User:Eastmain/Rebtel

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Rebtel is a Mobile VoIP (Voice over IP) provider, founded in 2006 in Sweden by Hjalmar Winbladh and Jonas Lindroth. The Rebtel offices are located in Stockholm, Sweden and Luxembourg.

The Rebtel service allows for a new method of making international calls using your mobile phone. The technology facilitates low-cost mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-landline international calling and works by creating local land line numbers in both the country of origin and destination, routing the international part of the call over IP. For the user, this means only being charged for the rate of a local call by not having to pay for the international leg of the call. As opposed to other similar services offering calls leveraging VoIP technology, calls with Rebtel are made without any additional user-installed software, computers or Internet connections and work with any mobile phone and carrier.

History

 * Rebtel was registred in 2005 by Swedes Hjalmar Winbladh and Jonas Lindroth.


 * December 2006 Company launched at Innovate Europe.


 * June 2006 Rebtel.com/en & service launched.


 * September 2006 Rebtel $20M in external financing by Index Ventures and Benchmark Capital.


 * January 9 2007 Rebtel introduces partnership with Polish portal site Onet.pl.


 * March 2007 Red Herring announces Rebtel as the recipient of the Red Herring 100 Europe, an award given to the top 100 private technology companies based in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region each year.


 * May 2007 Rebtel.com/es in Spanish is launched.


 * January 2008 1.7 million created local Rebtel numbers.


 * January 2008 Rebtel becomes available in China, with local numbers in Shanghai.


 * January 2008 Rebtel launches their second Facebook application, "Group Talk". This lets users set up free international conference calls that can include both Facebook and non-Facebook users.


 * June 2008 Rebtel and the EasyGroup launch easyMobile.com partnership.


 * June 2008 Rebtel is compared by independent market research firm Technology Appraisals Limited, with 15 of the largest firms in the Mobile VoIP industry. Rebtel wins the comparative study and is crowned consistent price leader in the sector beating competitors Jajah, Mobivox and Truphone.


 * June 2008 Rebtel.com/fr in French is launched.

How It Works
The Rebtel service works by letting new users sign up and add international contacts with international phone numbers and get local land line numbers back. Subsequently, when users call the local numbers to get in touch with friends abroad, the international part of the call is routed over IP passing on substantial savings to the end user. By leveraging this particular technology of using local numbers for international acquaintances, callers are charged the cost of a local call without paying for the international leg. This Mobile VoIP technology is perceived as one of the most convenient as it liberates the end user from purchasing a special handset, from downloading additional third-party software to their handsets and from being forced to have access to an Internet connection to initiate a call.

Rebtel offer the service in two variations, Direct Calls and Smart Calls.

When making a Direct Call, users call the local land line number associated with their international contact, provided for them on the Rebtel website. The international leg of the call is routed over IP by Rebtel leaving users paying only for a local call and a fraction of a dollar as a fee to Rebtel.

Smart Calls are made in the same way, with one exception. When users call the local number assigned to their contact abroad, the contact calls them back on an appropriate local number displayed on the contact's phone. Both users only pay for the cost of a local call and circumvent the small fee charged by Rebtel. This type of Mobile VoIP service is particularly beneficial if the users have monthly bucket plans with inclusive local minutes from their regular carrier. With users benefiting from their local bucket plan and additional not paying Rebtel by making a Smart Call, they can make international calls for free for as many minutes as their bucket plan allows

Competitors
Since the service was officially launched in June 2006, several other other Mobile VoIP companies have surfaced offering similar services. In September 2006, Jajah launched their equivalent service enabling users with the means of making international mobile-to-mobile calling at local rates.

In June 2008, Jaxtr announced out-of-network international calling based on local numbers. Jaxtr also launched their paid services program.