My Country Mobile: VoIP Wholesale Carriers Guide

VoIP wholesale providers have become the backbone enabling businesses of all sizes to offer voice over IP (VoIP) services without building their own networks. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the world of VoIP wholesaling and provide resellers with the knowledge needed to succeed.

Introduction to VoIP Wholesaling

VoIP wholesale carriers, also referred to as VoIP providers, are companies that sell VoIP services at wholesale rates to other businesses who then resell them under their own brand. The wholesaler handles the network infrastructure, call routing, phone number provisioning, and back-end systems while the reseller focuses on sales, marketing and customer support.

Benefits of the wholesale model include minimal upfront costs for resellers, fast time to market, leveraging of existing technology, and the ability to focus on core competencies. VoIP wholesaling has created a boom of new VoIP providers across SMBs, enterprises, carriers, and even software companies embedding communications into their platforms.

In this guide, we will cover:

• The leading players in VoIP wholesaling worldwide
• Evaluating and selecting the best VoIP wholesaler
• Integrating with VoIP wholesalers and managing the reseller partnership
• Key technologies utilized including SIP, SS7, UCaaS platforms
• Regulatory considerations around operating as a VoIP provider
• The future of VoIP wholesaling and where the industry is headed

Whether you are looking to become a VoIP reseller, enhance your understanding of the technology, or evaluate wholesale partners, this guide will provide unmatched insights into VoIP wholesaling.

The Top VoIP Wholesalers Worldwide

The VoIP wholesaling industry is estimated to be over $30 billion in size with predictions of continued double digit growth. There are dozens of companies providing white label VoIP globally. The top VoIP wholesalers based on reach, reputation, and capabilities include:

My Country Mobile 

Founded in 2010, My Country Mobile is a leading VoIP wholesaler serving thousands of resellers. They own and operate a global VoIP network spanning across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. My Country Mobile  offers a full suite of VoIP services and has sophisticated reseller tools for provisioning, reporting and management.

Flowroute 

Flowroute was launched in 2014 as a modern, API-centric VoIP wholesaler focused primarily on SMBs. They provide pay-as-you-go pricing with no contracts. Flowroute has built an advanced API platform and automation tools to enable seamless integration for resellers.

Bandwidth

Operating since 2000, Bandwidth is one of the veterans in VoIP wholesale space. They offer a 911 network, phone numbers, toll-free services, call analytics and one of the largest VoIP networks built across Tier 1 carriers. Their Voice API powers many leading communication apps.

Twilio

Originally a cloud communications platform, Twilio launched its Elastic SIP Trunking product in 2018 to become a disruptive force in VoIP wholesaling. Their API-first approach and global network infrastructure provides immense flexibility for resellers.

Nextiva

Founded as a business VoIP provider in 2006, Nextiva now serves large enterprises and carriers through its Nextiva Reseller Program. Nextiva handles the network operations, allowing partners to resell under their own brand with full back-end support.

Ace Peak Investments

UK-based Ace Peak Investments offers international VoIP wholesale focused primarily on Europe, Asia and Africa. They provide roaming agreements across 99 countries with tools tailored for mobile network operators (MNOs), carriers and calling card providers.

VoIPStudio

Netherlands-based VoIPStudio provides wholesale VoIP and SMS services focused on Europe. They own a fully redundant VoIP network with connections to Tier 1 carriers. VoIPStudio offers extensive reseller support and system integrations.

Teloz 

Teloz is a HK based VoIP wholesaler that launched in 2018. They focus primarily on North American markets. Teloz handles number porting, e911 services and has many third-party integrations on their platform.

This overview shows the diversity among top VoIP wholesalers. When evaluating potential partners, carefully assess their network infrastructure, operations, reputation, pricing, and reseller tools.

Comparison of Top 3 VoIP Wholesale Carriers:

Becoming a Reseller – Benefits, Models and Pricing

The benefits of partnering with a VoIP wholesaler include:

Minimal Capital Investment – VoIP wholesalers have already invested in building out a telecom network, so resellers avoid huge upfront infrastructure costs to operate as a VoIP provider.

Focus on Sales and Marketing – The technical burden of operating a VoIP platform from the ground up is eliminated, allowing resellers to dedicate resources to sales, marketing and support.

Established Technology – Resellers can take advantage of sophisticated VoIP infrastructure, number provisioning, call routing, stability and global reach.

Scalability – It’s easy to scale up or down with demand, as the wholesaler handles all capacity planning and growth is not limited by your own infrastructure.

Speed to Market – Resellers can launch quickly, as everything is already set up on the wholesaler’s network and ready to activate.

