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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 (1963)	11/19/1998 9:15:00 PM
From: STK1	Respond to of 3178

globes.co.il

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1963)	11/20/1998 6:58:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Infonet Intros Flat Rate Voice-Over-IP Rates November 20, 1998 EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.: Having successfully made the transition to Internetprotocol (IP) technology on its network, Infonet has announced it is offering an international voice-over- data service that has a fixed price structure. The departure from traditional time and/or volume tariffs for an international virtual private network (VPN) service is a major step for any public networking firm, Newsbytes notes, but Infonet has been able to switch to the new tariff structure because it is the world's largest privately owned VPN operator. The new flat-rate tariff is known as the Global MultiMedia Service (GMS) data- telephony service and offers users a single monthly charge based on customer organization's expected usage and country of origin for calls. By switching to a flat-rate tariff system, Infonet says that customers can expect to pay less overall for their voice-over-IP services, even when taking into account existing low-cost pay-as-you-go voice services. Conventional telecommunications wisdom suggests that flat-rate telephony charges are potentially dangerous, and recipe for commercial disaster, Newsbytes notes. However, over the last few years, falling switching costs around the world have been met with increased costs of billing, meaning that many telecommunication carriers now admit that the actual cost of billing a call is now higher than the marginal cost of the actual call. Under the GMS facility, calls are routed across one or more IP connections into Infonet's international network. Packetizing the calls, the firm says, makes for significant cost savings and yet still offers customers access to toll quality services. According to Bennet Bayer, Infonet's director of product marketing, the GMS facility is available in 39 countries around the world. To date, he said, early adopters have found the service to be excellent. "Fixed pricing allows Infonet's clients to control voice-service costs and provide advanced cost- center planning," he explained, adding that the fixed pricing on the GSM reduces a client's costs while also providing better global control and planning. Infonet's Web site is at infonet.com .

To: Stephen B. Temple who wrote (1963)	11/20/1998 7:13:00 AM
From: Stephen B. Temple	Respond to of 3178

Cogeco Cable Announces Plans To Enter Phone Market November 20, 1998 MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA,: Cogeco Cable, one of Canada's handful oflarge cable-television operators, has announced plans to become a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), offering local and long- distance telephone service to its customers in Ontario and Quebec by the end of next year. The company, which is already a player in high-speed Internet access via cable modems, said it will use its local cable networks, a fiber-optic backbone it has helped build from Montreal to Rimouski in Eastern Quebec, and capacity on other backbone networks to provide phone service in the corridor from Windsor, Ont., to Rimouski. That corridor, which includes Montreal and Toronto, is one of Canada's most densely populated areas. Subsidiaries of Cogeco in Ontario and Quebec have already filed with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to be recognized as CLECs, company officials said. Cogeco said it will use advanced technology such as the Java programming language and JavaScript to add special features to its phone service, which will rely on voice over Internet Protocol (IP) techniques. Eventually, officials said, Cogeco hopes to add video telephony to its offerings. All of Canada's major cable firms are believed to be at least looking at the telephone market since the CRTC opened local telephone service to competition effective at the beginning of this year. At the IP Telephony and Voice/Data Integration Conference in Toronto last month, Steve Guiton, vice-president of telecommunications and multimedia at the Canadian Cable Television Association, predicted that 10 years from now about 20 percent of Canadian cable firms' revenues will come from the telephone business. However, Eamon Hoey, a Toronto-based telecommunications consultant, said cable companies still have some hurdled to overcome before succeeding in the telephone market. In addition to some technical issues, Hoey said, the cable firms have little expertise in serving the business market, and their credibility with consumers -- many of whom are unhappy with the service they get from their cable providers -- is doubtful.