Pingo Prepaid Phone Card Service Launches.

iBasis, Inc., a provider of international long distance service, VoIP, and prepaid calling cards, announced the launch of Pingo(TM), a prepaid calling card service offered directly to consumers over the Internet at http://www.pingo.com.

To celebrate the launch, Pingo is giving away one million minutes of free calling to more than 50 destinations, including Argentina, Brazil, China, Mexico, Russia, and the United Kingdom.

Pingo calling card customers in the United States use credit cards to purchase calling time over the iBasis network, which provides international long distance phone service to more than 100 countries. The Pingo phone card service utilizes the same global VoIP infrastructure iBasis uses to provide high quality international long distance service to its wholesale carrier customers.

“Almost 40% of international phone calls from the U.S. are placed using prepaid calling card services today,” said Ofer Gneezy, president and CEO of iBasis. “Pingo provides consumers the savings of a discount calling card, with the greater convenience of automatic recharge and caller recognition, plus bonus rewards and reliable quality. Pingo offers a very attractive alternative for those whose needs are no longer being met by large incumbent carriers such as AT&T, MCI, and Sprint who are scaling back or eliminating consumer services from their ongoing marketing.”

Million Minute Giveaway

Pingo is celebrating its launch by giving away one million minutes of free long distance calling to more than 50 destinations around the world. Once Pingo customers exhaust the pool of free minutes, calls will be charged at the normal low Pingo rates. Included in the Million Minute Giveaway are destinations in many of the most frequently called countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, China, Mexico, Russia, and the United Kingdom.