BT Spears Ribbit

The rumors were true. BT announced it has bought Ribbit for $105 million in cash.  It is a deal which is exciting currently operating Telco 2.0 players, but don't miss BT's thinking in the hype.

Mountain View-based Ribbit, billing itself as "Silicon Valley's First Phone Company," gives future-looking BT an open Telco 2.0 platform to create new voice apps and services, plus a community of already-active developers. Ribbit enables developers to add voice and automation features to nearly any web-based application.  The company also has the consumer-targeted Amphibian application for visual voicemail in the wings.

Since BT has its IP-anchored 21CN network rolling out, the software acquisition would seem to be a very good fit for BT to roll out new products and services onto 21CN and potentially to other carriers.

Earlier this month, rumors were circulating about BT acquiring Ribbit, but at a price tag of $55 million; interesting what a difference a couple of weeks makes in the final price.

Ribbit's rapid exit - the company was founded in February 2006 - has stoked other Telco 2.0 companies into thinking that they could be the Next Big Thing if they find the right combination of story-telling and buyer.  

For more:
- BT announces purchase of Ribbit [1]
- ZDNet UK reports on BT buying Ribbit [2]

Related articles:
Ribbit Bought? [3] Maybe Yes, Maybe No
Ribbit touts new telephony platform [4]