range of services to customers across the spectrum."

Focus on China VoIP Market

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:26:28 GMT

Reportlinker.com announces that a new report related to the Chinese telecommunication industry is now available to its catalogue. The VoIP business volume in China telecom operation market increased dramatically. Presently, the call duration of VoIP in China is the same to that of PSTN basically, but the growth rate of VoIP business is higher compared to PSTN. Up to Sep 2006, the IP call duration of telecom operators was 109.931 billion minutes, up 11.8% y-o-y, and accounting for 43.16% in the long-distance call duration. It is forecasted that the share of VoIP in the long-distance call market will be equal to or even exceed the total long-distance call of PSTN and mobile in the following two or three years gradually.

Besides the announced call volume from Ministry of Information Industry, there is still other VoIP international call volume operated by the illegal operators. The illegal VoIP call volume had increased at the pace of 30% every year from 2003 to 2006, and in 2006, the illegal VoIP international call volume amounted to about 550 million minutes, and the revenue was about RMB 490 million.

VoIP was applied in enterprises in early stage, and now, the enterprise market has become comparatively mature. Along with VoIP technology becoming more and more mature, the competitiveness of traditional operators decreases further in this field. In 2006, enterprise application market of VoIP developed rapidly. Compared to individual user market, the enterprise users pay more attention to the real combination of voice and data application via VoIP rather than the low cost. Based on it, the informatization of enterprise can be really integrated into internal management and business flow of the enterprises.

Currently, China has adopted strict Control policies to VoIP business, and according to Telecom Services Classification Catalog promulgated by Ministry of Information Industry in Feb 2003, only the 6 operators with basic telecom business operation qualification can operate VoIP business. However, it is permitted that Telecom and Netcom could carry on trial PCtoPhone network telephone business in several cities, which shows that Ministry of Information Industry has realized the strong vigor of PCtoPhone VoIP.

In 2007, the deadline of the overall open of China basic telecom business will come in terms of WTO requirements, so China VoIP telecom Control policy will become loose. In addition, the pressure from foreign capital will bring fierce competition to VoIP market in the near future, which will lead to the dramatic increase of the market as well.

The traditional China telecom operators had gradually entered the actual network construction period of NGN and new-generation VoIP business in 2006, and along with the deepening of the enterprises' understanding to VoIP and the consideration of control cost, large enterprises have gradually accepted VoIP.

Influenced by mature VoIP equipment technology and price decrease etc, the medium and small enterprise market rapidly warmed up as well. All of these promote VoIP equipment to enter the real purchase phase in 2006, so VoIP equipment shows scale increase.

It is forecasted that the CAGR of VoIP equipment outlay of enterprises will amount to 48% in the following 5 years, and it will be RMB 4.2 billion in 2009.

Flat Rate VoIP Calling to and from Hong Kong

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:45:43 GMT

New World Telecommunications celebrates the worldwide launch of talk2hk, a new-generation VoIP service.

With an authentic Hong Kong fixed line number talk2hk enables customers to enjoy unlimited calls with their friends, families and business associates in Hong Kong at a flat, low monthly charge of US$12. Apart from unlimited calls to and from Hong Kong, customers can also interact with business partners and friends all over the world at very competitive IDD rates. For instance, calls to China and other countries only cost as little as US $0.02.

talk2hk is specially designed to save at least 80% of the roaming and IDD cost for:

People who reside outside of Hong Kong and frequently make contacts with Hong Kong associates.
Travelers who want to stay connected with people around the world.

Compared to other similar VoIP services that are gaining popularity around the world, which focus on PC to PC calls, talk2hk, through its provision of a Hong Kong number, enables the users to make or receive calls as if they are in Hong Kong and take advantage of the low communication cost of Hong Kong to other parts of the world.

Customers can also subscribe to a talk2hk number for China (Shenzhen, Guangzhou) or Taiwan (Taipei) as an optional feature, which allows them to be reached by calls from these destinations without having to pay international long distance charges.

talk2hk is the ultimate solution for people who are looking for a cost-effective, comprehensive and premium VoIP service.

The registration process is very simple. Customers simply sign-up with a valid e-mail address at the talk2hk website.

