Victor,
>Newark, New Jersey, Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of Net2Phone Inc., which sells telephone service using the Internet, rose 26 percent on reported plans to form a new company with Cisco Systems Inc., the No. 1 maker of Internet equipment.
Net2Phone shares rose 6 5/8 to 32 1/16. Cisco climbed 1/16 to 63 1/2.
The Cisco-Net2Phone venture would develop a product called a gateway that combines hardware and software to convert voice, fax and data traffic to be sent over high-speed data networks, CNBC reported, citing unidentified sources close to the companies. IDT Corp. would probably own about 20 percent of the venture, with Cisco and Net2Phone holding 40 percent each, CNBC said.
``Anytime you do something with Cisco in this area, it definitely helps'' the company's valuation, said Alan Loewenstein, co-manager of the $2.8 billion John Hancock Technology Fund, which holds about 300,000 shares of Net2Phone.
Tom Galvin, a spokesman for San Jose, California-based Cisco, said the company doesn't ``comment on rumors and speculation.'' Net2Phone spokeswoman Sarah Hofstetter said ``there's no comment from the company.'' AT&T officials couldn't be reached immediately to comment.
The report comes a week after AT&T Corp., the largest U.S. long-distance and cable-TV provider, invested $1.4 billion for a 32 percent stake in Newark, New Jersey-based Net2Phone. |
