[asterisk-biz] Experimental/new VoIP rate search engine.

[Nitzan Kon]

Well, how to put it.. exposure is exposure. As a provider you'd
want to get your name out there even if your rates are not as
competitive as others.

Not to mention that if a provider does have such agreements
in place that allow them to achieve low rates to a certain
destination - having those rates searchable and displayed
as #1 lowest is sure to bring them customers interested in
those routes/rates.

But at the end of the day it's up to each provider to decide
if they'd like to be on there or not. You don't have to like
the idea to get customers from it, nor would we force anyone
to be on there if they'd like their rates removed. The idea 
is to find the lowest rates, so providers that do not compete 
on price aren't really critical to have in there.

There will also be other comparisons in the future too. 
Calling plan rates, quality (will have to figure out
how to measure "quality"), length in business, etc.

  -- Nitzan

--- On Sun, 1/4/09, Alex Balashov <abalashov at evaristesys.com> wrote:

> From: Alex Balashov <abalashov at evaristesys.com>
> Subject: Re: [asterisk-biz] Experimental/new VoIP rate search engine.
> To: "nk3569 at yahoo.com" <nk3569 at yahoo.com>, "Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion" <asterisk-biz at lists.digium.com>
> Cc: "Commercial and Business-Oriented Asterisk Discussion" <asterisk-biz at lists.digium.com>
> Date: Sunday, January 4, 2009, 2:43 PM
> Nitzan,
> 
> Interesting idea. I wonder, though, what incentive exists
> for providers to list their rates in a context where they
> are explicitly bidding against others.
> 
> Seems like the best rates come from negotiating discounts
> off the public termination rate deck (something far from all
> providers think is good to have) through volume commitments
> privately.
> 
> In other words, I think folks doing arbitrage are trying to
> avoid commodification of trunking as much as possible, even
> though that seems inevitable and kind of obvious.
> 
> On Jan 4, 2009, at 2:22 PM, Nitzan Kon
> <nk3569 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Hello providers! (those of you that are)
> > 
> > Due to the lack of one being available (that I know
> of),
> > I decided to start a VoIP rate search engine. The idea
> is
> > to throw in as many providers into the database as we
> can,
> > and let the search functionality find the cheapest
> routes
> > for any given destination.
> > 
> > To check it out, please visit:
> > http://www.comparevoipproviderrates.com/
> > 
> > If you are a provider and would like your rates
> displayed,
> > please email your rates in CSV format to rates
> NOSPAMat comparevoipproviderrates.com - format is:
> > dialprefix,destinate name,rate in US dollars
> > example: 1214,USA,0.01
> > 
> > destination name,dialprefix,rate is also acceptable.
> > 
> > Please feel free to discuss and let me know if you
> have
> > any comments or suggestions - or if you find any bugs.
> > This is brand new and will be a work-in-progress for a
> > while.
> > 
> >  -- Nitzan
> > 
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