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BITE Group And iBasis Announce Agreement For Exchange Of Mobile International Voice Services

^{Published on 2008-12-15 05:22:25 - Market Wire}
 

BURLINGTON, Mass.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS), a KPN affiliate, and BITE Group, one of the largest telecom groups in the Baltic countries, today announced that BITE has selected iBasis to carry its international mobile voice traffic from Latvia and Lithuania. The interconnection with iBasis enables BITE to more cost-efficiently route its international mobile voice traffic by leveraging The iBasis Network™, the leading global VoIP-based network, while expanding iBasis' ability to complete mobile calls in both countries.

BITE selected iBasis in order to take advantage of its quality mobile products portfolio, which was enhanced by the company's acquisition of KPN Global Carrier Service in October 2007. BITE is utilizing iBasis' Premium Voice service, which offers high quality and advanced features for mobile operators, including guaranteed calling line identification (CLI) and global roaming.

Resulting largely from its acquisition of KPN Global Carrier Services, iBasis has relationships with more than 100 mobile operators, and carries international traffic from KPN's Dutch, German, and Belgian operations. In addition to a reliable international voice product portfolio, iBasis offers a comprehensive set of value-added services for Mobile Operators and MVNOs. Called Mobile Matrix, the portfolio provides a wide range of value added mobile data services that can be hosted in iBasis' infrastructure., Mobile Matrix services enable mobile operators to roll out new revenue-generating offerings quickly and cost-efficiently.

Intense competition in mobile and international wholesale voice markets are driving operators worldwide to find more competitive solutions based on quality, efficiency, scale and profitability. Mobile operators are also looking for future-proof solutions that will help them compete in the new arena of converged technologies and services. BITE Group is the latest edition to a growing roster of operators who have found in iBasis a cost effective solution to today's market challenges.

"The migration of international voice traffic to mobile networks remains a major source of growth for operators worldwide," said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. "We are very pleased to add BITE to our increasing mobile customer base. Our proven resources and expertise in IP, combined with the expertise we acquired in KPN Global Carriers Services', enables us to enhance the growth, efficiency and profitability of leading mobile network operators such as BITE."

"As one of the largest telecom operators in the Baltic region, providing competitive international rates, quality products and excellent customer service to subscribers is critical to growing our market share," said Martin Amtoft-Christensen, CFO & Member of Management Board, BITE Group, "With iBasis we can more cost effectively bring global, high-quality and competitive services to our Latvian and Lithuanian customers, while facilitating our ability to offer from emerging converged IP-based products."

Like many telecommunications markets, growth in the Baltic region continues to be fuelled by mobile expansion. According to market research firm BuddeComm (March 2007), there were more than 2.3 million mobile subscribers in Latvia accounting for a mobile penetration of 102 percent, and 4.8 million subscribers in Lithuania comprising a mobile penetration of 134 percent. To sustain growth and profitability, mobile operators are increasingly focusing on expanding lifetime revenue and profit per customer, and increasing their cost efficiency.

About BITE Group

BITĖ Group is one of the largest international telecommunications groups in the Baltic region. The group, which was set up in 2005, consists of [ BITĖ Lietuva ] operating in Lithuania since 1995 and [ BITE Latvija ] established in 2005. Since 9 February 2007 the sole shareholder of BITĖ has been Mid Europa Partners. Mid Europa Partners is a leading independent private equity investment firm in Central and Eastern Europe. With its long-time experience in the dynamic telecommunications market, investments and professional team of employees, BITĖ Group is ready to ensure modern, high-quality and customer-friendly services for Latvian and Lithuanian customers.

About iBasis

Founded in 1996, iBasis (NASDAQ: IBAS) is a leading wholesale carrier of international long distance telephone calls and a provider of retail prepaid calling services and enhanced services for mobile operators. iBasis customers include KPN, KPN Mobile, E-Plus, BASE, TDC and many other large telecommunications carriers such as Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile, China Unicom, IDT, Qwest, Skype, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, and Yahoo. In October 2007, iBasis acquired KPN Global Carrier Services to create one of the three largest carriers of international voice traffic in the world (1), and KPN became a majority stockholder of iBasis. On a pro forma basis, the combined company carried approximately 24 billion minutes of international voice traffic in 2007. The Company can be reached at its worldwide headquarters in Burlington, Mass., USA at +1 781-505-7500 or on the Internet at [ www.ibasis.com ].

(1) Based on Telegeography 2007 and iBasis and KPN Global Carrier Services pro forma 2006 traffic.

iBasis and KPN are registered marks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Except for historical information, all of the expectations, plans and assumptions contained in the foregoing press release constitute forward-looking statements under Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to vary materially.For a description of certain of these risks and uncertainties please read the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic and current reports, all of which are available at [ www.sec.gov ]. Such forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made, and we have no current intention to update any forward-looking statements.