Case study
Maraval
BT Global IP Exchange helps
reseller improve voice quality and
service reliability for customers
calling Africa and beyond
For disadvantaged communities in Africa
the telephone can be a lifeline. Belgiumbased communications reseller Maraval,
a provider of those vital services, was
constantly battling to overcome poor voice
quality and service stability.
Recognising that there must be a better
way, Andy Tuna Hussein made contact with
BT. That proved to be a smart move.
Now, by interconnecting with BT Global
IP Exchange, Maraval is able to provide
higher quality for its voice customers at
value‑for‑money prices. And with the
backing of BT the company is able to
differentiate itself from its competitors, as
well as pursue new market opportunities to
expand its business. So good news all round.
In Belgium, BT is synonymous with quality, so being able to
offer services via BT helps our credibility and our reputation.
With BT Global IP Exchange, connection quality improved
immediately. Our clients are very happy – so are we.”
Andy Tuna Hussein, CEO, Maraval
Case study
Maraval
“Working with BT is helping us transform our business
model. Our existing customers are far happier with
the service quality, we are attracting new business,
and we have lowered our cost of failure.”
Andy Tuna Hussein, CEO, Maraval
Belgian carrier Maraval gets better connected with BT Global
IP Exchange, meaning happier customers and opportunities
for business growth
Challenge
Solution
Value
A small but expanding fixed line carrier
based in Belgium, Maraval sells wholesale
termination to card operators in Belgium
for their end users to make international
calls, especially to Asia and Africa. This
is a very competitive and price sensitive
market. Maraval’s challenge was made
greater because the stability and quality
of the services it was able to offer
were proving difficult to maintain.
Andy Tuna Hussein came across the BT Global
IP Exchange solution on the web. He wasted
no time in making contact. Andy comments:
“I was impressed that, despite Maraval being
a small player, BT was happy to deal with
us face-to-face. Their Global IP Exchange
was just what we needed, offering us high
quality global connectivity with service
level guarantees at a reasonable price.”
With BT Global IP Exchange, Maraval can now
provide its customers with a higher quality
call experience at value-for-money prices.
Those higher quality calls, with less noise
and latency, are already leading to repeat
business and longer call durations from
established clients. That translates to higher
revenue and profit for Maraval and BT.
In order to grow, the company wanted to
both improve the customer experience
and target new markets. Maraval has also
decided to launch a range of retail card
services and sell to residential, retail, and
enterprise customers via the internet, offering
voice over IP (VoIP) services worldwide.
Andy Tuna Hussein, CEO at Maraval, observes:
“We wanted to differentiate our brand by
connecting to a well-respected carrier,
but as a small player we feared we would
need to deal through intermediaries. This
would dilute the value of brand association
as well as the margin available, and it
would introduce unwanted complexity
to the service delivery model.”
The BT Global IP Exchange interoperability
platform supports premium IP voice services
to 750 international destinations. The
end-to-end IP network minimises the need
for protocol conversion, meaning higher
quality connections. BT commercial terms
were attractive too. Maraval could contract
for services on a pay-as-you-go basis
with a minimum initial deposit equivalent
to just one week’s projected revenue.
“BT proved to be very flexible with its
pricing,” confirms Andy Tuna Hussein. “It
responded to some concerns within the
hour and came up with a deal that gave
us better pricing to key locations and
all the technical advice we needed.”
Meanwhile, the flexibility and reach of
Global IP Exchange will enable Maraval to
address new markets. Opportunities under
consideration include expanding its offer
to encompass unified messaging, SMS,
conferencing, and video-on-demand.
Andy Tuna Hussein sums up: “Working with
BT is helping us transform our business
model. Our existing customers are far happier
with the service quality, we are attracting
new business, and we have lowered our
cost of failure. The commercial model
we have with BT also allows us to reach
new markets with pre-pay services that
substantially reduce our business risk.”
Core services
¾¾ BT Global IP Exchange
Case study
Maraval
“BT Global IP Exchange was just what we needed,
offering us high quality global connectivity with
service level guarantees at a reasonable price.”
Andy Tuna Hussein, CEO, Maraval
A quick technical tour around the Global IP Exchange solution
for Maraval
Service provider solution
In an industry as interconnected as
telecommunications, no single carrier,
or even single group of carriers, can take
full advantage of IP evolution without
widespread cooperation and support.
Specially designed as a wholesale product
for communication services providers,
Global IP Exchange is an IP Interoperability
service that enables fixed, mobile,
legacy, and next generation networks to
interconnect, reliably and cost effectively.
Developed to meet the growing need for
connectivity between voice over IP (VoIP)
operators, traditional communication
Offices worldwide
The services described in this publication are subject to
availability and may be modified from time to time. Services
and equipment are provided subject to the respective British
Telecommunications plc standard conditions of contract.
Nothing in this publication forms any part of any contract.
© British Telecommunications plc 2013
Registered office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ
Registered in England No: 1800000
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providers, and converged service
providers, Global IP Exchange provides
essential interoperability between the
various communications technologies
currently in use, minimising the cost
and complexity of protocol conversion.
Sustainable business model
For many service providers like Maraval the
key advantage that Global IP Exchange can
bring is high call quality. It is also designed
to provide the benefits of scalability as
a provider’s business expands, offering
quick and easy access to underpin new
customer services with minimal investment,
making the creation of sustainable business
models in the IP space much easier.
It has financial benefits too. BT Global
IP Exchange offers communication
providers a simple and robust
interoperability solution without the
need for major capital investment.
In addition, it offers market‑leading
financial settlement services for calls
terminating on the provider’s network.