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iBasis
and Belle Systems Create Next Generation Platform
for Advanced VoIP Services
Leaders
in Internet telephony and Billing and Management Solutions
Announce Strategic Relationship
Burlington,
Mass.January 25,
2000iBasis,
Inc., (NASDAQ: IBAS), the leader in international
Internet telephony and Belle Systems A/S, a leading
provider of IP billing, provisioning and management
solutions for the on-line and telecommunications industries,
today announced that their companies have formed a
strategic relationship that will create the next generation
platform for advanced, value-added voice-over-Internet-Protocol
(VoIP) services. As part of this agreement, iBasis
will deploy Belle Systems' Internet Management System
(IMS) for management and billing of its voice and
fax over IP services. Integration of Belle Systems'
billing and management technologies with the iBasis
NetworkTM, the world's largest international Cisco
Powered NetworkTM for Internet telephony, will provide
iBasis and its customers with an enhanced network
infrastructure that enables more efficient management
and delivery of value-added VoIP services, including
comprehensive pre- and post-paid services and unified
messaging.
"If the initial
opportunity in Internet telephony was focused on rate
arbitrage, the next wave of growth in Internet telephony
will be driven by advanced services," said Matthew
Kristin, CIO of iBasis. "Our strategic relationship
with Belle Systems, a global leader in billing and
management solutions, will be central to our ability
to continue to lead the market in delivering this
new generation of IP telephony services to market."
"With our robust,
proven billing and management technologies, Belle
Systems is working closely with iBasis to create a
future-proofed network infrastructure that raises
the bar for Internet telephony," said Hasse Rasmussen,
chief executive officer for Belle Systems. "And
because of our mutual strategic relationship with
Cisco, we can ensure that our integrated platform
remains at the cutting edge of Internet communications."
iBasis to Deploy
Belle Systems' Internet Management Service (IMS)
iBasis selected Belle Systems as its strategic partner
for billing and management following a comprehensive
multi-vendor evaluation and review of available technologies.
iBasis' initial deployment involves Belle Systems'
Internet Management Service (IMS), a comprehensive
IP service management and billing solution with the
ability to manage and account for all the elements
of Internet telephony service - from provisioning
and deployment through to mediation, rating and billing
- all within a single platform. Using IMS, iBasis
network administrators can easily define and efficiently
manage users via IP addresses, user names, addresses,
departments or payment method. IMS also enables iBasis
Network administrators to manage customers by service-type.
By combining user and service profiles, iBasis Network
administrators can construct common user groups with
which they can associate rating schemes. These user/service
profiles are also used to authenticate and manage
access to the iBasis Network and its services, as
well as to automate mediation, billing and collection.
Based on the Oracle
platform and operating on all leading UNIX hardware
systems, IMS is a fault-tolerant, distributed system,
consisting of a Master Database, Application Server
and RADIUS Servers. The product supports a variety
of different rating methods including time, volume,
geographical location, and pre-paid card services,
providing a flexible, highly customizable solution.
About Belle Systems
A/S
Belle Systems A/S is a leading global software producer
specializing in advanced IP service provisioning,
management and billing systems for telcos, Internet
service providers (ISPs), leased-line operators, cable
TV operators and corporate enterprises. The company
has been providing management solutions for the on-line
and telecommunications market since 1984, and has
completed installations at a number of large telecommunications
companies and Internet service providers.
Belle Systems is a
privately held company with investment funding from
Internet-working market leader Cisco Systems, and
IT venture capitalists, Index Ventures, Vertex Management
and General Atlantic Partners. Headquartered in Holbaek,
Denmark and with additional offices in Singapore and
the UK. Belle Systems employs more than 150 people
worldwide.
Belle Systems is a
member Cisco Systems Inc.'s New World Ecosystem programme
and has strategic development and commercial relationships
with IT industry leaders, such as Hewlett-Packard,
Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Groupe Bull, Unisys and
ICL.
More information on
Belle Systems is available at http://www.bellesystems.com
About iBasis
Founded in 1996, iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS) is the global
leader in international Internet telephony. iBasis
uniquely combines a superior technology platform,
premium Internet bandwidth and proprietary Assured
Quality Routing™ (AQR) software to deliver toll quality
Internet telephony services to tier one carriers and
other international service providers. The iBasis
Network™, a global, high-capacity Internet communications
network, is the world's largest international Cisco
Powered NetworkTM for Internet Telephony. The company
can be reached at its worldwide headquarters in Burlington,
Massachusetts, USA at 781-505-7500 or on the Internet
at www.ibasis.net.
iBasis has a long-standing
strategic relationship with Cisco, as an Alliance
Partner, an Ecosystem Partner and one of only 21 Cisco
Service Provider Global Accounts.
Except for historical
information, all of the expectations, projections
and assumptions contained in the foregoing press release
constitute forward-looking statements under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve
risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from such
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, the considerations described as "Risk Factors"
in the company's prospectus dated November 9, 1999,
and the company's other SEC filings.
###
iBasis,
iBasis Internet Telephony Hosting, The iBasis Network
and Assured Quality Routing are registered trademarks
of iBasis, Inc.
Cisco and Cisco Powered Network are registered trademarks
of Cisco Systems, Inc.
All
other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
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