Channel News

Level (3) Solidifies VoIP Deals

Level (3) Communications Inc. has been busy making deals with a number of companies, including European broadband provider ntl, integrated triple-play provider HomeNet Communications Inc., broadband provider Speakeasy, and reseller New Global Telecom.

Level (3) is supplying ntl with network services in the United Kingdom and Ireland via (3)CrossRoads, its wholesale high-speed Internet access and transport service. (3)CrossRoads is an IP service that includes the gigabit Ethernet (1000mbps) customer interface option. ntl will use multiple 2.5gbps ports in Manchester and diverse 10gbps ports in London. ntl also has purchased (3)CrossRoads service from Level (3) in Dublin to enhance the Internet services it delivers to enterprises and wholesale communications companies across Ireland.

Meanwhile, HomeNet Communications Inc., which specializes in voice, video and data services, has joined the Level (3) Enabled Partner Program to use (3)VoIP Enhanced service in more than 50 U.S. markets. Homenet plans to enhance its fiber-optic telephony solutions and to offer national and international long-distance.

Level (3) also has partnered with broadband provider Speakeasy. Speakeasy is using Level (3)'s HomeTone to provide residential VoIP phone service to customers in 120 markets nationwide. "Level (3) gives us the broadest nationwide coverage for 'true' 911 and E911, fully featured and regulatory compliant voice capabilities and extensive interconnection with the traditional phone network," says Bruce Chatterley, Speakeasy president and CEO.

Speakeasy is rebranding the residential VoIP solution as Speakeasy Voice. Users can make and receive unlimited local and long-distance phone calls for a low flat rate, and can use existing analog touch-tone telephones or digital IP phones.

Finally, New Global Telecom, a U.S. provider of outsourced switching and network operations services, has purchased VoIP origination and termination services from Level (3) to support its wholesale business and residential phone offerings. NGT is using Level (3)'s (3)VoIP Enhanced Local service to support its 6DegreesIP VoIP products, phone services that are sold to residential and business customers indirectly through service providers. NGT also purchased (3)VoIP Local Inbound, (3)Voice Termination, (3)CrossRoads, and (3)VoIP Toll Free services. NGT is using Level (3) services in select markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Grand Rapids, Mich.

NCTC Endorses Net2Phone

The National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC), a purchasing group representing more than 1,000 U.S. cable operators, has selected Net2Phone Inc. as its first "Platinum Vendor" of VoIP services. Net2Phone plans to offer its solution to NCTC members at "predefined competitive" pricing for all operators, regardless of size, providing smaller cable operators with a viable option for deploying telephony solutions.

"We are excited about the endorsement from the NCTC, an independent group of more than 1,000 domestic operators, empowering members of any size with a turnkey voice solution with minimal costs," says Michael Pastor, president of Net2Phone Cable Telephony. "The NCTC represents a greatly underserved market, and we believe this relationship presents a fantastic opportunity for their members to move forward in offering a voice product."

NCTC members maintain ownership of their telephony subscribers and brand, and provide customer service and technical support. Net2Phone does provisioning and billing. Customers of participating NCTC members save money while receiving bundled cable TV, highspeed Internet access and cable modem telephony services.

VoIP Inc. Expands, Bolsters Wholesale Strategy

VoIP Inc. has been busy expanding its services throughout the country, developing wholesale relationships and executing on its acquisition strategy.

The company recently took its eGlobalphone residential and business VoIP service to Florida and says it is on track to move into about 20 new markets monthly. VoIP Inc. plans to launch service in more than 200 markets by year's end, and aims to sign 2.3 million business and consumer customers by 2007.

VoIP Inc. also says it intends to help cable companies capture a share of the Internet phone services business by providing wholesale Internet phone services to small cable companies. Executives hope to make deals with approximately 1,100 smaller U.S. cable companies. Internet phone systems likely will drive down prices so much for voice service that it would not make sense for many companies to build their own network, VoIP Inc. says.

"We see a growing demand from midsized and smaller network service providers in the area of VoIP, but the high price of operating a softswitch, termination network, billing system, and the related staffing is typically outside the cost-effective range for these service providers," says CEO Steven Ivester. "Our program is designed to be a very economical and efficient solution for these providers, enabling them to begin offering VoIP to their clients quickly and without a large investment of their time or money."

Finally, VoIP Inc. has finalized its purchase of VoIP Americas, which was founded in 2002. VoIP Americas boasts customers in every continent except Antarctica and says it terminates more than 10,000,000 minutes of VoIP traffic monthly.

"This acquisition of VoIP Americas will provide proven leadership in the IP telephony space," Ivester explains. "Our two organizations have both the strategic ability and the depth of resources to deliver voice over IP services to enterprise customers worldwide, as well as to deliver service provider solutions to cable operators."

VoIP Inc. acquired 100 percent of the stock of VoIP Americas in exchange for the issuance of one million common shares of VoIP Inc.

Nuvio Intros IP PBX for Small Firms

VoIP provider Nuvio Corp. is offering NuvioCentrex, the company's hosted IP PBX solution designed for businesses with two to 15 employees.

Small businesses were not benefiting from VoIP, Nuvio says, but now that the company has developed its own switching technology, feature sets and Web interface, that's changed. NuvioCentrex allows customers to link offices with extension-to-extension dialing, removing geographic boundaries for placing, receiving and transferring calls.

"It's about time that small businesses had an economical choice for voice solutions," says Jason Talley, president and CEO of Nuvio. "With a traditional office phone system, small businesses were paying more for service and getting less for it. NuvioCentrex levels the playing field, providing all of the features of the expensive offerings while significantly reducing overall costs to the business."

NuvioCentrex is available through the Powered by Nuvio partner program. Nuvio also recently announced it has signed agreements with four Utah-based broadband and wireless providers. The companies - Curean Communications, Readytek Broadband, Trilobyte and Catapulsion Broadband - have joined the Powered by Nuvio partner program and are selling packages that include both NuvioVoice and NuvioCentrex products.