Fusion Communications Corporation has formed a strategic alliance with Vectant Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Marubeni Corporation in charge of IT-related business, as IP subscriber telephone service network partners to provide the IP phone service "Vectant Phone (F)" to ISPs and cable TV providers. The service begins on May 21.

Vectant Phone (F) uses Fusion's IP subscriber telephone service as a platform for Global Solution to offer IP phone services to Internet service cable TV providers. With Vectant Phone (F), a low-cost environment can be built in a short period of time to allow regional ISPs and CATV companies to offer IP phone services, from the procedures for issuing "050" numbers to the transfer of accounting data. ISPs and CATV companies can provide "050" services to users under their own brand name without any additional investment.

Global Access of the Vectant Group, which does business in the Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka areas, runs a Gigabit Ethernet network at its own expense and an Ethernet network that hooks up to NTT East/West lines through a FLET'S POI in each prefecture. In addition, the company has five IXs in Tokyo and Osaka directly linked by a 1-Gbps network.

Regional ISPs and CATV companies can use this wide-area IP backbone to provide Internet connection services (such as Vectant's Broadband Roaming Service and Ethernet Access Service), as well as IP phone service. The advantages are a stable network of superb quality for VoIP together and cost savings in providing VoIP services.

Global Solution aims to acquire 50,000 subscribers to the Vectant Phone (F) service in the first year of operation by strengthening ties to ISPs and CATV companies around Japan.