Global Crossing (News - Alert) has added IP telephony termination in the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland and Slovakia, enabling enterprise and carrier customers to reach a total of 25 countries worldwide and more than 500 cities across Europe.

 

The service provides local origination of direct inward dialed numbers (DIDs, or phone numbers that can be directly dialed without going through a company switchboard) from major business centers throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

 

The company also has enhanced its "VoIP Local Service" to include support for national numbers in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Spain.

 

Enterprises in those countries can now use one national prefix that functions as an area code for the entire country, which results in lower calling rates than standard international rates.

 

Another enhancement to VoIP Local Service is the expansion of local number portability in Europe. This convenient feature, which allows customers to retain their existing numbers, is now available in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States.

 

In the first quarter of this year, 3.3 billion IP interconnected minutes traversed Global Crossing's VoIP network, representing a growth rate of 58 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008. IP Interconnected minutes represent more than 40 percent of total VoIP minutes.

 

Global Crossing sells IP transport and voice services to 700 other carriers and service providers, plus Fortune 500-sized enterprises.