Level 3 launches residential VoIP, signs wholesale agreement with 8X8

VON, Santa Clara, Calif--Level 3 Communications launched two residential voice-over-IP services this week that it expects to be offering to more than 300 markets by year’s end.

This quarter, Level 3 will begin offering VoIP Enhanced Local Service (ELS), which it will market to cable operators, enhanced service providers, ISPs and inter-exchange carriers looking to offer residential local and long-distance VoIP services over broadband. The company also will offer HomeTone service, which is a hosted solution that adds calling features plus unified messaging and a personal locator service on top of the enhanced local service.

"We have a foot in telephony and a foot in the Internet. VoIP bridges them together," said Ronald Vidal, group vice president of emerging technologies at Level 3.

Level 3 will provide its service provider customers with local-service building blocks such as interconnection with local and long-distance carriers, signaling services, telephone numbers, billing, local number portability and E-911 emergency services. It also will offer operator assistance and directory services.

ELS is targeted at providers who want to operate their own switching infrastructure. HomeTone is more of a turnkey solution that enables new entrants to get into the market quicker by using Level 3’s softswitch and local network infrastructures. In addition to the features mentioned above, HomeTone offers Web-based account management.

"This allows other players to get in the market and do what they’re good at without having to do it all," Vidal said. "This may ultimately be a service that goes where the strongest brands are."

Vidal said Level 3’s new offering will allow new entrants into the market much the same way Virgin Mobile got into the wireless business. The company also announced that it has signed its first wholesale agreement with Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider 8X8. "Although we see ourselves as more of an OEM than a wholesaler," he said.

8X8 purchased Level 3’s VoIP Local Inbound and Voice Termination services to help support its Packet8 and Packet8 Virtual Office broadband service offerings. VoIP Local Inbound is local-calling infrastructure for call-centers and conferencing providers. Level 3 has been offering its Voice Termination service since 1999. It allows different types of carriers to terminate calls in the U.S. and abroad.

"There is a completely different supply chain developing that never existed in the PSTN," Vidal said.