Voice variety
Telefonica, which owns mobile operator O2 - has moved to strengthen its unified communications (UC) offering by acquiring Internet telephony company JAJAH for €145 million (~£130 million).
As the PC and telco sectors continue to converge, so do their networks, and end-users increasingly expect to be able to switch between networks according to their availability, efficiency and performance.
JAJAH specialises in offering Internet telephony solutions to both consumers and enterprise. The former primarily use these services to make cheap long-distance phone calls, while the latter are looking towards UC, in which all the various methods of communication are rationalised through a computing hub. But Telefonica may well be planning to bring UC to the consumer.
Matthew Key, Chairman and CEO of Telefónica Europe, said: "The acquisition of JAJAH broadens the scope of our communications offering and opens up new capabilities in the voice communication space. People using social networking sites such as Twitter now have an even wider range of communications channels available, and have the option of speaking directly to each other as well as communicating by text or keyboard."
JAJAH will continue to operate as a semi-autonomous brand, but will be governed by Telefonica Europe, which is expected to be the first division to introduce JAJAH-derived services.
