Net2Phone Signs Production Cable Telephony Agreement with Bresnan Communications; Bresnan enlists in Net2Phone's warrant incentive program
November 15, 2004 08:30 AM US Eastern Timezone
NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 15, 2004--Net2Phone (NASDAQ: NTOP), a leading Voice over IP (VoIP) enabler for service providers, today announced that it has signed a multi-year production agreement with Bresnan Communications, the 13th largest US cable operator with more than 500,000 homes in its franchise. Bresnan expects to begin offering cable VoIP phone service to their subscribers in the first quarter of 2005. Bresnan has enrolled in Net2Phone's warrant incentive program, where select cable operators earn warrant grants to purchase shares of Net2Phone common stock, which become exercisable as the cable operator reaches target telephony subscriber levels.
"We are eagerly anticipating the launch of our digital phone service alongside our video and data products," stated Lenny Higgins, Senior Vice President of Advanced Services at Bresnan Communications. "Net2Phone is clearly the right company to help accelerate our rollout while providing our customers with an end-to-end managed telephony solution. Our product will be feature-rich, with e-911 and CALEA capability, number portability and the ability to use all existing customer equipment. At the same time, we have the benefit of sharing in Net2Phone's overall successes through the warrant program as we sign up and install more telephony subscribers onto our system."
"Bresnan is an excellent partner for Net2Phone," said Stephen Greenberg, Chairman of Net2Phone. "Empowering Bresnan with the tools to deliver their customers the third element of the triple play has been proven to generate incremental revenue and reduce churn. Net2Phone brings the experiential factor in VoIP, and is thrilled to work with Bresnan to accelerate their time to market while keeping capital and operating costs in line. We are looking forward to rolling out in initial markets in the coming months, and providing their customers with cost-effective reliable service."
Since 1996, Net2Phone has been leading the way in retail VoIP services, and is focused on empowering cable operators with a suite of telephony solutions that provide them with the triple play of voice, video and data.
Under the terms of the agreement, the service will be branded as Bresnan's, ensuring brand consistency throughout its advanced product offerings. Net2Phone will assume the role of PacketCable integrator, taking on full operational responsibility for telephony deployment, 24x7 service assurance and telecom administration, thereby ensuring the quality of Bresnan's telephony offering. Net2Phone will track and monitor voice quality and network performance metrics from start to finish and will provide Bresnan with a full view into telephone calls routed over its network. Bresnan customers benefit from savings compared to the cost of their current phone service, in addition to receiving an aggregated offering of cable TV, high-speed Internet access and telephone services.
Net2Phone provides cable operators worldwide with a fully integrated and hosted telecommunications solution utilizing both DOCSIS compliant and SIP-based VoIP technologies. By leveraging a distributed architecture of software and equipment combined with a cost-effective service offering, Net2Phone enables cable operators to sell their own telephony solution to their customers utilizing their existing high-speed data network at low incremental costs. Calls are managed via Net2Phone's back-office monitoring and management systems, providing a shared interface between the cable operator's local access network and the public switched telephone network.
About Net2Phone
Net2Phone provides VoIP PacketCable, SIP and wireless solutions around 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.
About Bresnan Communications
Bresnan Communications is a broadband communications company founded by Bill Bresnan in 1984. The company serves over 300,000 subscribers across Colorado, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Having recently completed a $200 million upgrade, Bresnan now offers advanced digital and high-speed Internet services to over 95% of its subscriber base. By the end of 2004, the company will offer digital video recorder service and will have launched high-definition TV and/or video-on-demand to two-thirds of its homes-passed. The company also serves the business community through its Business Services and Advertising Sales divisions. More information on Bresnan is available at www.bresnan.com/about/news/. |
