Wave of Swisscom shutdowns causes Internet telephony to grow
Internet service provider (ISP) iWay increased its revenue by 34 percent in the 2017 financial year, from 15.9 to 21.3 million Swiss francs. For the current year, iWay Managing Director Matthias Oswald expects another excellent year. The switch to "All IP" in connection with the shutdown of the analog networks by Swisscom is partly responsible for this.
Zurich-based iWay AG is one of Switzerland's leading Internet Service Providers (ISP) for private individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises. Founded in 1995, the company offers customized solutions in the areas of Internet access, VoIP telephony, e-mail, hosting and data centers. For the past year, iWay has been a wholly owned subsidiary of St.Gallisch-Appenzellische Kraftwerke SAK. Recently, the company provided information about its current economic figures and about new services.
Internet telephony as a growth area
Megatrends such as mobility and cloud computing mean that the need for reliable business communication is also growing among smaller companies, iWay announced at a media conference in mid-April. "The acceptance of unified communication and modern forms of collaboration has already become noticeably stronger and will continue to increase, especially in the area of smaller companies," says CEO Matthias Oswald. iWay will therefore also increasingly benefit from the combination of telephony, meeting solutions, messaging and mobile availability management at K-companies. In addition, Oswald expects strong growth in Internet telephony VoIP well beyond the current year as a result of the switch to "All IP" at Swisscom. "Internet telephony will remain an above-average growth area for us in the medium term. On the one hand, because the wave of cancellations at Swisscom is far from over. On the other hand, because many companies are not even concerned about the topic at the moment," says Oswald. Experience shows, however, that after the "forced" switch to Voice Over IP, many companies only become aware over time that there are attractive alternatives in Internet telephony. Specifically for SMEs, iWay offers what it claims is a unique product: a VoIP gateway that is connected downstream from an existing telephone exchange. This means that a company does not have to replace its existing switchboard at great expense, but still becomes VoIP-capable.
Unique service for IT companies
iWay also expects strong growth from "Virtual ISP," an innovative service for IT companies that is unique in Switzerland. As a Virtual ISP, any IT company can set up and manage automated fiber and DSL orders for its customers on a special partner portal on all city networks and the Swisscom network. iWay wholesale partners are thus in a position to act as ISPs for their customers under their own name, without having to set up complex network connections and conclude expensive contracts with Swisscom or other city networks. iWay can take over the entire business process with Virtual ISP on request, from configuring the customer routers to shipping them and invoicing them on behalf of the partner. "With Virtual ISP, any IT company can now become an Internet provider without having to worry about network-related matters," says Oswald. Finally, by the middle of the year, all IP telephony products will also be made available for Virtual ISP.
Information: www.iway.ch
