.. we just got a focus article on the NTOP/Navini deal from CNET News:
Navini to sell Net2Phone's VoIP service
Last modified: April 26, 2004, 1:33 PM PDT
By Ben Charny
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
news.com.com
Wireless broadband equipment maker Navini Networks will begin selling Net phone service later this year, which should promote use of a cheaper way of making phone calls using the unregulated Internet, it said Monday.
Navini will use Net2Phone's Net phone technology and services, in the first such partnership between providers of wireless broadband equipment and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), according to a Net2Phone spokesman.
Navini will begin selling the equipment and service to its broadband provider customers in the next three months. Net2Phone Senior Vice President Sarah Hofstetter said these broadband providers will likely begin selling phone services by year's end.
The pact comes at a time when wireless broadband is gaining favor as a way to deliver the high-speed Net to areas usually overlooked because of the enormous expense involved in expanding wired broadband networks. Sprint and other broadband providers are now testing various forms of wireless broadband technology. Some of these areas have only one telephone service provider.
The deal between Navini and Net2Phone is also an example of the growing push by wireless broadband service providers their equipment suppliers to adopt Net phone technology. Manufacturers of broadband modems are also building Net phoning capabilities.
Navini is the second wireless broadband equipment maker Net2Phone has begun working with. Last week, Net2Phone signed a deal with former Net2Phone parent company IDT to enable IDT customers to make and receive domestic and international phone calls via a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet. Wi-Fi networks have a 300-foot range and are found mostly in homes, cafes and transportation hubs.
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CNN -- Get Up to Speed on Net2Phone -- new focus:
Net2Phone announces a set of products designed to let people use Wi-Fi enabled devices to make Net-based phone calls. April 22, 2004
news.com.com
The company's new offerings are targeted at wireless Internet service providers, rural telecom companies, wireline high-speed data service providers, providers of wireless home networks and mobile device makers.
Net2Phone CEO Stephen Greenberg will address the JP Morgan Technology and Telecom Conference on May 6 in San Francisco |
