VIP Calling Starts Hong Kong JV

VIP Calling Inc., an US-based provider of wholesale international Internet telephony services, has entered into a joint venture with Microworld Limited, a local provider of telephony and VOIP applications, to open a Hong Kong office.

The new office will target traditional carriers and firms that have been awarded PNETs (Public Non-exclusive Telecommunications Service) licenses by the Hong Kong’s Office of Telecommunications.

“Voice-over-IP is, without question, the most significant new telecommunications technology in years,” said Norman Chan, managing director of VIP Calling (Hong Kong) Limited and Microworld Limited. “High-quality voice calls and faxes can be routed over the Internet at very low cost offering a significant competitive advantage to telecommunications service providers who adopt it.”

VIP Calling is a wholesale Internet Telephone Service Provider (ITSP) that delivers voice and real-time fax services globally.

The ITSP’s customers, mainly switch based carriers, terminate their international calls over the the company’s VIP Calling Network which are then routed to various points of presence (POPs) around the world.

“Hong Kong’s newly deregulated telecommunications market is ideally suited to VIP Calling’s Network,” said Chan.

“As new and existing telecommunications companies compete for market share, they will inevitably turn to the technology. The cost advantages are overwhelming,” he said.

A strategic partner of networking leader, Cisco Systems, VIP Calling will purchase more than US$10 million worth of Cisco gateways and switches to deploy in its facilities around the world.

“Cisco uses us as a showcase,” said Chan. “We are the first live implementation outside of the USA of the Cisco VOIP equipment.”