VoIP Phone Output in China to Increase by 34 Percent in 2007

VoIP Monitor — Mon, 14 May 2007 20:25:11 GMT

Mainland China is expected to increase output of VoIP phones by 34 percent in 2007 to more than 29 million units, spurred by growing domestic and global demand, according to Global Sources' China Sourcing Report: VoIP Phones.

"China's VoIP phone industry is poised for continuous growth, with both production and exports forecast to grow," said publisher of the report, Mark A. Saunderson. "Manufacturers are developing product lines and raising output capacity."

The report indicates mainland China's exports of VoIP phones are expected to reach 21 million units in 2007 -- up 26 percent from 2006.

Saunderson said: "The strong growth of the VoIP market is expected to continue, as VoIP software like Skype and broadband Internet gain greater market penetration."

The report shows VoIP suppliers in mainland China have excess production capacity to respond to increased demand, which is growing at a brisk pace.

Of the mainland China suppliers surveyed regarding their production capacity for VoIP Phones:

28 percent reported spare capacity of 60 -- 90 percent
22 percent reported spare capacity between 30 -- 59 percent
34 percent reported spare capacity of up to 30 percent

The report also shows key pricing and market trends:

The supply of USB phones is expected to remain strong in the short-term
The demand for standalone phones is projected to grow in the next few years
Prices are expected to drop as supply grows and chipset costs drop

In-Factory Interviews, Detailed Supplier Profiles and New Export VoIP Phones

The 108-page China Sourcing Report: VoIP Phones provides proprietary market information from in-person factory visits to 22 makers and interviews with 29 more suppliers. The surveys, price trends and supply forecasts aim to help buyers make better-informed purchasing decisions.

Information about Greater China VoIP Phone suppliers and products can be found at http://www.globalsources.com/manufacturers/VoIP-Phone.html .

Report Forecasting VoIP in China to be Presented at Event

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:52:23 GMT

ATLANTIC-ACM and Stealth Communications are pleased to announce the “The Dragon Market: VoIP Opportunities in China 2007 – 2011” session at the Voice Peering Forum Spring 2007. The session will be held on Wednesday March 7th at 5:15pm in the Miami Beach Resort & Spa.

Based on the newly published ATLANTIC-ACM report The Dragon Market: VoIP in China 2007-2011, this session will cover forecasts for several different types of VoIP, the underling drivers of VoIP adoption, the regulatory landscape, key statistics about the telecom market, and discussion about wireline, wireless, 3G and other telecom services in China.

China’s telecom industry, fueled by GDP growth of eight- to 10-percent over the next five years, will continue to grow on all fronts. The total number of Chinese broadband subscribers will be 144 million by 2011, and paid VoIP services adoption will dovetail with broadband growth, according to The Dragon Market: VoIP in China 2007 - 2011.

Currently, VoIP in China is defined as any call transformed or converted to IP at any point during its transmission (“IP Inside”), including calls made with special IP calling cards. In the U.S., VoIP calls are commonly defined as either initiating or terminating via VoIP endpoints. “ATLANTIC-ACM’s new forecast for China reveals that for the latter type, the total number of subscribers will rapidly grow to 70 million, provided that China, as is expected this year, eases its restrictions on VoIP termination to the public switched telephone network (PSTN),” said Charlie Reed, ATLANTIC-ACM analyst covering the VoIP sector.

The Voice Peering Forum Spring 2007 is organized by Stealth Communications, Inc. and will be held in Miami Beach, Florida, USA March 7 – 9. The forum hosts experts from leading global companies to discuss the latest innovations, insights and business trends in VoIP & Peering. For information on this session, other topics and to register, please visit: http://www.thevpf.com/miami07.

For information on ATLANTIC-ACM’s study, The Dragon Market: VoIP in China 2007-2011, visit http://www.atlantic-acm.com/reports.

Order for 100,000 IPTV/VOIP Set Top Boxes

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:01:17 GMT

TechnoConcepts announces that its subsidiary in China, Jinshilin Techno has received from the Shanghai Forest Electronics Technology a product supply and sales contract for 100,000 set-top boxes integrating both Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and Voice Over IP (VOIP) phone services. The contract represents the first such purchase order pursuant to the Cooperation Agreements between Jinshilin Techno and Shanghai Forest, under which Jinshilin Techno expects to ship a total of two million IPTV/VOIP set top boxes to Shanghai Forest by the end of 2009.

