Net2Phone
Teams with Level 3 to Expand Cable VoIP Offerings
Leading VoIP Companies Join Forces to Offer Expansive End-to-End
Telephony Solutions for Cable Operators
NEW ORLEANS, La., May 3, 2004 --Net2Phone (Nasdaq: NTOP) and Level
3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:LVLT) today announced that they will
join forces to offer end-to-end telephony solutions to cable operators.
Net2Phone will use Level 3s new (3)VoIP EnhancedSM Local
residential phone service as an enhancement to its current cable
telephony solutions. The companies made the announcement today at
The 2004 National Show hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications
Association (NCTA).
Net2Phone which currently empowers cable operators with
both PacketCable and SIP compliant fully integrated broadband phone
service plans to use Level 3s new VoIP offering to
enhance and expand its end-to-end telephony solutions. By outsourcing
telephony deployments to Net2Phone, cable operators can minimize
their upfront cost to deploy telephony services while benefiting
from accelerated time to market and drawing on Net2Phones
nine years of retail VoIP expertise, servicing more than 500,000
users worldwide.
Level 3s residential VoIP service will provide us with
enhancements to our current telephony network, enabling us to accelerate
and expand the availability of our innovative telephony solutions
to cable operators, said Stephen Greenberg, CEO for Net2Phone.
Complementing our existing VoIP offerings with Level 3s
industry-leading local coverage and expertise will only improve
our value proposition, as we market diversified cable telephony
solutions.
Our relationship with Net2Phone will enable cable operators
to receive a robust suite of features, functionality, network availability
and enhanced services from two of the most well-respected VoIP players
in the market today, said Sureel Choksi, president of Softswitch
Services for Level 3. Were pleased that Net2Phone has
elected to use our new (3)VoIP Enhanced Local service to augment
the deployment of the VoIP services provided by Net2Phone to business
and residential customers in the U.S.
As a hosted service provider, Net2Phone enables cable operators
with a choice of either PacketCable-compliant or SIP-based full-featured
broadband phone service that they can sell as an enhancement and/or
bundle to their existing product set.
Net2Phones PacketCable and SIP platform performs call management,
provides Class 5 features, billing, provisioning, and seamlessly
integrates into its partners front and back office systems,
thereby facilitating a unified bill for bundled services. Level
3 rounds out Net2Phones solution with its (3)VoIP Enhanced
Local service, which includes local phone numbers, interconnection
with the public-switched telephone network for local and long distance
services, local number portability and E911 emergency services.
(3)VoIP Enhanced Local Service
Now available in more than 50 U.S. markets, (3)VoIP Enhanced
Local service allows companies to develop voice services using Level
3 provided building blocks while retaining the flexibility to manage
and control the features offered to residential customers.
Key Features of (3)VoIP Enhanced Local Service include:
- Local calling including access to the PSTN
- Local phone numbers
- Operator assistance
- Directory listings and assistance
- E911 emergency services
- Local number portability
In addition to residential VoIP services, Level 3 offers a full
range of wholesale and business voice services. For more information
about Level 3s portfolio of VoIP services, please stop by
NCTA booth #4065, or visit www.Level3.com.
This relationship will serve as a complement to Net2Phones
agreement with IDT Solutions, formerly known as Winstar, which is
currently providing local and long distance telecom services in
major metropolitan markets.
To learn more about Net2Phones suite of services, please
stop by NCTA booth #1859, or visit www.net2phone.com.
About Net2Phone
Net2Phone provides PacketCable, SIP and wireless VoIP solutions
around in the world. As a leader in enabling telecom service providers
and cable operators with turn-key hosted VoIP telephony services,
Net2Phone has routed billions of retail VoIP minutes globally, servicing
more than 100,000 users in the US as well as hundreds of thousands
of more overseas. Net2Phones hosted SIP platform provides
partners with residential broadband telephony, calling cards, prefix
dialing and enterprise services in over 100 countries. Net2Phones
PacketCable platform provides cable operators with the ability to
deliver a primary line replacement service with guaranteed QoS and
features such as E911. Traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol NTOP,
Net2Phone's strategic partners and investors include Liberty Media
Corporation (NYSE: L; LMC.B) and IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT; IDT.C).
For more information about Net2Phone's products and services, please
visit www.net2phone.com.
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 (Nasdaq:LVLT) is an international communications and information
services company. The company operates one of the largest Internet
backbones in the world, is one of the largest providers of wholesale
dial-up service to ISPs in North America and is the primary provider
of Internet connectivity for millions of broadband subscribers,
through its cable and DSL partners. The company offers a wide range
of communications services over its 22,500 mile broadband fiber
optic network including Internet Protocol (IP) services, broadband
transport and infrastructure services, colocation services, and
patented Softswitch managed modem and voice services. Its Web address
is www.Level3.com.
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