Ibasis

iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS) is a publicly traded corporation based in Burlington, MA. It is a wholesale carrier of international long distance telephone calls, with enhanced services for mobile operators, and a provider of retail prepaid calling services. In Fiscal Year 2007, iBasis had total revenues of $938 million and employed about 400 people [iBasis 2007 10-K Filing, March 17, 2008, http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/xml/download.php?repo=tenk&ipage=5536840&format=RTF] .

More than 1,000 mobile and fixed line telecommunications carriers and service providers worldwide outsource some or all of their international voice traffic to iBasis. It is the second largest carrier of international voice traffic and the first to reach this level using the public Internet to carry phone calls ["Telephony", “iBasis claims No. 2 spot in global voice traffic”, Oct. 1, 2007, http://telephonyonline.com/home/news/ibasis_voip_international_100107] . iBasis customers include many of the world’s largest carriers, mobile operators, and emerging service providers including Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile, China Unicom, IDT, Qwest, Skype, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, and Yahoo! [iBasis 2007 10-K Filing, March 17, 2008, http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/xml/download.php?repo=tenk&ipage=5536840&format=RTF] .

The company also offers online pre-paid international calling services to business and consumer customers through a product called Pingo.

Company History

iBasis was founded in 1996 by Ofer Gneezy and Gordon VanderBrug to provide wholesale international long distance services to carriers using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. It held an initial public offering in November 1999 and was ranked the No. 1 fastest growing company in New England for 2000, 2001 and 2002 by Deloitte & Touche ["BNET", “iBasis Named Fastest Growing Technology Company in New England,” Sept. 23, 2002, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_Sept_23/ai_91910609] .

In October 2007, iBasis acquired KPN Global Carrier Services, the international voice business of Royal KPN N.V., the national carrier of the Netherlands ["Boston Globe", “iBasis Deal is Completed”, Oct. 1, 2007, http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2007/10/ibasis_deal_is.html] . KPN became a majority stockholder of iBasis as part of the transaction. The combined entity carried nearly 24 billion minutes of international voice traffic in 2007 [iBasis 2007 10-K Filing, March 17, 2008, http://ccbn.10kwizard.com/xml/download.php?repo=tenk&ipage=5536840&format=RTF] .

According to international telecom research firm TeleGeography, that resulting traffic made the new iBasis one of the three largest carriers of international voice traffic in the world, handling a volume roughly equal to AT&T’s international voice traffic and behind worldwide leader Verizon. ["Telecommunications", “iBasis joins top wholesale voice ranks” Oct. 2, 2007, http://www.telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_3539] .

In 2007, iBasis also acquired the international wholesale voice business of TDC A/S, a Danish carrier, for $10 million cash, which added 2 billion minutes of annual traffic and was estimated to increase annual revenues by $80 million year. ["Light Reading", “iBasis Snacks on Danish”, January 16, 2008, http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=143422&f_src=lightreading_gnews] . The company plans to pursue similar deals as part of its ongoing growth strategy.

The iBasis Network and Technology

The iBasis Network includes one of the largest international VoIP networks in the world with more than 1,000 points of presence in over 100 countries ["Telecommunications", “iBasis joins top wholesale voice ranks,” Oct. 2, 2007, http://www.telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_3539] . iBasis uses technology from Cisco Systems and NexTone and has developed its own patented monitoring and route quality management technology to determine and select the best available route for every call. The company has introduced technological advancements and has been enlisted to support industry initiatives including testing the GSM Association’s IP eXchange, which is being developed as a global IP backbone for fixed and mobile service providers ["TMCnet", “iBasis Performs GSMA Trial of IPX Interconnect Service and Standards,” February 12, 2008, http://www.tmcnet.com/comsol/articles/20632-ibasis-performs-gsma-trial-ipx-interconnect-service-standards.htm] .

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