Helena, MT, March 6, 2002 (The Digest) - MWI Announces, through their consortium of national providers, ICallSMARTsm offers long distance users a long awaited flat rate alterative. 

In 1999, MWI (More Wire Inc.) began its quest to deliver the Nations first flat rate IP long distance service that possessed the necessary quality and functionality to induce mass-market adoption. The bold initiative now recognized in the industry as ICallSMARTsm, defies preexisting barriers effectively delivering flat rate toll quality long distance changing the minds of many cynics and winning over anxious consumers. 

An unprecedented alternative, ICallSMARTsm offers subscriber's unlimited long distance to anywhere in all fifty U.S. States and Canada from their existing home or business phone for one all-inclusive monthly access fee. What is even more intriguing, is the Company's "low entry" reseller participation program where ISPs, LECs and investors alike, can become ICallSMARTsm "Local Area Providers" taking advantage of the company's extreme market differentiation, extensive private voice network, and expertise in the IP Telephony industry. 

Since the company's inaugural push to identify progressive affiliates one year ago, ICallSMARTsm is now available in thirty states and mounting fast. Local area providers are ramping up consistently as they are finding that ICallSMARTsm delivers the quality and simplicity they have long been awaiting. 

Allan Shepard, the company's Executive Vice President said, "Companies that still try and explain VoIP technology to their customers, do so in an attempt to justify inferior quality and functionality. We just don't have to; we simply offer a digital long distance solution over subscribers existing telephones at 0 cents a minute." One such subscriber says, "It's the first time I have found a product that allows me to cut costs without cutting corners." Another simply stated, "I love not having to watch the clock to control my long distance bill." When asked what they appreciate most, ICallSMARTsm subscribers unanimously agree it is the value and peace of mind of a fixed low monthly flat rate.
 
While it is obvious that customer satisfaction has high marks, the Company is dedicated to adding continued value for their customer's with aggressive network expansion plans to include as many as fifteen European Countries for flat rate termination by mid 2002 as well as, the delivery of other cost effective communications services in the near future. 

With an average residential monthly access fee of around $40 for unlimited long distance to the U.S. and Canada and generous reseller participation program, many feel MWI offers the most cost effective and advantageous entry in to the exciting Telephony industry for those who wish to participate. 

Contact: 
Company: More Wire Inc. 
Contact: Steve Shelley 
Website: www.morewire.com 
Phone: 877.594.9700 
Email: sshelley@morewire.com

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

June 18, 2001 (The Digest) - Ever notice on the "X-Files" that when Scully dialed Mulder's cell phone he answered promptly regardless of his location? 
"Where are you?" she would say as she stood in the autopsy room, staring down at something that just shouldn't be. 
"I'm in a UFO over Zurich," he'd reply. 
That's pure science fiction, of course. His cell phone wouldn't work in Zurich.  

If you, like many, find freedom from phones to be one of traveling's great rewards, you can stop reading right here. But cell phones can be a traveler's best friend (they have an off switch, after all). Regrettably, standard consumer models don't work overseas, and most alternatives are painfully pricey.  

Here's the good news:
You can buy a specialized, but inexpensive, cell phone to receive calls for free almost anywhere in the world, and to dial the United States from abroad at just pennies a minute. Before I tell you how, let's look at your other options. 

The problem is that the European, Asian and African cellular system - called GSM - operates on different frequencies than American phones (which employ a hodgepodge of incompatible technologies). Some American cellular services, like Sprint, will work in parts of Mexico and Puerto Rico. Otherwise, you can't use your own phone overseas unless you are a Nextel customer, and odds are that you aren't. Nextel - representing the high end of cellular service - sells mostly to corporate clients. 

Nextel services cost more (and deliver more, like a walkie-talkie function). For that reason, the company does not market aggressively to individual cell phone users. Anyone can sign up, though (800-639- 8359; www.nextel.com). Nextel's global reception works with only one phone model: the i2000plus, currently on sale for $199.  

AT&T and Verizon can provide overseas phones (for $395 to $800) programmed with the same number as your home cell phone (but usable only abroad).  

