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Rebtel Beefs Up Development Chops by Snagging Microsoft Mobile Engineer Daniel Forsman as VP of Product

San Francisco, CA / Stockholm, Sweden August 11, 2011 – Rebtel, the world’s second-largest mobile VoIP company after Skype (based on revenue), today announces the appointment of Daniel Forsman, Vice President of Product Development in Europe. Forsman, a former Microsoft Mobile engineer, is responsible for driving product innovation and the expansion of the existing engineering team at Rebtel’s headquarters in Sweden.

Forsman has a wealth of experience in the mobile industry and has been a computer engineer for nearly 15 years. In his most recent role as Senior Lead Program Manager at Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash., he directed the global implementation of the company’s mobile services, including Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail, Marketplace and MyPhone. This was one of several management positions Forsman held in over a decade at Microsoft.

“We are always looking for innovative ways to engage with our users and continuously focus on developing our applications to ensure we meet the demands of our growing customer base,” said Andreas Bernström, CEO of Rebtel. “Daniel is going to be integral to driving forward our product development plans. He adds vigor to our team, and we are confident his flare and experience will take innovation to the next level at Rebtel.”

“I’ve always admired Rebtel from afar,” commented Forsman. “Its growth rate is impressive; it has a loyal fan base and a fantastic brand. It’s great to be on board, and I am looking forward to getting started.”

Along with Mr. Forsman’s appointment, Rebtel is announcing plans to increase its headcount by 50 percent over the next 12 months, with plans to open a U.S. office before the end of the year to better service its North American customer base.

By: Alex Drewniak, August 12th, 2011 Tags: , , ,

Rebtel Reaches 10 Million Users During Record-Breaking Twelve Months

Stockholm, Sweden – March 9th 2011 – Rebtel, the world’s second largest mobile VoIP company after Skype, today announces it has surpassed 10 million users worldwide. This profitable start-up has had a record breaking twelve months and increased revenues by more than 120% to $40 million in 2010. Rebtel’s figures show it is currently growing five times faster than Skype and plans to continue this trend by almost doubling its revenue to $75 million by the end of 2011 with a current run-rate of $55 million.

Rebtel has made significant strides since its inception in 2006 with over 1 billion minutes of international calls logged and a total of 200 million calls connected. The company attributes its success to its commitment to the customer and its dedication to innovation. Ten new hires were recently made in the research and engineering team to strengthen Rebtel’s mobile application credentials and deliver free and cheap international calls through iPhone, Blackberry and Android applications.

These award-winning mobile offerings have helped Rebtel to cement consumer loyalty, double its customer base in 2010, and achieve an all time high on its customer satisfaction survey in February 2011 with 98% of users stating they would recommend Rebtel to a friend. Rebtel’s word of mouth recommendations are an integral part of its growth, as it drives registrations and accounts for 65% of new user registrations.

Rapid expansion into Africa, Asia and the Middle East has also contributed to the increase in customer base. Free international calls to mobiles were enabled in Algeria, Bahrain and Jordan and rates have been lowered to Egypt and the above countries (please click here for further information on reduced rates).

Alexander Michael, Principal Analyst at Frost and Sullivan, comments: “We nominated Rebtel for our emerging company of the year award as we are impressed by its revenue figures, high growth rate and quality of service. I have long been a Rebtel user because it is easy to use and I can rely on it to connect me with my family and friends abroad. Rebtel has a strong brand with a loyal user base and is definitely one to watch this year.”

Andreas Bernström, CEO at Rebtel, says: “These are fantastic results, which confirm Rebtel is a serious player in the mobile VoIP market. We are thrilled to be growing at such a rate and plan to keep up this pace for the rest of 2011 and beyond. We have a detailed plan of action for the coming months and will be releasing more innovative and viral applications that help us deliver high quality and low cost international calls for the consumer market.”

For further information about how Rebtel works on feature phones and smartphones, please click here.

