Keith.... just saw this on another thread...though I'd post it for info purposes only...
Inter@ctive WeekApril 6, 1998
IP Telephony Companies Agree To Share Traffic
By Louis Trager
Two Internet Protocol telephony firms, Delta Three Inc. and ITXC Corp., announced
an agreement to share traffic in what they called the first deal between
voice-over-the-Internet providers for expanded network scope.
Delta Three, owned by RSL Communications Ltd. (www.rslcom.com), says it
operates the biggest Internet Protocol (IP) telephony network in the world. ITXC
(www.itxc.com), backed by AT&T Corp. and VocalTec Communications Ltd., has
agreements with Internet service providers (ISPs) preparing to affiliate with its
service called WWeXchange.
"This peering agreement is very important for the development of IP telephony," says
IP telephony consultant and analyst Jeff Pulver at pulver.com Inc.
The companies will coordinate their involvement with industry standards bodies,
which they hope will speed development of rules for exchanging Internet calls. They
also plan to work together on advanced functions to differentiate Net telephony from
traditional circuit-switched calls.
Separately, Delta Three (www.deltathree.com) agreed with Telenor Nextel, a unit
of
Norway's biggest telecommunications company and one of Europe's leading ISPs,
to
develop and market IP telephony services to its 175,000 dial-up and 2,000
corporate
customers. In late 1997, Delta Three entered into an agreement with Nifty
Corp.,
Japan's largest ISP, to offer Internet telephony services to more than 2.5
million
online subscribers.
RSL had announced in January that it would offer its U.S. consumers the chance to
make international IP telephony calls over Delta Three's global IP network.
Rates for the calls varied from 28 cents per minute to 48 cents. |
