May 23, 2012

MTN Business to Switch from LCR to SIP Trunking in New Cost-Effective Measure

By Devin Lavery
TMCnet Contributor

MTN (News - Alert) Business is set to replace the use of Least Cost Routing (LCR) with SIP trunking, in a move that executives believe will save money and move the company into a new age of telecommunication.

Once heralded as a game changer in fixed to mobile outbound voice communication, LCR may now be close to obsolete, according to a recent statement from MTN. Describing LCR as 'deceased,' it affirms the company's standpoint that "it is no longer viable for the telecommunications sector to push Least Cost Routing into the market going forward."

LCR involves mobile companies teaming up to find the cheapest route that a call can possibly take over several networks. Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert), or SIP trunking, is viewed as LCR's replacement. This newer technology is a system in which internets telephony service providers, delivering voice and video services over a data network.

SIP trunking services can also include desktop sharing and Web conferences.

Along with providing more services, SIP is also cheaper than LCR. Local calls using LCR typically cost MTN 72 cents per minute, while calls made using SIP cost just 26 cents. Justin Colyn, general manager of fixed mobile convergence at MTN business described SIP trunking as "more cost effective than traditional LCR, while simultaneously delivering feature rich voice communication."

"[This cost-effective switch] allows for the ability to reduce our fixed line calling costs for customers, which we did again by almost 20 percent in March 2012,” said managing executive Angela Gahagan-Thomson (News - Alert). “Today, we are significantly cheaper in the VoIP space than the rates being offered by our competitors, despite recent announcements.”

Edited by Braden Becker