iBasis, Inc. (OTCBB: IBAS), a leader in international long distance, VoIP, and prepaid calling cards, today announced that it has established an interconnection with Skype, the global Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Internet telephony company, to provide worldwide call termination services over its global VoIP network. iBasis will carry calls originating from Skype’s soon to be launched SkypeOut service that will enable users of Skype’s application to place phone calls to any phone in the world.

Skype’s Peer-to-Peer application is the fastest growing voice communications offering worldwide. The free software, which enables users to use their PCs to make free calls to other Skype users, has been downloaded more than 16 million times since its launch in August 2003. The SkypeOut application will allow users to prepay to place calls to regular landline and mobile phones worldwide.

«Skype is delivering on the Big Promise of Internet telephony, which has always been about innovation — the creation of new services and new business models that spawn a new era of growth in global communications,» said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. «By providing consumers an exciting new choice, SkypeOut will dramatically accelerate the growth of phone calls over the Internet, which already account for more than 10% of all international calls.»

«With iBasis’ experience in carrying huge volumes of calls and Skype’s incredible growth, this is an agreement that fits us both perfectly,» said Niklas Zennstrom, Skype’s CEO and co-founder. «Together, we can grow the worldwide consumer use of Internet telephony by providing easy access to affordable high quality service.»