BT has bought Silicon Valley-based Ribbit Corporation for a sum of £53 million to extend its voice and data services.

The web telephony company is essentially a platform for creating voice-based applications over the internet. It has already created voice applications used by Facebook and iGoogle.

Ribbit's SmartSwitch handles the complexities of mobile, landline and internet telephony, which enables developers to use straightforward commands to bring voice to web pages.

Managing director of service design at BT JP Rangaswami said deal means BT will benefit from a groundbreaking platform and a growing community of developers.

"Silicon Valley is emerging as a hotbed of telecommunications innovation," he stated.

"With Ribbit, not only do we extend our presence in the Valley, but we also gain ... a world-class team that share a common vision."

Following the deal, it is expected that BT will run Ribbit's applications over its backbone voice and broadband network in the UK.

Categories: BT

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