By: Alex Drewniak, March 14th, 2011 Tags: , , , ,

U.S.-Based Africans Divided On Favorite Phones But United On International Calling Service Preferences

San Francisco – April 21, 2010 – iPhone is the favorite among Egyptians in the U.S, while Ugandans here favor the BlackBerry.  Samsung and Nokia phones tie for first preference among Sierra Leoneans living in America, and the Zambians dig Nokias.

Those findings and more come from a just-released study of international calling habits and preferences among Africans living in the U.S., provided by the Internet phone company, Rebtel.

  • Saturdays and Sundays are the days that most Africans abroad call home, although Zambians prefer Saturdays, while Sunday is more popular among Egyptians, Ugandans and Sierra Leoneans.
  • The largest number of calls from the U.S. to Egypt, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia originate in primarily Eastern and Mid-western states.
  • The vast majority of calls go to mobile phones vs. landlines.

Among the survey respondents, 73.2% of calls are to family, 16.1% are to friends, and only 9.6% call business associates at home.

Top Three U.S. States Calling:

  • Egypt: New York, New Jersey, California
  • Uganda: Minnesota, Massachusetts, Texas
  • Zambia: Ohio, Illinois, Maryland

Of the Africans participating in the survey, 65.4 % said Rebtel call quality was noticeably better than other phone services for calling family abroad; 79.7% said Rebtel was easier to use.  And well over half – 61.8% – said Rebtel rates consistently beat the competition.

Starting this month Rebtel, which works with any carrier or phone, cut its calling rates to a handful of African nations.

“There is absolutely no need to pay traditional carriers’ crazy rates when you want to talk to your family back home on the weekends,” said Andreas Bernström, Rebtel CEO.  “Nor do you have to risk getting ripped off by calling cards. Just say, ‘No’ to the old way of calling, and give Rebtel a try.”

Founded in 2006, Stockholm-based Rebtel was established to give people around the world an alternative to mobile operators’ rip-off rates for making international calls. Today, thousands of Africans living in the U.S. use Rebtel every day to call family at home.

Rebtel has been ranked No.1 in international calling by Technology Appraisals and has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and The International Herald Tribune for its unique calling service.

By: Alex Drewniak, April 21st, 2010 Tags: , , , , , ,

Overseas Filipinos Cheated by Calling Cards Switch to Internet Calling

STOCKHOLM – March 18, 2010 – The average overseas Filipino has been cheated out of hundreds of dollars by calling cards that don’t deliver the minutes promised, according to new research by Rebtel, the Internet phone company used by more than 4 million people every day for their international calls.

Overseas Filipinos said they were cheated out of $500 on average by fraudulent calling cards, and many said they had been ripped off for up to $3,500 or more, according to Rebtel’s survey of more than 1,000 customers who regularly use Rebtel to call the Philippines.

As of December 2008 there were more than 7.5 million Filipinos working abroad, the most recent figures available from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration. Wikipedia puts the numbers between 8.7 million to 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, equivalent to about 11 percent of the total population of the Philippines.

Sick and tired of calling card fraud, overseas Filipinos said they switched to Internet-based calling services like Rebtel, that starting today lets them call home for just 0.109 USD/min to landlines, 0.129 USD/min to mobiles.

Of the Rebtel customers who previously used calling cards to stay in touch with calling family and friends at home, 61 percent said calling cards were not trustworthy and 72 percent said they regularly received fewer minutes than promised.

In contrast, 76 percent of survey respondents said Rebtel consistently offered lower rates than calling cards or other international calling services. And, because there are no special PIN numbers to remember or long international phone numbers to enter when using Rebtel, 83 percent of respondents said Rebtel was easier to use. Finally, 71 percent said call quality is better or much better with Rebtel than any of the cards or services the survey participants had used previously.

“No one makes calling the Philippines from 50 countries around the world easier, cheaper, or with better sound quality than Rebtel,” said Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Stockholm-based Rebtel. “Call your family and friends at home and use any phone you like – mobile or landline. These are the world’s lowest calling rates to the Philippines, bar none.”

By: admin, March 18th, 2010 Tags: , , , , , , ,