Shanghai Forest has agreed to pay in excess of $9 million for the 100,000 boxes, with 30% of the price of each shipment to be paid in advance. The first shipment is for 5,000 units in February 2007, ramping up each month to a shipment of 30,000 units in July 2007.

The set top boxes will be deployed in Shangqiu, China, a city with two million rural users. The units shipped will be integrated into an IPTV/VOIP network being built by Shanghai Forest in cooperation with Alcatel Network Support System Company Inc. as part of the Henan Province’s Television and Broadcast Bureau’s project to supply in-home IPTV television and VOIP telephone services to the rural residents of the Henan Province.

“This initial sale marks a significant accomplishment for Jinshilin Techno,” said Antonio Turgeon, Chairman and CEO of TechnoConcepts. “We are very positive that this contract stands as a milestone deal that our subsidiary can duplicate because this set top box has been under evaluation by several different companies for additional opportunities in China and abroad. We are aggressively exploring several similar opportunities and are confident that we well be able to secure additional agreements.”

Reduces Cost of Calls to the Philippines with Pingo

VoIP Monitor — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 17:11:44 GMT

Pingo announces lower rates on calls to the Philippines -- 13.75 cents for calls to landline phones and 14.5 cents for calls to mobile phones. The Philippines is one of the highest-volume calling destinations in the world, and is a particularly popular destination for users of prepaid calling card services such as Pingo. Philippines long distance calls comprise approximately 4 percent of all international calls from the U.S.1

The reduction in Pingo’s international calling card rates to the Philippines is the result of RateWatcher, a feature of Pingo that actively searches for opportunities to reduce costs and pass the savings along to Pingo phone card subscribers. RateWatcher is just one of the features that makes Pingo “the last calling card you’ll ever need”. With RateWatcher, Pingo calling card customers benefit from the worldwide buying power of iBasis, one of the largest carriers of international telephone calls in the world.

By monitoring changing long distance costs around the world, RateWatcher finds opportunities to lower Pingo’s costs, provide low international calling rates, and save Pingo subscribers from the chore of having to compare a multitude of prepaid calling card offerings. Previous RateWatcher reductions have included lower rates to many of the most popular calling destinations in India, Latin America, and Asia, as well on calls to almost one billion mobile phones in 100 countries.

“With Pingo we are able to leverage the scale and efficiency of the iBasis global VoIP network to offer exceptional prepaid calling rates combined with great convenience features,” said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. “There are large Filipino communities in the U.S. and in many of the other 34 countries where Pingo is available. We believe this RateWatcher reduction will help Pingo attract many new subscribers while rewarding existing customers.”

Company Looks to Develop VoIP Market in China

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:21:43 GMT

The Bralorne Mining Company has announced that, Beijing QTC will continuously develop the potential VoIP market in China.

Mr. Zhang Feng Ming, President of BLNM, said that, "PC to PC VoIP phones users in mainland China reached nearly 19 million in 2004. With VoIP platforms being extremely flexible, this system combines the benefits of IP networking with the rich features and high availability of circuit-switched systems. The whole market volume will be continuously enlarged and users are expected to reach 28 million in China by 2008, according to forecasts of iResearch, a professional market research company."

"The total income generated by VoIP business is RMB190 million (or US$24 million) in the first half year of 2005, which increased by 17.4% comparative with the same period of 2004," commented Mr. Zhang. "Through the integrated VoIP gateway for stations and networking, VoIP system allows integration of offices and companies using in-place IP networks and enables users to reduce costs significantly. Hence, new generation of VoIP business came to a prosperous period in 2006."

"The total output of the VoIP instrument investment was RMB679 million (or US$85 million) in the second quarter of 2006, increased by 19.96% comparing to the first quarter of 2006 in China, while the ratio of IP-PBX was 26.9% and IP phones was 33.9%."

Raketu Launches Communications for VoIP Consumers In China

VoIP Monitor — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:17:24 GMT

Raketu announces the immediate availability of its Chinese language version. Currently, all pre-paid customers of Raketu’s "RakOut" dial-out voice over IP (VoIP) service enjoy free calling to over 40 countries. This same service offer will now be available for Chinese speaking consumers, wherever they live in the world, as all calls to locations in these countries are free regardless of where they originate.

