InternetBT Buys Voice Software Startup

Big payday for startup that wants to spread voice across the Web.

BT, short for British Telecommunications, has acquired Ribbit, a Silicon Valley startup that provides a platform for developers to build voice features into Web applications, for $105 million. Through the acquisition of Ribbit, BT (NYSE: BT) hopes to stay ahead in the telecommunications industry, which it sees as increasingly defined by innovation in software, said J.P. Rangaswami, BT's managing director of service design. "In essence, we saw that we had an opportunity to raise the stakes in the global communications race against Google and Apple," Rangaswami told InternetNews.com, referring to Google's forthcoming Android platform and Apple's iPhone. "We're going to have access to a platform that is proven to give us the room to innovate." The acquisition comes amid growing frustration at the slowness with which wireless carriers have opened their networks to third-party developers. Restricting support for devices and applications is widely seen as a drag on the still-nascent mobile advertising and commerce markets. RELATED ARTICLES Can't We All Just Communicate? Google Revamps iPhone Push Will Mobile Ads Finally Get Their Due? Google's Big Phone Gambit: An Open Mobile Platform Software Drives the iPhone 3G For more stories on this topic: Ribbit began with the mission of creating an "agnostic" telephony platform that could extend to any device or network. "What we've done is take the service that... [ Read more on www.internetnews.com ]

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