...but before I baord my flight, let me leave you with something to digest.
Frank
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Inter-Tel, Telba, Glocalnet and NTT International Agree to Create Global IP Telephony Network Alliance
April 20, 1998
PHOENIX, April 17 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation -- Inter-Tel, Incorporated (Nasdaq: INTL), NTT International Corporation (NTTI), Glocalnet AB (Publ.) and Telba Telecomunicacoes Ltda. have announced the formation of an alliance that will establish and operate a global data network to exchange IP voice and facsimile traffic, and provide enterprise Intranet services across high quality Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The alliance members agreed by Memorandum of Understanding to unite their respective regional IP telephony networks based on the Inter-Tel Vocal'Net IP telephony gateway and call accounting technology.
"The growth and development of the IP telephony industry will depend upon peering agreements like the one established by Inter-Tel, NTTI, Glocalnet, and Telba," said Jeff Pulver, President of Pulver.com. "This sort of arrangement will help service providers, their customers and the industry as a whole, to realize the full potential of IP telephony."
The Alliance is comprised of a core body of globally situated regional members who will play an active role in determining network quality and service availability within their markets. Unlike most other emerging industry consortiums, the Alliance will be able to offer higher quality telecom services. Additionally, the Alliance members believe they are in a better position to introduce value-added services such as roaming and unified messaging. Under terms of the agreement, each alliance member will continue to maintain the quality of their network connections, while expanding network coverage within their regions by either building additional infrastructure, or forming relationships with smaller Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs). As a result, alliance partners are more able to leverage the expertise they have gained within their regional markets.
The Alliance takes advantage of the cooperation model that Glocalnet and Inter-Tel used in their previously announced agreement. By adding two new major members, the Alliance takes a giant step towards global coverage.
Mr. Ross McAlpine, President of Inter-Tel.net, Inc., said, "Inter-Tel.net is excited about this relationship and the resources it will bring to our quest to provide high quality worldwide IP telephony services to our customers." Inter-Tel has already established an alternative long distance network in North America called Inter-Tel.net. The long distance network currently maintains seven Points of Presence in the United States, with more planned throughout 1998. Inter-Tel.net currently supports calls originating from Phoenix, San Jose, New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Reno with termination throughout the continental United States. Network quality is monitored on a 24 hour a day, seven day a week basis by Inter-Tel's Network Operations Center in Reno, Nevada.
Currently, Glocalnet is deploying the largest pan-European Voice-over-IP network. Glocalnet has already installed Points of Presence (POPs) in Stockholm, London and Amsterdam. Within a month, Glocalnet also plans to roll out infrastructure in Frankfurt (Germany), Paris (France), Zurich (Switzerland), Brussels (Belgium) and Milan (Italy). By the end of the year, Glocalnet intends to have more than 2800 voice ports installed. Glocalnet is using a high-quality Virtual Private Network to connect its POPs. "This alliance is a major breakthrough for the Voice over IP industry. For the first time, companies in four major geographical areas have decided to join forces to achieve the common goal of delivering seamless, high-quality Voice over IP service," says Andrin Bachmann, Glocalnet's co-founder and Vice President in charge of major technological relationships.
Inter-Tel and NTTI have an existing relationship. NTTI has had software licensing and distribution rights to Inter-Tel's Vocal'Net(TM) Internet Protocol (IP) telephony gateways in Japan and other countries since June 1997. NTTI has already installed points of presence's (POPs) in Tokyo and Osaka. Additional POPs are scheduled to be in place in the near future in Sapporo, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. Built on a high-quality backbone using NTT's Internet Service (Open Computer Network) and ATM Service (ATM Mega Link), NTTI expects to deploy l00 of Inter-Tel Vocal'Net gateways this year, supporting 2300 ports for providing efficient enterprise Intranet services. Mr. Katsuji Noguchi, General Manager of NTTI, stated "The global alliance is very valuable because it will enable more efficient use of international voice over NTT's Internet service."
Mr. Alfredo Campos, Director of Telba declared that "This alliance with NTTI, Glocalnet, Inter-Tel and Telba is an agreement that will give the members a good beginning for global Voice Over IP communications and should serve as a great benefit to the people and countries of South America." Telba's planned South American alternative long distance network already includes Points of Presence's (POPs) in Curitiba, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Additional POPs are scheduled for Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Santiago, Chile. Built on a high-quality backbone, Telba plans to deploy 300 Inter-Tel Vocal'Net gateways, supporting 7200 ports throughout most of South America.
About Inter-Tel:
Inter-Tel is a single point of contact, full service provider of digital business telephone systems, call processing software, voice processing software, call accounting software, Internet Protocol (IP) telephony software, computer telephone integration applications and long distance calling services. Inter-Tel's products and services include the AXXESS and Inter-Tel Axxent digital business communication software platforms, the AXXESSORY Talk voice processing platform, the Vocal'Net IP telephony gateway, the Vocal'Net Service Provider Software and Centralized Accounting Software and Inter- Tel.net, an IP telephony packet switched long distance service. The Company also provides maintenance, leasing and support services for its products. Inter-Tel is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Inter-Tel's Common Stock is quoted on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol INTL. Inter-Tel can be reached at 602-302-8900 or inter-tel.com or inter-tel.net on the World Wide Web.
About NTT International:
Established in 1985, Tokyo-based NTT International has successfully conducted 350 telecommunications and data communications consulting and engineering projects in 50 countries worldwide. Multimedia is one of the keywords of NTTI as the company also introduces outstanding foreign multimedia systems and products to the Japanese market and at the same time develops business in foreign markets by making international versions of systems made with the state-of-the-art technologies developed by Nippon Telephone and Telegraph. NTTI has distributed Natural MicroSystems products for NTT and major companies in Japan since 1991, conducting sales and providing technical support to customers concerning Japanese Network Interfaces.
About Glocalnet:
Glocalnet is a next-generation telecommunications company that combines telecommunications and IP networking technology to produce flexible and cost- efficient services. Currently, Glocalnet is deploying a pan-European Voice- over-IP network. Independent marketing partners will market the services. Glocalnet is a company that originated from NETnet International, one of the leading independent Telecom Service Providers in Europe. Glocalnet is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Trade in Glocalnet's stock is currently arranged by Aragon FK, a Swedish investment bank. Glocalnet can be reached at +46 8 566 341 00 or glocalnet.com on the World Wide Web, or Stefan Krook, CEO, +46 8 5663 4100, stefan.krook@glocalnet.com.
About Telba:
Telba is an infrastructure provider of telecommunications in Argentina and Southern Brazil. While Telba is composed of multiple divisions, its primary focus is building the infrastructure for telephone systems in Argentina, including construction of the central offices, groundwork, cabling, coin collecting and manufacture of telephones. Telba was the first non-Brazilian technical company to build a telecommunications infrastructure in Brazil.
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Risk factors which could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements are listed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including but not limited to the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-3 filed with the SEC on October 31, 1997, the Company's Annual Report to Shareholders, Form 10-K and reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended September 30, June 30 and March 31, 1998.
SOURCE Inter-Tel, Incorporated
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