ITW 2018’s hallways were filled with the buzz that an emerging newcomer, Tofane Global (“TOFANE”), was about to propel itself as a leading global operator with two back-to-back announcements for major acquisitions: SFR International Carrier Services, MEO International Carrier Services and Altice Dominicana International Carrier Services of Altice N.V., and iBASIS, a subsidiary of Royal KPN N.V.
On September 13, 2018, TOFANE completed its acquisition of the international voice carrier business of Altice Europe N.V.
On February 8, 2019, TOFANE confirmed its closing of the iBASIS acquisition, making the company a leading communications solutions group overnight and enabling operators and digital players worldwide.
Within six months, Group CEO Alexandre Pébereau, achieved the ambitious plan to own and operate both companies under the new rebranded iBASIS, with all companies together representing an estimated USD 1+ billion in annual revenue, leaping to the third largest wholesale voice operator, working with 1,000+ customers worldwide and 300 employees across 18 offices on four continents.
Through the M&As, TOFANE ensured that iBASIS retained its long-standing partnership with KPN for voice, roaming, mobile data, transmission, and IoT. Immediately, Altice Europe N.V. and iBASIS customers received the benefit from combined market coverage, voice volumes, and an expanded portfolio of mobile data and Internet of Things solutions.
M&As AND INTEGRATION AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT
Through the acquisition, traffic consolidation across merged entities has:
- Expanded Direct Network Operators connections to over 300
- Increased fixed and mobile destinations to 2,000+
- Increased the international voice business by:
- Doubling traffic volume, including a third in retail traffic
- Adding + 80 new interconnects
With the objective to become a single consolidated network by the end of 2019, iBASIS already completed alignment of financial accounts, pricing development, routing strategies and building capacity, while growing the business, managing margin risk, and minimizing provisioning and resources planning on both sides of the process. iBASIS has taken a commercially-led approach to consolidation, including:
- Maintaining flexibility to support multiple billing entity requirements of our global business relationships
- Investing in the iBASIS network to accommodate expansion beyond the current combined volumes and
forecast growth - Evaluating partner commercial simplification and legal entity obligations for a partner consolidation and interconnect plan enabling prompt migration and avoiding contractual changes
Ninety-five per cent of partners have been contacted and are engaged with iBASIS to build any required new trunks and to complete a swift migration to a simplified operating model.
POWERED PARTNERSHIPS, PORTFOLIO AND BUSINESS MODELS
Within weeks of the iBASIS acquisition and the consolidation of assets, the company announced a series of new partnerships powering its portfolio with new offerings and integrated solutions.
Within the first five months, iBASIS confirmed broadening its offering through strategic relationships with:
Qroam, the first wholesale roaming trading platform, to enable its mobile customers with easier access to attractive commercial roaming rates (Inter Operator Tariffs) for medium to smaller roaming volumes in a more efficient and automated way
AMEEX Mobile Exchange, a global independent provider of SMS solutions for mobile operators and enterprises, to launch a suite of end-to-end Mobile Messaging solutions to enhance the monetization of SMS
Eseye, the UK-based industrial IoT/M2M connectivity specialist, expanding its global cellular connectivity leveraging iBASIS’ global private secure network and regional gateways to enable its customers to access device data
Mobileum, the leader in roaming and analytics solutions for telecom business transformation, delivering value-added roaming services like Steering of Roaming, Signaling Firewalls, Border Roaming Management, and Virtual Home Environment
Nordic Semiconductor, the market leader in Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, selecting iBASIS for global LTE-M and NB-IoT delivering ultra-easy, automatic, and instant cellular IoT connectivity when using its nRF9160 SiP module
iBASIS is also strengthening its engagement with leading industry groups dedicated to fighting fraud. An anchor member in the joint initiative of the ITW Global Leaders Forum (GLF) and i3Forum. iBASIS is committed to implementing the I3F Code of Conduct (CoC), in which the GLF endorsed four KPIs identified by the i3Forum for international carriers to adopt a standardized approach to the measurement of fraud on their networks.
CUSTOMERS FIRST TO THE FUTURE
iBASIS is taking the lead in developing key solutions to fight new waves of fraud and unconventional telecoms usage, address new monetization opportunities and meet the demands of a 5G future.
iBASIS is implementing a series of key initiatives to optimize anti-fraud, risk management and business assurance across its entire portfolio. New specialists hired to lead the strategy across the group include Malick Aissi, Vice President of Business Assurance and Risk Management Services, and Bruno Coindre, Vice President, Messaging Solutions.
It is helping customers to capture and secure revenues from massive growth in A2P (Application to Person) messaging volumes expected to increase by 20% year on year over the next 4 years, by offering a CAPEX-free solution deployable in weeks.
On the strength of its 4G leadership and partnerships with KPN, Portugal Telecom, SFR, and Altice Dominicana, iBASIS continues to build close relationships with mobile operators, helping them through their transformation agenda and the challenges of 5G evolution.
RECOGNITION AND EVOLUTION
In October 2018, TOFANE won “Best Strategic Acquisition” at the 14th Global Carrier Awards. The recognition followed by the 2019 Verizon Partner Summit recognition for “Excellence in Solutions Delivery and for Most Innovative Program,” as well as “Best Innovative Acquisition of the Year” and “Best IPX Service Provider” at the 2019 Global Carrier Community Awards in May.
The year of kept promises has delivered on each and every goal set forth through the complex acquisition and integration process. What’s more, the new partnerships and solutions emerging have set the tone for iBASIS to continue to put their customers first, so they can be first in achieving their own ambitions.
ABOUT iBASIS
iBASIS is the leading communications solutions provider enabling operators and digital players worldwide to perform and transform. Powered by Tofane Global, the new iBASIS is the first independent communications specialist, ranking third largest global wholesale voice operator and Top 3 LTE IPX vendor with 660+ LTE destinations. With the integration of Tofane’s acquisition of the Altice Europe N.V. international voice carrier business in France, Portugal, and the Dominican Republic, iBASIS today serves 1,000+ customers across 18 offices worldwide.
For more information, visit www.iBASIS.com.