From Diana J. Choyce
Apr 10 - 16, 2000
International cell-to-cell
calls possible for the first time
Making phone calls via the internet is saving consumers millions in
toll costs. It's also causing old line phone company's a lot of heartache. But there is
another market that has not been breached...yet. There are currently 500 million cell
phone users worldwide and annual revenues generated by the cell phone industry exceed $25
billion annually. A new company called Cellcross.com is hoping to seize a share of those
profits. And given the cost of cellular accounts, consumers are sure to be thrilled if
this idea works.
The founders of Cellcross.com are Michael S. Pascazi and Frank P.
Zarzeka, who were also founders of Fiber Opt. Fiber Opt is a designer and installer of
fiber optic networks. Cellcross.com was created to develop and deploy proprietary
technology permitting cell phone traffic worldwide over the Internet. This new project is
based on system technology invented by Pascazi. It will allow a cell phone user anywhere
in the world to call another phone user by translating the signal to Internet Protocol
(IP), transmitting around the globe by Internet and then reconverting it to complete the
call, with no intervening phone companies or long distance tolls involved. This will make
international cell-to-cell calls possible for the first time. According to Pascazi,
Cellcross.com plans on constructing a prototype network among four major cities around the
world, such as New York, Rome, Tokyo and Santiago within the next six months. Once the
company goes live, users can go to the company's web site and sign up using their credit
card and country. "Within 24 hours of registration, Cellcross.com will respond with
the local access number for country of choice and a PIN code," he said. "The
users can then place all his international cell phone calls at low cost with the aid of
the Internet." The company already has prototype equipment operational at its New
York headquarters and is continuing to refine the technology. "The market for
Cellcross.com is huge," Pascazi said. "There are currently 500 million cell
phone users worldwide and annual revenues generated by the cell phone industry exceed $25
billion annually. Cellcross.com expects to capture a share of that market quickly by
offering low-cost connections in sharp contrast to the $4.00-per-minute charges that are
common now."
Fiber Opt originally announced this new project in October of last
year. And at that time a working prototype was already operational at the company's
headquarters. Their press release stated "This advance is made possible by Fiber
Optek's state-of-the-art Internet Protocol communications technology which combines
specialized software and its "IP Black Boxes" hardware to allow origination or
reception of cell phone calls through standard telephone networks, with re-routing over
the Internet. The only cost for such cell phone calls, of any length anywhere in the
world, Mr. Pascazi said, will be for the local cell service and the monthly Internet
connection charge. "The potential cost savings are vast," he added. When asked
how the system worked, Mr. Pascazi explained further that The company's sending/receiving
Black Boxes wherever located are connected to the Internet. Standard telephones are
connected to each box. A cell phone user dials the Black Box phone number for the country
of his or her location. The call is converted to IP Protocol, transmitted over the
Internet and the number rings without the need for a toll call. "We believe this
system is superior to all other voice-over IP solutions available today," Mr. Pascazi
declared. Fiber Opt plans to further develop its technology so that it may be applied to
Carrier Quality OC-3, OC-48 and OC-192 systems within a few years. The deployment of these
systems, Mr. Pascazi said, will obviate the need for new long-haul transmission systems
costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
A recent press release by Fiber Opt further states that when the
Cellcross system is deployed world-wide, cell phones will be usable anywhere, day or
night, with no need for a toll call. Equally valuable will be the convenience afforded the
millions who rely on cell phones for both business and personal communications.The
potential market for the Cellcross hardware/software system, Mr. Pascazi added, has led
Fiber Opt to consider a partner company topspeed production and installation of its units
here and abroad. Fiber Optek's climbing backlog of orders has led to a staff expansion
program that will extend over the next six months, according to Mr. Pascazi. "Knowing
that our continuing growth will require additional capital as well as a steadily expanding
employee family, my advisors and I are currently evaluating the idea of going public
through an initial public offering of our common stack, along with other methods of
capital acquisition."
