Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The 56 Point TA; Charts With an Attitude -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Doug R who wrote (27238)	3/10/1999 8:40:00 AM
From: Sergio H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 79313

Good morning Doug: IDTC news out: Netscape to Add IDT Phone Icon To Communicator Web Browser By STEPHANIE N. MEHTA Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL In a significant move for the fledgling Internet telecommunications business, Netscape Communications Corp. agreed to feature an Internet-based calling service on its popular Communicator Web browser. Netscape said future version of its Communicator Web browser will feature an icon for IDT Corp.'s Net2Phone service, which allows users to make low-cost, long-distance telephone calls from their personal computers. The service also will be featured on Netscape's Netcenter portal. IDT, Hackensack, N.J., is a telecommunications company. Company Profile: Netscape Communications The agreement is expected to be announced Wednesday. Internet calls constitute a small fraction of all telephone traffic, largely because the sound quality is poor, compared with calls on traditional phone networks. The arrangement is similar to the agreement Netscape forged with America Online Inc. several years ago, in which AOL's popular Instant Messenger chat system was embedded in the Netscape browser. The two companies plan to merge. Netscape users who sign up for Net2Phone will be able to click on a special icon on the Netscape browser's toolbar to initiate Internet phone calls. The service will be available as a special feature on the Netcenter Internet site, or portal, this summer. Netscape, Mountain View, Calif., said the Communicator software has been installed in about 50 million computers world-wide. In contrast, IDT now has about 250,000 regular users of its Internet calling service, said Howie Balter, chief executive officer of the Net2Phone unit. "We think we'll be able to attract a lot more eyeballs and get a lot more people signing up," Mr. Balter said of the agreement. In order to originate calls from a computer, the user must have a sound-equipped personal computer with a microphone. Netscape and IDT declined to disclose terms of the multiyear pact, except to say IDT will pay Netscape a fee for promoting and advertising the Net2Phone service. Netscape also will share revenue with IDT. Mike Homer, a Netscape executive vice president, said the company is committed to using its browsers and portal to offer new communications technologies. Internet-based calling is cheap, in part, because the service providers avoid so-called access charges that traditional long-distance companies pay to local telephone companies for originating and terminating calls. IDT said it charges as little as 10 cents a minute for calls from anywhere in the world to the U.S., for example