Joanne Lee-Young
Sun
Skype, the much-lauded pioneer of free voice-over-Internet-protocol phone calls, has partnered with Linksys to launch a new made-in-B.C. handset that frees deskbound VoIP users from having to talk into their computers.
The “CIT2000 Internet Telephony Kit” will allow users to make free Skype calls from wherever they are in the home or office.
Richmond-based Ascalade Communications is the handset’s maker. Ascalade is investing in R&D in VoIP as part of its growth strategy, according to manager of business development Raymond Chow.
Use of Skype’s free Internet phone calls has grown rapidly and the Luxembourg-based company says it now has more than 170,000 users signing up everyday.
In September, eBay acquired Skype in hopes of eventually driving its online sales by allowing buyers and sellers to talk to each other instead of just trying to build trust via e-mail.
“This [the kit] is a product that is the initial fruit of our partnership with Skype. It shows where the market is heading and is the first in a line of products to come,” Tarun Loomba, Irvine, Calif.-based Linksys’s director of product marketing, said in an interview Wednesday.
The kit will be available starting next week from more than 3,000 online and street retailers, including Staples, Radio Shack, Amazon and Egghead, in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
Ironically, it won’t be on shelves in Canada even though the revolutionary technology for it was developed in Richmond.
Ascalade sells its products to brand giants, including NEC, Philips and Toshiba. Almost 85 per cent of its sales are currently to Europe, with revenues recently rising dramatically to $83.7 million US in 2004 from $12.7 million US in 2002.
The company focuses on products known as Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication (DECT) devices, the main standard for cordless phones in Europe.
A recent Federal Communications Commission ruling in the U.S. opened the door for Ascalade’s DECT products, but the standard has yet to be approved in Canada.
“The irony isn’t lost on us,” Loomba said, adding that Linksys is hoping to start sales in Canada by the end of the year.
“We look to a number of partners to develop products,” Loomba said. “We linked with Ascalade after a rigorous process. They were very quick to market, cost efficient and the key thing was their technical expertise in DECT.”
Ascalade declined to confirm that it is the original equipment-maker in this deal, but, in addition to Loomba’s comments, there is a public filing with the Foreign Communications Commission naming the Richmond company as the manufacturer.
Ascalade’s Chow said in an e-mail reply to Vancouver Sun questions: “While VoIP brings about the convergence of data, voice and video, we are starting to see a blurring in the roles of the traditional telecom and networking players.
“We recognize this evolution and are likewise designing and manufacturing a new segment of communication products that we can move into our traditional telecom distribution channels as well as new networking distribution channels.”
In September, Ascalade closed a $40-million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange, led by GMP Securities.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