“In response to the tremendous interest in Raketu from China, Raketu has released its Chinese language version,” said Greg Parker, President of Raketu. “With our Chinese language release of Raketu, we are continuing to deliver on our promise of localization, enabling our users to use Raketu in their native language.”

Raketu is now available in English, Czech, Russian, and Chinese. Spanish and Japanese language versions will be released in the next few weeks.

Raketu Technical Details

Raketu’s unique peer-to-peer (p2p) technology allows the highest quality of VoIP calling and the highest call-completion, without the security issues associated with supernodes and other traditional p2p technologies. Unlike other p2p communications providers, Raketu does not use a consumers’ computer for routing the communications of other users.

Raketu runs over any Internet connection. Anyone on the Internet with a Windows PC and a headset can start using Raketu immediately. Raketu provides the most comprehensive integrated communications, information and entertainment tool available, providing more options, more control, and more personal activity features than any other service.

Raketu has been independently certified free of spyware, malware, adware and viruses by SoftPedia. Raketu currently has users in over 200 countries around the world.

Cellular WiFi VoIP in China

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:17:53 GMT

Jinan Yinquan Technology – a wholly owned subsidiary of China VoIP and Digital Telecom introduced to cellular subscribers the added ability to make calls using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), connecting via any available wireless fidelity (WiFi) network.

The new service will mean subscribers can save money on long distance calls using VoIP. In addition, callers using the WiFI/VoIP service will not pay roaming charges outside their home area.

“Our WiFi/VoIP cell phone supports dual SIM cards,” said Li Kunwu, President and CEO of China VoIP & Digital Telecom Inc. “One is for the VoIP number, the other is for the common GSM/CDMA cell phone network.”

In addition to savings on roaming fees, Mr. Li added, “Calls between WiFi/VoIP cell phones are free of charge. So users may save up to 80 percent on their long distance call fees while enjoying the same mobility and portability convenience of regular cell phones.”

WiFi is a short distance wireless networking technology often used in offices, cafes and homes. Its most common use is for connecting laptop computers to the Internet. VoIP is the routing of voice conversations over the Internet or through any other IP-based network. The WiFi/VoIP cell phone has a wide range of applications for business and personal use.

The new service will launch in April in Shandong Province. It leverages Jinan Yinquan’s proprietary NP Soft Switch IP telephone system. Jinan will introduce the new service first to select enterprises and government organizations. In addition, as WiFi networks expand in China, Jinan expects to roll out its WiFi/VoIP service to the rest of the country.

Jinan Yinquan currently services three provinces and 19 cities with Shandong Province its primary base of operations. Plans call for expansion throughout China.

“We want every Jinan Yinquan VoIP subscriber to understand that we will continually be adding new state-of-the-art products and services,” said Mr. Li. “Once someone becomes a subscriber, they will never need to seek out another telephone provider. Jinan Yinquan will be their one stop for all of their telecom needs, whether for business or personal use.”

Jinan Yinquan recently announced a new electronic fax system for enterprise business customers in partnership with China Tie Tong. Available across Shandong Province, the electronic fax service is an Internet-based fax solution that will enable enterprise businesses to send and receive faxes using existing email accounts. Unlike traditional faxing, electronic faxing is convenient, cost-effective, secure, integrated and automated.

China Tie Tong is one of the six largest basic telecom operators in China. The company, which has 31 provincial branches and 316 municipal branches, employs approximately 72,000 people. Its high-speed backbone optical transmission network consists of five fiber loops covering most of the cities in China’s 31 provinces and a distance of 52,000 kilometers. From 2001 to 2005 annual revenues have grown by 30 percent while fixed-line subscribers increased from 1.35 million to 16.4 million. By the end of 2005 the company had 2 million Internet subscribers and assets of 53.3 billion RMB. (For more information please visit www.chinatietong.com)

SunRocket Offers $.01 per Minute VoIP Calling to China

VoIP Monitor — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 18:08:45 GMT

SunRocket announces an unprecedented new calling plan that drops rates to Asia Pacific locations including China, Japan, Hong Kong and Vietnam to as little as one cent per minute.

The annual, all-inclusive $199 Asia Pacific Edition offers a compelling and unique alternative for U.S. consumers who frequently call friends and family located throughout the Asia Pacific. With per-minute calling rates well below traditional phone service offerings and as much as 90 percent less than other major VoIP providers, the SunRocket Asia Pacific Edition value proposition is unmatched in the industry.

