Net2Phone to announce strategic partnerships in 4Q05 -
Regional
Thursday, August 4, 2005
bnamericas.com
US VoIP provider Net2Phone (Nasdaq: NTOP) expects to announce several "very significant" strategic partnerships next quarter to boost the company's penetration in the Latin American VoIP market, Net2Phone's senior vice president and director José Colagrossi told BNamericas.
Colagrossi could not give details but said the company was at an advanced stage of negotiations. He added that the company is now signing on average two strategic partnerships in the region every quarter and that trend should accelerate in the short term.
"This company was built on the premise that VoIP technology would one day become the technology of choice for telecommunications in Latin America and we waited 10 years for that to happen. And it's finally happening," Colagrossi said.
Colagrossi brushed off the suggestion that the VoIP market was becoming very competitive saying that "competition is good." He could not give estimated market share percentages.
Net2Phone supplies VoIP solutions to broadband ISPs, portals, cable companies and other VoIP providers.
The company numbers among its partners: Cable & Wireless in the Caribbean; ETB in Bogotá, Colombia; Advanced Communications Network in Panama; A5 Ventures Advisory, which controls Hip Telecom in Brazil; and a few weeks ago signed a strategic partnership with Brazilian cable company TVA.
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Net2Phone has seen its largest growth in the residential segment but is now increasingly focusing on the enterprise side, including banks, airlines, and companies in the trade and tourist industries, Colagrossi said.
The executive said the company had little penetration in the government segment but recognizes the university sector is a growing market for VoIP and the company will be examining that area over the next 12 months with an eye to developing a solution.
"Selling to governments is a science in itself and it is a science we have not quite mastered yet, and to be honest it is not one of our highest priorities at this point," Colagrossi said.
Colagrossi admits that broadband penetration is still low in Latin America, but growth started speeding up considerably in 2004 and value-added services like VoIP are helping drive penetration.
"Broadband penetration is driving VoIP deployment, but VoIP deployment is also driving broadband penetration," Colagrossi said.
The executive sees the main drivers of VoIP coming from the bundling of services on the part of the partners, with helpdesks and other services included, as well as positioning VoIP as a complement to broadband and entertainment.
Colagrossi was unable to give revenue figures or growth estimates. |
