Iristel, the Canadian company, has announced its expansion into Kenya after defeating Safaricom in court.
This expansion gives Iristel a presence in Africa as it seeks to expand its diverse portfolio of communications solutions into new emerging markets.
Iristel CEO Samer Bishay says the company will start with wholesale services and gradually expand its product offerings in the coming months.
“For this initial rollout of our global expansion, we will provide the capability to purchase Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunks, which can be aggregated with our onnet footprint, and Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs),” said Bishay.
The global telecommunications service provider’s entry into the Kenyan market follows a legal battle with leading local telco Safaricom, which had previously blocked the Canadian-owned firm’s entry.
After the Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal dismissed a case in which Safaricom sought to terminate a contract with Iristel Kenya Limited, the telco will now offer internet-based calls through Safaricom’s network.
According to star, “The company’s voice service provides extensive, facility-based local telephone number coverage and inbound voice origination service, allowing OTT and voice service providers to offer innovative voice and messaging (SMS) services to their business or consumer end users.”
This wholesale service collects all calls to Iristel-managed phone numbers and routes them to one or more customer IP addresses.
Customers of Iristel use this service to provide next-generation primary line voice services, supplement their toll-free numbers with more cost-effective local numbers that also give a local touch, or develop new mobile or OTT-based consumer applications.
The service is distinctive in providing providers with near-universal local service reach, network scale, and routing flexibility.
The firm’s entry into the Kenyan market was delayed because Safaricom sought to cancel the contract due to allegations that Iristel Kenya would engage in SIM boxing, a threat to national security.
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