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<h1><b><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:normal'><a
href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/05/1081017104255.html">http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/05/1081017104255.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1><b><font size=5 color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1><b><font size=5 color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1><b><font size=5 color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>SingTel
ready to break into web telephony<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></HEADLINE></h1>
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<p class=articledetails1><DATE><font size=3 color="#666666" face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>April 6, 2004<o:p></o:p></span></font></DATE></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'><BOD>Singapore
Telecommunications is teaming up with <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> internet phone start-up SIPphone
to offer low cost, and in some cases free, phone services over the web.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The deal,
expected to be announced today, will allow SIPphone - started by MP3.com
founder Michael Robertson - to route calls anywhere in the world over SingTel's
global phone network. SingTel and SIPphone, based in <st1:City w:st="on">San
Diego</st1:City>, initially will market the service in <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place>
and try to strike deals with other regional internet service providers to sell
packages of phone services.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>But the
SingTel-SIPphone deal's reach will be global: it will allow anyone using
special SIPphone gear, such as one of the company's phones or adaptors, to use
a new type of SingTel calling card to place calls cheaply from anywhere, to
anywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Customers
could buy the calling cards online, not just in <st1:place w:st="on">Asia</st1:place>,
when the new service starts later this month, said Richard Tan, SingTel's
vice-president of international carrier services. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>SingTel owns
Optus and has sizeable stakes in telecom firms in other countries including <st1:country-region
w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Indonesia</st1:country-region>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Thailand</st1:country-region> and the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Philippines</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<ISLANDAD>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Until
SIPphone linked up with SingTel, SIPphone users could use the service only by
calling other people with one of the company's phones or adaptors, which plug
into a high-speed internet outlet. Those calls are free, not counting the cost
of the SIPphone hardware. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>SIP stands
for session initiation protocol, the internet standard the technology uses. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>The
partnership is another sign of the power of "voice over internet
protocol", or VOIP, technology, which is disrupting the business models of
major phone companies and threatening to slash their profits. The technology
transforms a voice on the phone into digital packets, which then travel over
the web and are reassembled at their destination. Because they are carried over
the internet, and not a traditional phone line, calls are either free or heavily
discounted because they avoid many regulatory fees.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><font
size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>By using
VOIP, "the difference between local and long-distance [calling]
evaporates", said Mr Robertson.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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