Net2Phone to Provide Cable Telephony Services for Pan-European Conglomerate
NEWARK, N.J. & LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2004--Net2Phone Cable Telephony, LLC:
-- Altice One Selects Net2Phone to Market Cable Telephony Services
-- Showcases international expansion of Net2Phone's PacketCable-compliant solutions
March 23, 2004 06:00 AM US Eastern Timezone
Net2Phone Cable Telephony, LLC, (NCT) a wholly owned subsidiary of Net2Phone (NASDAQ: NTOP), and Altice One, a cable conglomerate and consolidator representing more than 500,000 homes passed, today announced that they have signed a binding term sheet, providing for the deployment of VoIP services by Altice over its existing cable infrastructure in Brussels, Belgium; Strasbourg area and Mulhouse, France; and Luxembourg, utilizing Net2Phone's outsourced cable telephony solution. Net2Phone's cable voice platform utilizes Cable Labs DOCSIS architecture and permits cable operators like Altice to deploy toll-quality residential telephone service over their existing cable infrastructure.
The parties are simultaneously working on a Definitive Agreement as well as systems engineering and planning. Altice will then deploy cable telephony service beginning in the fall of 2004 in all three markets (Belgium, France and Luxembourg).
"Partnering with Net2Phone for our telephony deployment will help us offer a strong triple-play service to key markets we serve: cable television plus high-speed Internet access plus phone service. In turn, that bundled offering will bring competitive advanced services to our customers," said Patrick Drahi, CEO of Altice.
"This agreement with Altice is the next big step for Net2Phone as we advance toward our goal of becoming the turnkey voice solution for cable operators worldwide," said Stephen Greenberg, CEO of Net2Phone. "We are extremely pleased that Altice has elected to partner with Net2Phone to provide telephony services to its customer base, and we look forward to additional growth in Europe, as we continue to grow our cable telephony business."
Greenberg continued, "We've seen enormous success in VoIP internationally over the years, and this deal is a testament to the demand for telephony options in Europe. The international opportunity for cable telephony is enormous, and nobody is better positioned to capitalize than Net2Phone."
Through the Net2Phone Cable Telephony model, Altice maintains ownership of the customer, service brand, and Tier I customer and technical support, while Net2Phone supports the back office Packet Cable infrastructure, switching and transport, ongoing operations and Tier II+ technical support to deliver a fully managed Quality of Service (QoS) IP solution. Net2Phone tracks and monitors voice quality and network performance metrics from start to finish and will provide Altice with a full view into telephone calls routed over its network. Altice customers will benefit from savings compared to the cost of their current phone service, in addition to receiving a bundled offering of cable TV, high-speed Internet access and telephone services.
About Altice One
Altice One is a European Cable Venture whose purpose is to acquire, expand and consolidate cable clusters in Western Europe. At the end of 2002, Altice acquired Est Videocommunication, the leading cable operator in eastern France. Est Videocommunication provides Analogue TV, Digital TV and Broadband Internet to more than 180,000 RGUs. For more information about Est Videocommunication, visit estvideo.com. At the end of 2003, Altice acquired Coditel Brabant, the cable operator of the town of Brussels, and Coditel SA, the cable operator of the town of Luxembourg. Coditel provides Analog TV and Broadband Internet to more than 190,000 RGUs. For more information about Coditel, visit coditel.be and coditel.lu.
About Net2Phone Cable Telephony, LLC
Net2Phone Cable Telephony (NCT) develops, integrates and manages an outsourced customizable platform to provide cable operators with the tools they need to offer high-quality voice solutions over their current cable infrastructure. The NCT solution complies with cable industry standards and reduces the costs and time to market associated with building a proprietary cable telephony service, thereby allowing cable operators to effectively compete with other established telephony providers.
About Net2Phone
Net2Phone is the only provider of PacketCable, SIP and wireless VoIP solutions in the world. As leaders in enabling telecom service providers and cable operators with turn-key hosted VoIP telephony services, Net2Phone has routed billions of retail VoIP minutes globally, servicing more than 100,000 users in the US as well as hundreds of thousands of more overseas. Net2Phone's hosted SIP platform provides partners with residential broadband telephony, calling cards, prefix dialing and enterprise services in over 100 countries. Net2Phone's PacketCable platform provides cable operators with the ability to deliver a primary line replacement service with guaranteed QoS and features such as E911. 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. |
