iBasis hopes to attract some interest on the strength of the Skype win last week. That’s good for them, but when they seek to twist the facts to benefit them, they are no better than a reporter or analyst leaving out the correct information so they don’t foul up the story or perspective they are seeking to deliver.
So in the announcement they put out today about their CEO being at some analyst conference this week they took AT&T’s announcement way out of context when it comes to the consumer market. The points listed under AT&T Consumer clearly spells out the rationale, and more importantly highlights their CallVantage service.
All one has to do is connect the dots. AT&T drops trying to sell local dial tone and long distance to consumers because that market either has been owned for years by the local RBOC’s who now offer bundled service or the cable companies have taken customers. A second reason is that some consumers have replaced their home line with a cell phone. That audience is prime for VoIP, which is about all that iBasis has to really hang on, so by throwing a big name in, they hope to attract attention.
A better strategy would have been to highlight their termination agreements, network, QoS and other strengths they have rather than just be like Mike Tyson was over the weekend, overmatched.