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iBasis Interconnects with Econet, Leading Pan-African Mobile Network, for International Fixed and Mobile Traffic Exchange

BURLINGTON, MA— May 12, 2005 — iBasis, Inc. (OTCBB: IBAS), a leader in international long distance, VoIP, and prepaid calling cards, today announced that Econet Satellite Services (ESS), the primary international carrier for Econet Wireless International and other mobile and fixed operators, has interconnected with The iBasis Network™ for international voice services. The interconnection enables Econet to route international voice traffic over The iBasis Network, the leading global VoIP network, and provides iBasis with greater capacity for completing fixed and mobile calls to key African and Asian markets.

Econet is benefiting from iBasis' PremiumCertified™ international routing product, which ensures the highest quality of service for fixed, mobile, and consumer VoIP providers. With the growing dominance of mobile telephony throughout Africa, mobile operators are looking for a stable routing platform that can provide reliable quality for international calls. With PremiumCertified, iBasis provides a portfolio of more than 500 routes that have met or exceeeded the iBasis Retail Quality Index benchmark over an extended period. PremiumCertified quality is in part the result of iBasis' sophisticated network performance monitoring and call routing systems, which are based on the company's patent-pending Assured Quality Routing® technology.

"Our interconnection with Econet greatly enhances our ability to exchange both fixed and mobile traffic in this newly deregulated region," said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. "We look forward to working with Econet, a leading provider that shares our commitment to quality, which is essential for continued market share growth."

"As a provider of high quality voice services, iBasis is committed to offering a consistent level of quality for international calls to many countries, an optimized international voice routing solution and excellent customer service, which makes them a valuable addition to our network of interconnect partners," said Nic Rudnick, Commercial Director of Econet.

According to the ITU, mobile subscriber growth was expected to reach 17% during 2004. However, to maintain the momentum of growth, mobile operators are beginning to focus on affordability of services. As a result, pan-regional mobile network operators in Africa are adopting VoIP for its cost advantages, quality, and ability to accommodate rapid network expansion.

About Econet

The Econet Group has established itself over the past seven and a half years as a successful and innovative mobile telecommunications business, principally involved in cellular network operations, provision of Internet access services, Retail calling products in the European market and international carrier services, mainly in the emerging economies of Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Botswana, and Lesotho, and more recently in New Zealand and Kenya. Towards this end, the Group operates or has material investments in four operational GSM mobile networks in Nigeria, Botswana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe and in two networks pending launch in New Zealand and Kenya, and focuses on delivering a high return on capital by stimulating revenues through market segmentation, providing quality customer care and product innovation, and managing capital expenditure levels and operating costs across its operations. Econet Satellite Services Ltd ("ESS"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Econet Group ("Econet"), is a facilities based provider of wholesale international carrier services to fixed and mobile telecommunications operators in Africa and Asia.

About iBasis

Founded in 1996, iBasis (OTCBB: IBAS) is a leading wholesale carrier of international long distance telephone calls and a provider of retail prepaid calling services, including the Pingo™ web-based offering and disposable calling cards, which are sold through major distributors and available at retail stores throughout the U.S. iBasis customers include many of the largest telecommunications carriers in the world, including AT&T, Cable & Wireless, China Mobile, China Unicom, MCI, Sprint, Skype, Telefonica, Telenor, and Telstra. iBasis has carried more than 13 billion minutes of international voice over IP (VoIP) traffic over its global Cisco Powered™ network, and is one of the ten largest carriers of international voice traffic in the world1. For three consecutive years service providers named iBasis the best international wholesale carrier in ATLANTIC-ACM's annual International Wholesale Carrier Report Card2. iBasis was also ranked among the fastest-growing technology companies in New England in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Technology Fast 50 programs sponsored by Deloitte & Touche. The Company can be reached at its worldwide headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA at 781-505-7500 or on the Internet at www.ibasis.com.

The New England Technology Fast 50 program is presented by Deloitte & Touche and Hale and Dorr, in association with the sponsor, Mazonson Inc. In addition, Mass High Tech and Trinity Communications are associated with the program.

Assured Quality Routing, ConnectPoint, and iBasis are registered marks, Pingo, DirectVoIP, The iBasis Network, Internet Central Office, Internet Branch Office, and IP CallCard are trademarks of iBasis, Inc. Cisco and Cisco Powered are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

   
 
 
     

 

 


1 Telegeography 2003 data compared with iBasis annualized Q1 2004 traffic volume.

2 ATLANTIC-ACM International Wholesale Carrier Report Card—2002, 2003, & 2004.

Assured Quality Routing and iBasis are registered marks, DirectVoIP and The iBasis Network are 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.

Except for historical information, all of the expectations, projections and assumptions contained in the foregoing press release, including those relating to the company's current expectations regarding revenue growth, sources of revenue, margin improvement, profitability, future capital expenditures, and cash flows 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, (i) the extent of adoption of the company's services and the timing and amount of revenue and margin generated by these services; (ii) fluctuations in the market for and pricing of these services; and (iii) the other considerations described as "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Forms 10-K and 10-Q, and the company's other SEC filings. We have no current intention to update any forward-looking statements.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Data
The Company provides certain financial data in addition to providing financial results in accordance with GAAP. This data is not in accordance with, or an alternative to GAAP, and may be different from Non-GAAP financial data used by other companies. This Non-GAAP financial data includes average revenue per minute, which the Company believes provides useful information, to both its management and investors about the Company's current performance.