iBasis Names Retail Exec

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- iBasis, Inc. (OTCBB: IBAS), the leader in Internet-based voice communications, today announced that it named Jonathan Kaplan Vice President of Prepaid Solutions, to lead the company's recently launched entry into the retail prepaid market. The retail prepaid calling card business, in the U.S. and worldwide, is one of the fastest growing segments of the telecommunications industry. According to forecasts from industry analyst firm Atlantic-ACM, revenues from calling cards sold in the U.S. will grow from $3.7 billion in 2002 to $5.1 billion in 2005. "Unlike many smaller providers of prepaid cards and even the ILECs, iBasis has a worldwide VoIP network, which enables us to provide high quality service, equal to that of the largest and most established IXCs and PTTs, but with the much lower cost structure of the public Internet," said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. "Jonathan's expertise in retail prepaid cards and his experience within the industry will help us to develop productive and lasting relationships with major distributors, who are the cornerstone of the prepaid business. As this business ramps up we expect to achieve a significant contribution from retail prepaid margins and cash flow, which are typically higher than those in the wholesale business." iBasis' entry into the retail prepaid market is a natural progression of the services it has been providing to prepaid calling card operators through its IP CallCard billing and consumer account management platform and global network. Kaplan leads the iBasis Prepaid team in growing its existing prepaid business and developing the retail business in the U.S. and international markets. Prior to joining iBasis, Kaplan held executive and senior management positions with long distance carriers and prepaid calling card distributors including IDT, Horizon Phone Card, and LD Exchange, and founded Telecom Advisors, a prepaid calling card master distributor. iBasis Inc.