Yahoo has bought VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service provider Dialpad Communications to use its technology in Yahoo's VOIP services, Dailpad said Tuesday.
The cost of the acquisition was not announced.
VOIP technology works by routing calls as data over broadband connections. Early VOIP technology allowed PC users to dial each other, but some current services allow callers to use standard phones or even mobile phones to make and receive calls.
Dailpad, of California, was launched in 1999 and offers VOIP calling services to over 200 countries at rates as low as US$0.017 cents a minute for some international calls to some of its subscribers, according to information posted on its Web site.
Apart from monthly subscription services, the company offers a prepaid and a calling card service. The latter allows calls to be made via a regular phone without the need for a PC. The company has over 14 million users, it said.
Yahoo will use Dailpad's technology to develop new VOIP services, Dailpad said, without giving further details.
Yahoo Inc. was not available for comment at press time.
The acquisition is Yahoo's second VOIP announcement in a month. In May, the company said it had improved its PC-to-PC voice communications service, replacing its walkie-talkie technology with a continuous connection service.
Dialpad will continue to accept new subscriptions for its prepaid and monthly services but stopped taking subscriptions for its calling card service on June 13, it said.
It will provide calling card services to existing accounts until those subscriptions expire, it said.