There are two primary wholesale VoIP business models:

Revenue Share Model

The wholesaler handles all billing and shares the monthly subscriber revenue with the reseller based on a fixed percentage. Revenue share agreements are commonly around 70% for the reseller and 30% for the wholesaler.

Reseller Purchases VoIP Minutes

The reseller purchases VoIP minutes in bulk upfront at wholesale rates (e.g. per minute or 1,000 minute bundles) and manages billing directly with their customers. This gives resellers more control.

Wholesale VoIP pricing examples:

• Per minute rates: $0.005 to $0.03 per minute
• Monthly per extension/trunk: $3 to $15
• Monthly per phone number: $0.50 to $4

Resellers can double or triple wholesale rates when billing end users to maintain healthy margins. Contract terms with wholesalers range from month-to-month to 1-2 year commitments.

VoIP Wholesaler Pricing Examples: 

Becoming a Reseller – Steps and Best Practices

Here is an overview of the typical steps to become a reseller of VoIP services:

1. Identify Your Niche

Determine what customer segments and geographic markets you will target. This could include SMBs, enterprises, residential, domestic or international.

2. Evaluate VoIP Wholesalers

Thoroughly assess different wholesalers based on services, network reach, reliability, pricing, tools and support.

3. Select Your Wholesaler

Choose the best VoIP wholesaler partner for your needs after running demos and proof of concepts.

4. Integrate & Provision Accounts

Utilize the wholesaler’s API and portal to integrate systems and activate service on their network.

5. Market & Sell Services

Promote your VoIP offerings to customers. Highlight enhanced features, better quality, and great support.

6. Provide First Line Support

Handle basic customer support as the primary contact point while wholesaler provides backup technical support.

7. Scale Your Business: Add new customers and expand to additional markets over time leveraging the capacity of the wholesaler’s network.

Best practices for running a successful wholesale VoIP reselling business:

• Provide a superior customer experience – this will differentiate your offerings.
• Keep close tabs on network quality and SLAs being provided by the wholesaler.
• Automate processes wherever possible – this maximizes efficiency.
• Offer bundled packages – combine VoIP with other services for more value.
• Specialize in specific markets rather than being everything to everyone.
• Take advantage of the wholesaler’s latest tools, integrations and platform features.
• Attend industry events and partner meetings to stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies.

Evaluating VoIP Wholesalers Before Partnering

The key criteria to evaluate when selecting a VoIP wholesaler include:

Reliability – This is the most critical factor. Assess overall network uptime, call completion rates, quality of service, failover capabilities and past performance.

Voice Quality – Verify voice quality on network calls, assessing jitter, latency and clarity. Conduct test calls from worldwide locations.

Features – Evaluate capabilities like number porting, e911 service, toll-free numbers, call recording, IVR menus and more.

Account Management – Assess capabilities of reseller customer service, technical support and account management teams.

Reseller Portal & Tools – Demo the reseller portal and verify capabilities for account management, reporting, ordering, provisioning etc.

Network Reach – Determine domestic and global footprint and connectivity agreements with top-tier carriers.

Scalability – Ask about auto-scaling capabilities and capacity planning for large volumes.

Responsiveness – Gauge how fast support teams respond to issues and how quickly new capabilities can be rolled out.

Pricing – Compare monthly service fees, per minute rates, phone number fees and revenue share splits across wholesalers.

Reviews – Research online reviews and testimonials from existing resellers on performance and experience.

By thoroughly vetting wholesale partners, resellers can find the ideal match and build a successful long-term relationship.

Integrating and Managing VoIP Wholesaler Relationships

Once a VoIP wholesaler is selected, resellers must integrate from both a technology and business operations perspective.

On the technology side, wholesalers provide various tools and platforms for integration:

APIs – Integration typically involves utilizing SIP and telephony APIs to provision and manage VoIP services.

Web Portals – Resellers use private web dashboards to administer accounts, create numbers, monitor usage.

Providers – Plug-ins and pre-built integrations for leading e-commerce, billing and CRM systems.

Network – Ensure you have reliable, low latency connectivity to the wholesaler’s telephony infrastructure.

On the business side, best practices include:

Contracts – Have detailed reseller agreements covering expectations, pricing, margins, escalation paths and liability.

Processes – Document processes for account provisioning, support, order/service changes, escalations and billing.

Training – Get sales and technical training from the wholesaler on their platforms, products and how to position offerings.

Communications – Establish contacts lists, escalation matrices, status calls and frequent communications.

Support – Delineate roles – wholesaler provides back-end technical support while reseller handles customer-facing support.

Performance – Continuously monitor key metrics like service uptime, call quality, new feature rollout, latency, port success rates etc.

