Singapore, 5 April 2004 -- Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) has formed a strategic business partnership with SIPphone, Inc. to deliver SIP (Session Initiated Protocol) VoIP services globally.

San Diego-based SIPphone currently offers worldwide Internet calling, without additional calling charges, to its customers as long as both parties have SIPphones.  The SingTel and SIPphone partnership adds the ability for all SIPphone customers to call phone numbers on traditional public switched telephone networks (PSTN), including mobile phones, around the world.

SIP technology is the new standard for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) which allows users to make and receive calls over the public Internet.  To make a SIP call, users need to have a SIP phone or SIP adaptor, connect it to a broadband Internet connection and dial the desired phone number (SIP or PSTN). 

With the partnership, SIPphone will leverage SingTel’s extensive international infrastructure for wholesale voice delivery and competitive wholesale termination rates.  SingTel will benefit from SIPphone’s experience in the development and delivery of SIP VoIP services and have access to hardware manufacturers who are supporting SIPphone’s ‘Plug-N-Dial’ automatic configuration standard.

In the second quarter of 2004, SingTel and SIPphone will jointly offer SIP VoIP services in targeted Asian markets directly and in conjunction with regional carriers and broadband providers.

Mr Richard Tan, SingTel’s Vice President (International Carrier Services), said: “We are excited by this exclusive partnership with SIPphone which will see SingTel provide quality PSTN connectivity to SIPphone’s extensive base of users. 

“Besides being able to make SIP-to-SIP calls, users will now enjoy attractive rates when dialing SIP-to-PSTN calls, leveraging SingTel’s extensive global voice network.  In addition, we have worked closely with SIPphone to ensure a seamless and well integrated user experience when dialing both SIP-to-PSTN and PSTN-to-SIP calls.”

“SIP is going to change how we make phone calls just as MP3 changed how we listened to music,” said Mr Michael Robertson, SIPphone’s Founder and CEO.  “SingTel is showing exceptional vision by embracing the next wave of telecommunication.  Together, SingTel and SIPphone will work to ensure a phenomenal consumer experience that millions around the world can enjoy.”

SIP is an international standard similar to HTTP (web) and SMTP (email), used for initiating interactive communication sessions between users.  SIP can be used for telephony, Internet conferencing, events notification and instant messaging.  SIP was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) – a large open international community of network designers, operators and researchers – in September 1999.

Please refer to the attached Fact Sheet for more information.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fact sheet


What is SIP? 

SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is a signaling protocol for Internet conferencing, telephony, presence, events notification and instant messaging.  The protocol initiates call setup, routing, authentication and other feature messages to endpoints within an IP domain. 

How SIP works: 

To make and receive SIP calls, users need to purchase either:

a)      A SIP phone (which looks very similar to a standard phone) and have a broadband Internet connection along with an available port (RJ45) to plug it into the router or switch and an available IP address; or

b)      A SIP adaptor (which looks very similar to a small router) and plug it into a broadband Internet connection (see diagram below). 

The SIP phone acts as a dual mode analogue and IP phone.  At the same time, it allows the user to use the PC to surf the Net in parallel.   

Where to buy SIP products: 

These products are available on SIPphone’s website @ http://sipphone.com/order.  SIP phones work seamlessly worldwide as they are broadband phones which plug into RJ45 Ethernet plugs that are standard equipment in every country.   

Modes of calling:

a)     SIP-to-SIP – Both users need to have a SIP phone or adaptor to initiate and receive the calls.  The caller needs to dial the desired SIP number, which has the prefix 747 followed by a seven-digit number.  Callers need not pay any local or international calling charges as the calls are transmitted via the public Internet.

b)     SIP-to-PSTN – To call a non-SIP number (residential, business or mobile phone number), a SIP user needs to purchase calling card credits from SIPphone’s website.  The credits will be deducted accordingly whenever the user makes a SIP-to-PSTN call. 

c)      PSTN-to-SIP – The overseas PSTN user will call a Singapore access number and hear a voice prompt asking him to enter the SIP phone number he would like to call.  The caller pays for the international call to Singapore.  SingTel will then route the call to the SIP user over the public Internet.  The receiving party does not pay for the incoming call.

SingTel’s partnership with SIPphone:

SingTel provides its state-of-the-art international transmission/switching/IP network to facilitate calls between SIPphone’s users and the PSTN world, including mobile phones.  

SingTel and SIPphone will also work with Internet service providers (ISPs) in Asia to roll out SIP VoIP services in their countries.  For instance, the ISPs can bundle SIP phone services with their existing broadband offerings.