Oh, what a tangled web we weave, all thanks to the mass of mobile connections. Cell phones have become the standard, not the exception. Blue Tooth and myriad other earpieces have virtually become fashion accessories. Internet phone services, or VoIP, are booming as consumers piggyback phone connections onto the ubiquitous Web.

It’s no wonder that Neutral Tandem, Inc. (Nasdaq:TNDM), a provider of interconnectivity among telephone carriers, is optimistic that it can continue to detangle the communication web and fuel rapid growth even through an economic downturn, as CEO Rian Wren said on the Aug. 5 conference call to discuss second-quarter earnings that beat Street estimates.

The Chicago-based company, which announced in June that it has passed the 100 billion minute mark on voice calls, logged 14.2 billion billed minutes in the second quarter ended June 30, an increase of 45% from the year-ago period. The company added 11 new markets in the quarter, putting it into 82 markets with 539 million assigned telephone numbers.

By the end of this year, Neutral Tandem plans to be in 12 more markets, bringing the coverage up to 556 million assigned numbers.

The rapid growth is reflected in earnings. Net income in the second quarter shot up to $0.17 per share, compared with $0.03 in the 2007 quarter and analysts’ estimates of $0.13. Adjusted EBITDA rose 81% in the period to $12 million. Revenue was up nearly 40% to $28.6 million in the quarter.

The company revised its guidance for the full year upward: revenue is now expected to reach between $117 million to $121 million, instead of $112 million to $116 million, while adjusted EBITDA is now expected to range from $47 million to $49 . . .

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