Hi brk and everyone~~~well, wonder if this could have any effect on GNET... :D! The 1st article is from tonight on NTOP's board, and I added the 2nd one from Oct 1999 GNET PR....
KLP
: AT&T Seeks To Buy Net2Phone Stake
NEW YORK, Mar 30, 2000 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- AT&T Corp. is negotiating to
buy a stake in Net2Phone Inc., a provider of cheap long-distance calls over the
Internet, people familiar with the discussions said Thursday.
News of the talks, first revealed in a Business Week report valuing the
potential deal at about $1 billion, came just days after AT&T's Liberty Media
affiliate announced an agreement to buy a 10 percent stake in Net2Phone's
parent, IDT Corp.
Both AT&T and Net2Phone declined to comment on the matter, though sources
confirmed that the talks have reached an advanced stage.
Business Week also reported in its April 10 edition that America Online, already
a minority owner in Net2Phone, is looking to increase its stake. However, the
magazine said, IDT was leery of giving AOL a leading role that would dissuade
rivals such as Yahoo! and Microsoft from licensing Net2Phone's technology.
The moves suggest that Internet phone calling is emerging from the fringes of
technology into a more viable business.
Phone calls over the Internet have always been cheap, but poor quality has
discouraged their widespread use, especially with prices plunging for calls made
over the near-perfect connections of traditional telephone systems.
Growing interest in Net2Phone shows how the frenzied race to upgrade the
Internet for floods of Web traffic is also helping minimize the crackles and
voice delays of Web phone calls.
Earlier this week, network equipment maker Cisco Systems introduced a new office
phone system that uses a company's computer networks to make calls.
Net2Phone, based in Hackensack, N.J., is the early leader in the fast-growing
market for routing phone calls over the Internet and enabling people to use
their computers and Internet connections to avoid costly charges from local and
long-distance carriers. The service, with 600,000 active users, is particularly
popular among overseas callers.
Other players include deltathree.com and PhoneFree, as well as a new upstart
named dialpad.com, which is offering free calls in hopes of building a large
enough customer base to make money from advertisements on its Web site.
Internet calls are transmitted using the Web language known as Internet
Protocol, or IP for short. By using IP, a phone conversation can be broken down
into the same type of digital packets used to send information across the
Internet.
Business Week: AT&T To Take Major Stake In Net2Phone
New York, Mar 30, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- BUSINESS WEEK has learned that AT&T
is close to a deal in which it, and possibly others, will pay about $1 billion
for a major stake in Internet phone pioneer Net2Phone Inc. AT&T will buy part of
the equity from IDT Corp., which now holds a 58% voting stake in Net2Phone.
America Online Inc. and British Telecommunications PLC are also expected to
invest in Net2Phone. AT&T and its partners are expected to buy 60% of IDT's
stake in the company. As of Mar. 29, a Net2Phone board committee had yet to
approve the deal, Business Week reports.
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go2net.com
Go2Net announces agreement with Net2Phone to distribute Internet Telephony Services
Go2Net to offer unified messaging and communications center
SEATTLE, October 29, 1999 - Go2Net, Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET), a network of branded, technology- and community-driven Web sites (http://www.go2net.com/), today announced a three year agreement with Net2Phone, a leading provider of voice-enhanced Internet communications services, under which Go2Net will exclusively integrate Net2Phone's PC-to-phone technology and other communications services throughout the Go2Net Network.
Go2Net and Net2Phone will create a new unified messaging and communications center on the Go2Net Network, where users and online businesses will have the ability to send and receive voice mail, faxes, email, and telephone calls from a single, integrated Web-based environment. According to Media Metrix, the Go2Net Network reached approximately 10 million unique users in September. Through the communications center, Go2Net's users will be able to download Net2Phone's PC-to-phone software and place calls to any telephone in the world at low rates. Net2Phone's IP telephony services will also be integrated into Go2Net's HyperMart (http://www.hypermart.net/) and Virtual Avenue (http://www.virtualave.net/) business hosting services, to provide their online member businesses with access to the one-stop communications center.
The Go2Net Network's communications center will also integrate custom email and related products from CommTouch Software (Nasdaq: CTCH), a leading provider of outsourced email for corporations and consumers. For broadband and wireless environments, Net2Phone will have rights to distribute its services through Go2Net's portal services offered to third parties. When Go2Net provides start pages or customized portal offerings to third parties distributed through set-top devices, cellular phones and PDAs, Net2Phone has the exclusive option to incorporate its IP telephony services in those offerings where Go2Net has the right to include such services.
Net2Phone's e-commerce solution, Click2Talk, will be offered to the more than 560,000 small business members of HyperMart and Virtual Avenue, enabling users to click on a merchant's listing and be connected to a live sales representative using Internet telephony. Click2Talk offers Web users a live phone connection without the inconvenience of having to log off of the Internet, while offering businesses the opportunity to enhance client relations by adding the element of human voice to customer interaction. |