With tight technology integration and operational coordination, resellers can maximize the potential of their wholesaler partnerships over the long-term.

VoIP Wholesaler Technologies

It’s important for resellers to have a solid understanding of the core technologies utilized by VoIP wholesalers:

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) – SIP is the main signaling protocol for initiating, managing and terminating voice and video calls. All VoIP wholesalers rely on SIP.

SIP Trunking – SIP trunks are virtual tunnels that transmit voice traffic over a wholesaler’s network to connect a business’s PBX system. Trunks can support hundreds of concurrent calls.

SS7 – Signaling System 7 is still used by many wholesalers for legacy signaling with carriers. SS7 enables interconnection and number portability.

Unified Communications – Many wholesalers offer UCaaS platforms for features like audio/video conferencing, screen sharing and team chat.

Call Control Platforms – Wholesalers use call control platforms to route calls, enable features like IVRs and monitor quality. Many build their own or integrate platforms like Metaswitch, Genband or Sonus.

Phone Number Provisioning – Wholesalers leverage connections with number administrators globally to provide local DIDs and toll-free numbers.

Transcoding – Audio codecs like G.711 and G.729 are translated by transcoders if callers are using different formats to maintain compatibility.

Call Rating & Routing – Based on assigned rates for destinations, calls are routed by wholesalers over the optimum carrier links. Routing considers both cost and quality.

Disaster Recovery – Leading wholesalers provide call rerouting, failover mechanisms and geographically separate redundant infrastructure to ensure continuity.

Network Security – Wholesalers implement solutions for DDoS prevention, media encryption, fraud monitoring and preventing rogue calls.

While resellers don’t need in-depth knowledge, understanding the core technologies will help in discussions, troubleshooting and evaluating Wholesalers.

Regulatory Considerations for VoIP Resellers

Depending on location, VoIP resellers can face some regulatory and compliance requirements:

TLDR (US) – The FCC requires all VoIP providers register for a TLDR license to operate legally as a telecom carrier. Most wholesalers handle this.

TRS (US) – Telecommunications relay services must be supported for hearing impaired users. Wholesalers will accommodate these specialized calls.

E911 (US) – To enable accurate emergency call routing, VoIP providers must register location addresses for all numbers provisioned. Wholesalers handle E911.

CALEA (US) – Law enforcement has legal call interception rights. VoIP operators must enable technical capabilities to comply with CALEA.

UK Regulatory Compliance – Ofcom has regulations around emergency calls, number porting, customer data protection and access requirements that providers must adhere to.

EU Compliance – VoIP operators servicing Europe must comply with regulations like GDPR, they must allow emergency call access and follow number administration rules.

PSTN Calling – In some countries legacy PSTN interconnection is regulated and VoIP providers must pay into universal service funds. Wholesalers will handle this.

Resellers should consult the wholesaler on any country-specific regulations and ensure compliance requirements are being fulfilled on their behalf. Periodic audits are recommended.

The Future of VoIP Wholesaling

VoIP has come a long way from the early peer-to-peer days. Some trends shaping the future of VoIP wholesaling:

Transition to All IP – Legacy telephony networks will continue transitioning to last mile IP networks improving quality and reliability for wholesalers.

Rich Communications – Expect more baked in features for SMS, voice greetings, missed call notifications and visual voicemail.

Existing Player Consolidation – M&A will continue among existing wholesalers as they seek synergies and scale.

New Disruptors – Cloud communications platforms like Twilio have launched disruptive wholesale offerings showing there is still room for innovation.

International Expansion – Many wholesalers still only focus on select geographic regions; global expansion will increase.

Carrier Adoption – More tier 2 carriers will adopt wholesale models rather than build end-to-end VoIP services themselves.

Direct to Consumer – Some innovative wholesalers may provide consumer focused offerings along with partner programs.

UCaaS Integration – Look for tighter UCaaS integration beyond just voice such as video, chat and screen sharing.

CPaaS Partnerships – Closer partnerships between communications platform providers and VoIP wholesalers.

The VoIP wholesale market still remains fragmented; expect to see continued growth and technological advancements in the coming years.

Conclusion

VoIP wholesaling provides immense opportunities for businesses to enter the VoIP market and telecommunications space. Hundreds of innovative VoIP providers have been created by leveraging the infrastructure and services from wholesale carriers.

This guide provided a comprehensive overview of the VoIP wholesaling sector, from leading players to regulatory considerations. With the right partner, integrating VoIP wholesale services into your product portfolio or offering VoIP as a core business can be straightforward and highly rewarding. The future remains bright for wholesale VoIP services as adoption continues rapidly expanding across SMBs, large enterprises, carriers and software companies worldwide.