Griffin calls off VoIP services

ISP blames lack of product compatibility for VoIP sell-off

Griffin Internet has offloaded part of the services portfolio and customer base it gained through its acquisition of communications provider Fused Group last October.

The Derby-based ISP has sold off the VoIP services to broadband provider Worldwide IP Services, which trades as Microtalk in the UK.

Griffin said Fused's VoIP services and its own channel strategy and future product roadmap did not fit together well, which brought about the change.

Andrew Dickinson, managing director of Griffin, explained: "The vast majority of the VoIP customer base sold to worldwide is made up of individual consumers, many of which are overseas.

"Since Griffin is UK and channel-only, the disposal will have very little impact," he added.

Dickinson claimed that only a small number of incumbent Fused resellers will be affected by the deal.

"A handful of resellers in the UK bought hosted seats and SIP services from Fused, and we are confident that they will enjoy a better service," he added.

"The rest are being upgraded to Griffin's Managed Online Provisioning System, so that they can access new broadband lines from multiple carriers."

Paul Havel, a director at Microtalk, added: "This deal adds thousands of end users and resellers to our customer list. We have a lot of experience and expertise in running VoIP services and we welcome ex-Fused customers."