Access Providers to launch wireless VoIP

The company's chief executive Keith Ondarchie told ZDNet Australia  the VoIP product would be launched in July. AP chairman and ex-Primus chief Ravi Bhatia said the product was currently being painstakingly trialled internally.

"There is a good reason we're doing it slowly," he said. "Our particular customer set demands extremely high quality. Businesses depend on it [telephony], so we're not going to put a product out there which had a shade of doubt associated with it."

While Ondarchie -- also a veteran of the telecomms industry and former Uecomm CEO -- wouldn't say who AP was buying, he did confirm the timing.

"You will get a note during next week confirming an acquisition," he said.

"The type of acquisitions we're looking for is the type that will add value to our network as far as quality applications or products, or has a customer base that demands quality broadband services. Certainly mainly in the metropolitan areas."

"It may be a network provider, or an Internet service provider, or it might be someone else," he said.

Access Providers' VoIP plans were inspired by its partnership with Melbourne-based VoIP vendor My Telecom. AP works with the vendor to provide connectivity back to its head office from the large buildings it outfits with VoIP solutions.

This partnership, said Ondarchie, proved his company's network was of sufficient quality to support its own VoIP product for business use.

Access Providers was established in 2001 and sells symmetrical data connections ranging up to 20Mbps, primarily in the upper end of the SME market in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. Its wireless technology is based on the 802.16 standard commonly known as WiMax.