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Net2Phone
Recruits IDT to Jointly Deploy Telephony to Cable Operators
Licensed IXC and CLEC to empower Net2Phone to deliver full suite
of cable telephony services equivalent to primary line phone service
Newark, NJ - October 29, 2003 - Net2Phone, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTOP)
today announced that it has signed a binding memorandum of understanding
with IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT) for the provision to Net2Phone
Cable Telephony, LLC by IDT, directly or through one of its subsidiaries,
of local and inter-exchange network access, termination, origination
and other related services. In providing these services, IDT will
draw on its resources as a licensed local, long distance and international
telecommunications provider. IDT will support Net2Phone Cable Telephony
in its sales efforts to cable operators, presenting an outsourced
managed replacement telecommunications service that cable operators
can sell to their subscribers.
Providing cable operators with a telecommunications service that
generates primary line revenue is an essential component to Net2Phone
Cable Telephonys solution. As such, Net2Phone will employ
the assistance of IDT to provide many of the features that raise
the level of the offering to that of replacement phone service,
including but not limited to 911 service, CALEA, Operator Assisted
Services, and procuring inbound telephone numbers.
As a licensed IXC and CLEC, IDT will provide Net2Phone Cable Telephony
with its services at favorable rates. IDTs network includes
switching facilities in over 20 US cities and additional points
of presence in more than 10 countries, allowing Net2Phone to co-locate
its equipment and/or interconnect with its network at any of those
end-points, thereby improving the speed, stability, scalability
and security of the entire solution.
In exchange for such favorable pricing, access to LEC and IXC facilities
and exclusivity to market to cable operators, Net2Phone will grant
IDT shares of its Class A common stock, which will vest at the rate
of 1.38 million shares per year for five years, subject to certain
performance standards to be met by IDT regarding the provision of
such services. The total number of shares will be placed in escrow
to ensure the aforementioned performance standards. A committee
of independent directors approved the terms of the MOU for Net2Phone.
Through this unique relationship with IDT, we are better
positioned than anyone else in the industry to provide cable operators
with an end-to-end replacement telephony service using HFC networks,
said Stephen Greenberg, CEO of Net2Phone. We have an exceptional
combination of VoIP expertise, PacketCable compliance, and a cost-effective,
robust telecom infrastructure with primary line qualities that can
put cable operators in the telecommunications business at a low
incremental cost.
Using its proprietary VoIP technology and PacketCable standards,
Net2Phone Cable Telephony offers cable operators in the U.S., Europe
and Latin America a complete suite of services enabling them to
deliver carrier-grade residential phone service. While the cable
operator maintains ownership of its customer, service brand and
Tier I customer and technical support, Net2Phone supports the back
office platform, switching and transport, ongoing operations and
Tier II+ technical support to deliver a fully managed QoS IP solution.
Net2Phone tracks and monitors voice quality and network performance
metrics from start to finish and provides the cable operator with
a full view into telephone calls routed over its network. Consumers
benefit on two fronts: inexpensive stand alone telephony when compared
against traditional phone service and savings derived from the video,
data and voice triple play in cable TV, high-speed Internet access
and telephone services.
About Net2Phone
Founded in 1995, Net2Phone is a leading provider of voice services
over IP networks worldwide, enabling toll-quality calls between
computers, telephones, and broadband devices. Recognized as the
first Company to bridge the Internet with the public switched telephone
network, Net2Phone has routed billions of minutes of traffic over
its award-winning network. Incorporated within the company are (1)
Net2Phone Global Services, which sells retail VoIP solutions globally
and (2) Net2Phone Cable Telephony, which has developed a fully outsourced
standards-compliant telephony solution for cable operators, using
components from companies such as Arris, Motorola, Gallery iPT,
Mind CTI, Nuera and CoreOS. Traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol
NTOP, Net2Phone's strategic partners and investors include Liberty
Media Corporation (NYSE: L; LMC.B) and IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT;
IDT.C). For more information about Net2Phone's products and services,
please visit www.net2phone.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
These forward- looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
and actual results could differ materially from those discussed
in the forward-looking statements. For this purpose, any statements
contained in this press release that are not statements of historical
fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Factors which
may affect the Company's results include, but are not limited to,
the Company's ability to expand its customer base, the Company's
ability to develop additional and leverage its existing distribution
channels for its products and solutions, dependence on strategic
and channel partners including their ability to distribute the Company's
products and meet or renew their financial commitments, the Company's
ability to address international markets, the effectiveness of the
Company's sales and marketing activities, the acceptance of the
Company's products in the marketplace, the timing and scope of deployments
of the Company's products by customers, fluctuations in customer
sales cycles, customers' ability to obtain additional funding, technical
difficulties with respect to the Company's products or products
in development, the need for ongoing product development in an environment
of rapid technological change, the emergence of new competitors
in the marketplace, the Company's ability to compete successfully
against established competitors with greater resources, the uncertainty
of future governmental regulation, the Company's ability to manage
growth, obtain patent protection, and obtain additional funds, general
economic conditions and other risks discussed in this Report and
in the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. All forward-looking statements and risk factors included
in this document are made as of the date hereof, based on information
available to the Company as of the date thereof, and the Company
assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or
risk factors.
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