Primus Expands VoIP Through Interconnection Agreement

September 20, 2002 -- Integrated voice, data, Internet and hosting service provider Primus Telecommunications Group Inc. (PrimusTel.com) announced on Thursday that it has signed an interconnection agreement for the exchange of VoIP traffic with Telecom Columbia subsidiary ColTelecom.

Telecom Columbia, says Primus, is the largest fixed telecommunications provider in Columbia, and has become a partner in Primus’s open settlement protocol network, which uses open standards to exchange VoIP traffic.

The addition of ColTelecom to the network, says Primus, will allow the company to offer increased coverage for improved quality of service on voice traffic terminating in Columbia. The interconnection agreement will also give Primus an improved cost structure when terminating calls in Columbia.

"Our agreement with Telecom Colombia's ColTelecom provides Primus with a key relationship in Colombia, which is an increasingly important market for international telecommunications," said John Melick, co-president of Primus telecommunications, Inc. and one of the principal developers and implementers of Primus's VoIP initiatives. "Primus will be able to terminate its increasing volumes of traditional voice and VoIP traffic in Colombia through the country's largest and most established carrier. With Telecom Colombia participating as an OSP partner, they will have the ability to send VoIP traffic around the world and to receive traffic from PTTs and qualified carriers in other countries."