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Net2Phone
and Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico
Launch VoIP Telephony Across Entire System
Liberty VoiceLinks Offers Consumers Cost-Effective Full Featured
Cable Telephony Service
View more information on this announcement
Newark, NJ and Luquillo, Puerto Rico - May 24, 2004 - Liberty Cablevision
of Puerto Rico, Inc. ("Liberty") today announced the launch
of residential telephony service to its customers using Net2Phone's
(NASDAQ: NTOP) fully managed end-to-end cable VoIP service. Beginning
today, "Liberty VoiceLinks" phone service will now be
available to nearly 300,000 homes passed in Liberty's franchise
footprint.
Liberty Voice Links is the first service in Puerto Rico that provides
residential phone service through cable TV lines using Voice over
IP (VoIP) technology. The service provides an alternative to conventional
telephone service allowing customers to make and receive calls to
or from any phone around the world in a similar manner to traditional
residential phones. VoIP technology allows the customer to benefit
from savings compared to the cost of their current phone service,
and allows them to use the phone, surf the Internet and watch cable
TV services simultaneously without interruptions.
Liberty and Net2Phone will host a conference call today at 1:00PM
Eastern Daylight Time to discuss the launch details. The call can
be accessed via the Net2Phone home page at www.net2phone.com.
"We are thrilled to give our customers a true affordable choice
for all forms of communication - voice, video and Internet access
in one bundled package," said Jose Alegria, General Manager
of Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico. "Prior to our launch
there were limited choices for customers in Puerto Rico for their
communications services. With the roll out of VoiceLinks, customers
who sign up for our complete bundled package can save more than
$60 a month on their combined voice, video and data services. We
look forward to continuing to provide additional value to our customers
at affordable prices."
Liberty Cablevision is offering its subscribers a choice of five
calling plans, with packages starting at $24.95 per month, which
includes unlimited local calling and 911 service, discounted long
distance calling and 16 premium features at no additional cost.
The full-footprint launch comes on the heels of a 1,000-subscriber
controlled introduction, where an independent consumer's study rendered
a 96% level of customer's satisfaction in quality of service and
product offering.
"Liberty's telephony rollout across Puerto Rico is a testament
to the benefits and success of a hosted telephony solution,"
said Stephen Greenberg. "Net2Phone's solutions have now been
selected by six cable operators in five countries, representing
more than 2.3 million homes passed. There is now a groundswell of
cable operators that are beginning to make the decision to outsource
telephony, and many believe that we are well situated to provide
incremental value as a hosted telephony partner and enabler for
these operators. "
Net2Phone's cable voice platform permits cable operators such as
Liberty Cablevision to deploy telephony services easily via a fully
outsourced solution, thereby enabling them to offer quality telephony
services to their customers, reduce churn, generate incremental
revenue and keep CapEx and operating expenses at a minimum.
Under the terms of the original six-year agreement, Liberty Cablevision
maintains ownership of the customer, service brand, and Tier I customer
and technical support, while Net2Phone supports the back office
platform, switching and transport, ongoing operations and Tier II+
technical support to deliver a fully managed QoS IP solution. Net2Phone
tracks and monitors voice quality and network performance metrics
from start to finish and provides the cable operator with a full
view into telephone calls routed over its network. Consumers benefit
on two fronts: inexpensive stand alone telephony when compared against
traditional phone service and savings derived from the video, data
and voice triple play in cable TV, high-speed Internet access and
telephone services.
About Net2Phone
Net2Phone provides PacketCable, SIP and wireless VoIP solutions
around in the world. As leaders 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. Net2Phone's hosted SIP platform provides partners
with residential broadband telephony, calling cards, prefix dialing
and enterprise services in over 100 countries. Net2Phone's 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 Liberty Cablevision
Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Liberty Media Corporation (NYSE: L, LMC.B). Liberty Cablevision
passes approximately 310,000 homes and serves approximately 120,000
customers in 37 municipalities principally located in the Eastern,
Central and Northern regions of the island of Puerto Rico. In the
second quarter of 2002, the company launched the first fully interactive
television service on the island, as well as high-speed data access
through cable modems.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
These forward- looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
and actual results could differ materially from those discussed
in the forward-looking statements. For this purpose, any statements
contained in this press release that are not statements of historical
fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Factors which
may affect the Company's results include, but are not limited to,
the Company's ability to expand its customer base, the Company's
ability to develop additional and leverage its existing distribution
channels for its products and solutions, dependence on strategic
and channel partners including their ability to distribute the Company's
products and meet or renew their financial commitments, the Company's
ability to address international markets, the effectiveness of the
Company's sales and marketing activities, the acceptance of the
Company's products in the marketplace, the timing and scope of deployments
of the Company's products by customers, fluctuations in customer
sales cycles, customers' ability to obtain additional funding, technical
difficulties with respect to the Company's products or products
in development, the need for ongoing product development in an environment
of rapid technological change, the emergence of new competitors
in the marketplace, the Company's ability to compete successfully
against established competitors with greater resources, the uncertainty
of future governmental regulation, the Company's ability to manage
growth, obtain patent protection, and obtain additional funds, general
economic conditions and other risks discussed in this press release
and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
All forward-looking statements and risk factors included in this
document are made as of the date hereof, based on information available
to the Company as of the date thereof, and the Company assumes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement or risk factors.
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