Over 15 Million Users Opt for Rebtel as Revenues Jump

Rebtel – which had already gained attention as the second largest mobile VoIP company globally after Skype – reached other milestones on Friday. It now has over 15 million users, has been used to make 500 million calls, and was used to log two billion minutes of international calls, the company announced.

During last year, revenues jumped at Rebtel by over 55 percent and it saw some $60 million in revenue. The predicted revenue run for December 2012 is $95 million, according to officials. Rebtel also reports that it is increasing at 500,000 users a month.

The company milestones suggest that the VoIP market is “gaining momentum,” reports GigaOm. “Consumers just can’t get enough of cheap phone calls,” agrees a report from VentureBeat.

Rebtel provides users free or lower-cost calls over 3G and Wi-Fi, according to the company’s website. Rebtel offers apps for Android, BlackBerry, Microsoft Windows and iOS operating systems.

In addition, Rebtel’s average revenue per user is three times higher than Skype’s; Rebtel’s ARPU is about $24 a month while Skype’s is about $8 a month.

“2011 was a great year for us,” Andreas Bernström, CEO at Rebtel, said in the company press release. “Our new set of international calling apps with KeepTalking technology were well received; we generated 13 times more downloads in Q4 than Q3 as a result of the launch. We also expanded our workforce by almost 50% and increased our user base by 50% to 15 million users. 2012 will be more of the same. We are focused on growing our user base, we aim to add up to ten million to our user base this year, as well as maintaining high revenue run rates and ensuring our apps are viral as they can be.”

Rebtel users employ smartphones, desktop apps or other phones to make their calls. The company started in 2006, and that year Rebtel got $20 million in investment money from Benchmark Capital and Index Ventures, MobilityTechzone adds.