Korea Internet Neutral Exchange (KINX) Partners With XConnect to Launch National Peering Federation for IP Communications

New Federation Will Enable Telephony Service Providers To Exchange VoIP and Multimedia Sessions Within a Secure, ENUM-based Multi-lateral Peering Federation

LONDON – 11 December, 2008  — XConnect, the leader in Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and Next Generation Network (NGN) peering, today announced it has entered an exclusive agreement with Korea Internet Neutral Exchange (KINX), Korea’s largest ISP exchange and collocation facility, to launch a Korean peering federation for IP communications. 

The new joint venture will provide advanced VoIP and NGN peering capabilities to Korea’s IP communications providers, including mobile, fixed-line, and Web-based service providers and ITSPs.  The agreement will also enable inter-federation peering with other initiatives around the globe, such as those formed through XConnect’s Global Alliance and DirectRoute services. Peering will enable Korean operators to exchange calls via IP interconnection, which increases call quality and reduces unnecessary transit costs. Peering also enables these operators to securely offer services that the PSTN cannot carry, such as video and high-definition voice, across network boundaries.

"Multi-lateral peering reduces risk and complexity in a chaotic market," said Camille Mendler, vice president at Yankee Group. "Service providers worldwide urgently need new interconnect solutions to handle the aggressive growth of VoIP and multimedia traffic."

SIP Peering, security, identity management
With all major leading Korean service providers already exchanging IP data packets through its facilities, KINX will use its partnership with XConnect to enable innovative ENUM registry and SIP interconnection services, as well as security and identity management capability, to deliver flexible and policy-based peering.

The full suite of XConnect’s services will be deployed. These services include a multi-lateral interconnect platform, SIP interoperability, and optimized routing via the multi-protocol XConnect directory server, available through both hosted and locally resident options.

Access to other federations will be made available in several forms. International settlement-free peering will be offered through XConnect’s Global Alliance. Federation member providers will also have the option to earn termination revenue from global wholesale carriers through XConnect’s DirectRoute service, and to form separate, customized bilateral peering agreements with their own policies and settlement terms.

The Korean national federation announcement follows XConnect’s development of similar national peering federations in the Netherlands and Brazil.   

“It’s no accident that Korea is now among the early adopters of secure and advanced voice peering federations,” said Eli Katz, XConnect Founder and CEO. “Korea is one of the most advanced VoIP markets in the world, with the world’s highest rate of broadband penetration. By federating through KINX – Korea’s largest IP interconnect exchange – we can jointly deliver to the country’s VoIP and NGN providers a ready-made aggregation point to enable mass-market adoption of new services, with improved quality and reduced cost.” 

Rolf Lumpe, XConnect Vice President - Asia, added, “We look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration in developing the Korean federation, as well as other peering and federation services throughout the Asia-Pacific region."

KINX CEO Seon-Yeong Lee noted: “We are delighted to join with XConnect in taking the lead in federation initiatives in Asia. By choosing XConnect as a partner, we have the leading experts in developing federations on our side, bringing a wide and flexible set of peering services to our customers.”