Service Provider Views - Ribbit's Deal with BT

For my latest Service Provider Views column, I've continued the theme of platform plays from the last column - this time focusing totally on Ribbit.

The $105 million price tag paid by British Telecom raises all kinds of questions about the deal and what it means for Voice 2.0 in general. It's a great story, and I've tried to shed more light on it in this column. Last week I interviewed Ribbit's founders - Ted Griggs and Crick Waters, and from that I've written my column.

Basically, I've concluded that BT paid good money for Ribbit. It's a huge exit for Ribbit, but really not such a big deal for BT. In terms of valuation, it's very tricky to say whether overpaid or not. On paper, sure there's little in the way of revenues or customers, and developers can be a very fleeting "asset". This deal is all about promise and potential, and you'll just have to read the piece to see what this means to me.

Hope you like it, and I'd love to hear your take on this.

Technorati tags: Service Provider Views, Jon Arnold, J Arnold & Associates, TMCnet, British Telecom, Ribbit