"Prior to the SunRocket Asia Pacific Edition, consumers were forced to jump through hoops to seek savings on international calls to these destinations, often resorting to inconvenient and deceptively expensive prepaid calling cards," said Joyce Dorris, SunRocket co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer. "Now SunRocket makes it easy for consumers to enjoy the lowest per-minute rates to Asia, building upon our mission to change what is possible for consumers and challenge historical pricing practices by our competitors."

The Asia Pacific Edition reduces international rates to $.01 per minute on all calls (landline and cell) to China, Singapore and Hong Kong; and on landline calls to Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea. Landline rates fall to $.02 per minute for Japan; while SunRocket's rate on all calls to Vietnam is cut nearly in half to $.10 per minute.

Additional destinations included in the Asia Pacific Edition are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, and Mongolia.

All rates effective as of 12/21/06
Rates for SkypeOut Calling

"The Asia Pacific Edition is the first of its kind to bundle these countries together into one all-inclusive calling plan," added Dorris. "As the cost to providers for international calling continues to decline, it is unconscionable for phone companies to force customers into paying outrageously marked-up rates; and with SunRocket's Asia Pacific Edition, they no longer have to."

The $199 annual, all-inclusive Asia Pacific Edition includes unlimited free calling throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. As with other SunRocket plans, customers enjoy enhanced voicemail, over a dozen free built- in calling features, enhanced 911 calling, plus the option to keep their existing phone number.

Major Player in the Chinese VoIP Sector Positions Itself

VoIP Monitor — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 17:51:25 GMT

China VoIP & Digital Telecom announced it has acquired Hangzhou Zhongfang a Voice-over Internet Protocol Services provider based in the Zhejiang Province. The acquisition will expand the Company’s reach into Zhejiang and other southern provinces in the People’s Republic of China.

Under the terms of the agreement, Jinan will acquire existing VoIP infrastructure from Zhongfang to facilitate future VoIP sales and services in the Province. The acquisition will also provide a platform for Jinan Yinquan to develop and expand its VoIP business in adjacent southern provinces.

Jinan Yinquan, is a rapidly growing technology company that offers VoIP services in the People’s Republic of China.

In addition to producing and distributing VoIP hardware, Zhongfang also provides VoIP phone services in Zhejiang Province primarily to telephone cafes in 4 cities in Zhejiang Province. According to Li Kunwu, President and CEO of China VoIP & Digital Telecom Inc., this new agreement formalizes an existing working relationship between the two companies.

“We have been working with Zhongfang for over three years,” said Kunwu. “They were an ideal acquisition candidate for us to expand our market into Zhejiang Province which has a population in excess of 50 million people with per capita disposable income growing at a rate as high as 10.4 percent annually. We are also big proponents of the Internet café concept and Zhongfang has established a solid base of business in this burgeoning market segment. We anticipate this agreement will significantly increase our annual revenue but is also a significant step forward in our nationwide expansion plans.”

Prior to this acquisition, Jinan Yinquan has been servicing three provinces and 19 cities with Shandong Province its primary base of operations. Short- and long-term plans call for the expansion throughout China.

The Company’s proprietary NP Soft Switch IP telephone system enables users to access Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP) services allowing customers to use the system to make telephone calls to anyone in the world at a much lower cost than standard telephone rates.

Jinan Yinquan recently announced its new electronic fax system for enterprise business customers in partnership with China Tie Tong. Available across Shandong Province, the electronic fax service is an Internet-based fax solution that will enable enterprise businesses to send and receive faxes using existing email accounts. Unlike traditional faxing, electronic faxing is convenient, cost-effective, secure, integrated and automated.

v China Tie Tong is one of the six largest basic telecom operators in China. The company, which has 31 provincial branches and 316 municipal branches, employs approximately 72,000 people. Its high-speed backbone optical transmission network consists of five fiber loops covering most of the cities in China’s 31 provinces and a distance of 52,000 kilometers. During the period of 2001 to 2005 annual revenues have grown by 30 percent while fixed-line subscribers increased from 1.35 million to 16.4 million. By the end of 2005 the company had 2 million Internet subscribers and assets of 53.3 billion RMB. (For more information, go to www.chinatietong.com)