Speaking to Comms Business Magazine, TalkTalk Business Managing Director Charles Bligh said that the acquisition was great news for the channel.
“Over the last five year we have a great data story based upon our data offering from more that 3000 exchanges and are now set to accelerate with a volume based wholesale offering of SIP trunks based on our data connectivity. We believe that Tipicall represented the best SIP offering in the market and we will be offering free SIP trunks over our own network with really low termination rates.”
TalkTalk will also provide their wholesale SIP offering over third party data networks.
“We aim to disrupt the market with this offering,” said Bligh, adding, “We will drive the market forward by investing money in developing the service.”
TalkTalk Business clearly has SIP trunk market leader Gamma in their sights with Bligh claiming that their portal is better and also stating that BT has no interest in market disruption.”
News of the TalkTalk initiatives and acquisition comes at the same time as BT have announced a ten year run down of ISDN before switching all their network to an IP based technology model.
Interestingly TalkTalk are also taking an initiative with their SIP trunk offering with partners able to scale contracts up or down on a monthly basis without committing to a minimum term.
The company says SIP requires robust and reliable connectivity, so choosing TalkTalk as a single provider gives customers peace of mind that they have only a single point of contact with skilled account managers able to handle both voice and data queries, thereby reducing complexity and simplifying processes. In addition, we will maintain tIPicall’s market-leading, purpose-built provisioning, management and support portals.
Charles Bligh continued, “We have always thrived on being innovative and disruptive, delivering value back to our customers and providing a fantastic all-round service. Now we’re getting serious about SIP. We believe that our new SIP offering will deliver the best value prices combined with unbeatable reliability and comprehensive training, testing and on-boarding, giving our partners all the tools they need to succeed.”
TalkTalk Business already carries over 18 billion SIP minutes per annum, and with the market growing by 30% a year, there is a huge opportunity for channel partners to take advantage and maximise their revenue potential, especially as the switch-off of traditional voice in 2025 approaches, whilst ensuring an enhanced experience for their own customers.
Guy Miller, former Managing Director of Tipicall and now Director of Next Generation Voice Services, TalkTalk Business, commented, “We’re delighted to be teaming up with TalkTalk Business to transform the SIP market yet again. We believe that combining our passion for innovation with TalkTalk’s impressive and reliable network will create a platform that is the smart choice for partners looking to access the full connectivity portfolio whilst leveraging the underling cost base and scale for SIP services.”