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Technology Stocks : Voice-on-the-net (VON), VoIP, Internet (IP) Telephony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1473)	10/9/1998 11:04:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3178

AT&T is First Major Telecom Company to Offer Global Clearinghouse Services October 9, 1998 NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE) via NewsEdge Corporation -- The AT&T Global Clearinghouse introduced today at Fall Internet World provides a complete, centrally managed solution that allows Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telecommunications Authorities to easily establish and operate phone-to-phone IP Telephony services to more than 140 countries worldwide. AT&T is the first major company to offer these global clearinghouse functions. Members come from more than a dozen countries in the Asia/Pacific region, Europe and South America. By joining the AT&T Global Clearinghouse, ISPs can avoid the time and expense of negotiating and managing numerous agreements with other ISPs. The AT &T Global Clearinghouse acts as a single point of contact, posting the rate each ISP charges to terminate calls in its country and then offering those rates to all other ISPs that wish to send calls. The AT&T Global Clearinghouse also handles the related routing management, settlements, billing and administration, allowing member ISPs to save on staff and administration costs. A detailed monthly settlement statement, showing the number of minutes originated and terminated, is issued to members in a single currency. "The AT&T Global Clearinghouse allows us to extend the reach of our Internet Telephony network to regions outside our core network, without having to develop and maintain various bilateral relationships with other service providers," said Eckhart Gouras, executive director, Poptel, an ISP headquartered in Germany. "Instead we require only a single relationship with the AT&T Global Clearinghouse. AT&T handles all the financial settlements and relationship issues between the various networks, freeing up our time to focus on our business." In addition to the routing management and settlement of calls, the AT&T Global Clearinghouse provides: -- A Care Center, for members to receive account and settlement data, other members' rates and general network information. Members access their account information via a secure Web site. -- A Network Management Center, where IP hubs, global termination and IP access networks and AT&T's IP backbone network are monitored around the clock. -- An Operations Center, which collects, maintains and distributes operations and rate information via the member Web site. It tracks and coordinates the use of all software and hardware necessary to make the AT&T Global Clearinghouse work among members. -- Professional Services, to help interested ISPs establish themselves as IP Telephony providers as quickly as possible, providing installation and setup of gateways and related software, and training for ISP employees. "We've extended the underlying capabilities of the AT&T Global Clearinghouse and fine-tuned them for Telecommunications Authorities," said Kathleen B. Earley, vice president, AT&T Internet Services. "This enables them to treat their IP routes as an extension of their current bilateral relationships with AT&T." "The AT&T Global Clearinghouse is an important addition to our IP services portfolio, providing AT&T and our customers with another competitive advantage in the rapidly changing Internet environment," said JoAnn Patrick-Ezzell, president and CEO, AT&T Asia/Pacific. "Backed by the combination of AT&T's strength in network management, technical know-how and marketing expertise, the AT&T Global Clearinghouse is unrivaled in the marketplace."

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1473)	10/13/1998 8:42:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Small Victory, big Batte Field. If Focal Comm. is a CLEC, then rightfully so, payment is due! Ameritech Pays Focal For Net Calls, Under Protest October 13, 1998 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A., Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : Focal Communications Corp. is claiming a victory after Ameritech Corp. [NYSE:AIT] paid it $7 million in disputed reciprocal compensation fees for telephone calls to Internet service providers' (ISPs) points of presence. Ameritech said it made the payment under protest because of regulators' orders, and will continue to fight the issue. The dispute revolves around whether calls to ISPs are local calls under telecommunications legislation. Ameritech says they are not, and that it therefore should not have pay Focal, a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), the fees that one local carrier normally pays another when a call originates on the first carrier's network and terminates on the second's network. Focal says they are local calls, and so far both Illinois regulators and one federal court have agreed. Dave Pacholczyk, a spokesman for Ameritech, said a call to the Internet travels to an ISP's point of presence (POP) over the phone system, and then travels from there to a point on the Internet, such as a distant World Wide Web server. He said this is analogous to a long- distance call that might travel from an Ameritech customer's telephone to a central office and then be switched onto a long-distance carrier's network to travel to another part of the country. Focal, on the other hand, regards the POP as the end of the phone call. Since that makes the call a local one, Focal maintains, an existing agreement between the two carriers requires Ameritech to pay Focal a fee when a call originates on Ameritech's network and ends on Focal's. The Illinois Commerce Commission earlier this year ruled in favor of Focal. Ameritech appealed that ruling to the Federal District Court, which in July also ruled in favor of Focal. Ameritech then asked the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to stay the Federal District Court ruling pending appeal. In September, the circuit court refused the stay, meaning Ameritech must pay the amount in dispute, said Renee Martin, Focal's senior vice president and general counsel. The circuit court did not deny the appeal itself, which will still go forward, Martin told Newsbytes. She said no dates have been set for appeal proceedings. Focal said it had been unable to collect the money from Ameritech until this week. Pacholczyk told Newsbytes that Ameritech has been ordered to pay reciprocal compensation for Internet calls in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio. The Ohio decision was stayed until the end of October, and in the other three states Ameritech is paying the fees, he said. Regulators in Indiana have not made a decision on the issue. Reported By Newsbytes News Network, newsbytes.com . (19981009/Press Contact: Arianne Venuso, Focal Communications, 312-895- 8274; Dave Pacholczyk, Ameritech, 312-750-5205/WIRES TELECOM, LEGAL/)

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1473)	10/13/1998 8:47:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3178

OT> If I were a small CLEC, I would be going after this area, and providing these services, one-stop-bundling. Clec Targets Small Business October 13, 1998 INTERNETWEEK via NewsEdge Corporation : E.spire Communications Inc., a competitive local exchange carrier, is offering small businesses integrated local and long distance voice services-and in some locations, Internet services-on one monthly bill. E.spire's integrated services could save customers up to 20 percent on their monthly bills. E.spire Gold is designed for companies with a minimum of four business telephone lines and is offered in term plans of one, two or three years. Copyright c 1998 CMP Media Inc.