They're all budget-busters: With Nextel, calls range from 99 cents a minute (from Europe) to $5.99 (from Cambodia). AT&T charges a flat rate of $1.99 a minute anywhere in the world. Verizon costs $1.49 a minute, plus long-distance charges. Anyone dialing your regular mobile number will reach you abroad - but you'll shell out dollars- per-minute for those calls, too.  

These are perfect plans if you want to retain your everyday cell phone number on foreign travels and don't mind paying a premium for the privilege.  

Much cheaper ways to call home from abroad abound: Prepaid phone cards, for example. But there's an obvious benefit to toting a cell phone on your foreign trip: Your co-workers and loved ones can reach you immediately if the need arises.  

To obtain that advantage, without an expensive buy-in, consider the rental alternative: Nextel rents its worldwide phones to travelers for $10 a day, plus the considerable cost of each call. For details, phone (800) 639-8359 or check the Web at www.nextel.com and click on "Nextel Worldwide." AT&T (800-888-7600) rents overseas phones for rates ranging from $39 a week to $60 for three months. Verizon (800-387-6835) GSM phones go for $75 for the first week, $150 for a month. Tack on one-time activation fees, monthly service fees and the price of the calls, and you're still talking real money.
 
(You might cut the cost significantly if you're planning to rent a car in another country. Ask if the agency - like many American car rental outfits - can provide you with a cell phone, as well.) 

The real trick is to combine the low-cost benefit of a calling card with the convenience and security of a cell phone. To understand how this is possible, you must know two key differences between overseas and American cell phone systems.
 
Foreign cell phones do not come with numbers programmed into them. Customers activate their phones by popping in so-called SIM cards - little devices ranging in size from a postage stamp to a credit card. To "charge" your SIM card, you buy prepaid time at tobacco shops, pharmacies, gas stations and kiosks almost everywhere abroad. 

In many countries (including all European nations), cell phone users pay only for outgoing calls. (In the United States, we're charged for incoming as well.)  

So you need an inexpensive GSM phone and a SIM card for the country you're visiting. You can purchase the phone for as little as $99.99 at a Bay Area company called Planet Omni (1480 Wharton Way, Concord, CA 94521; phone: 925-246-7103; fax: 925-686-9968; Web: www.planetomni.com; e-mail: info@buyundercost.com).  

SIM cards will shrink the cost of calls back home, according to Ken Grunski, who sells them through a company called Telestial (he also sells inexpensive GSM phones). Prices can run as low as 17 cents a minute from Australia to the United States, or 15 cents a minute from England. Elsewhere in Europe, per-minute costs to the United States range from 63 cents to $1.74. Calls from Asia and Africa are comparable. (Contact: Telestial, 4689 Mission Blvd., San Diego, CA 92109; phone: 858-274-2686; fax: 858-274-2757; Web: www.telestial.com; e-mail: moreinfo@telestial.com.) 

Remember that incoming calls are free. Since America has the world's cheapest overseas dialing rates (under 20 cents a minute to many European countries), family and friends can afford to phone you any time.  

Mary Hillabrand, who owns a San Francisco court reporter firm, once rented a cell phone on a trip to Greece and ran up a $500 bill at $2 a minute. For her next trip, she bought a phone and SIM card from Telestial - and payed 63 cents per minute to call home. Hillabrand plans to get another SIM card for her upcoming trip to Australia.  

Even a great deal like hers can be improved. Here's how: 
Before heading overseas with your cell phone and your SIM card, sign up for a "callback" program. These enable you to bypass the carrier in the country you are visiting; you pay only for point-to- point calls within the United States.  

Want to phone your sister from a wine bar on the Rhine? Start by dialing a U.S. phone number provided by your callback service. After one or two rings, you hang up. Because you didn't connect, you are not charged. About a minute later, your cell phone jangles. Upon answering, you hear a U.S. dial tone. Punch in your sister's area code and phone number, just like you do at home. Here's the best part: Because this is an incoming call to your cell phone, it counts as a freebie. You will be billed by the callback company at a lower domestic rate. I checked out a callback firm called CogniDial (on the Web at cognidial.com) and found that a 15-minute call from France would cost $1.95 at 13 cents a minute.-- Stanford travel program 

Last week we reported that the excellent travel programs sponsored by the Stanford Alumni Association are open to university alumni, their families, parents of students and university donors. Duncan Beardsley, program director, reports that others can join in for a fee of $75 per person. For trip details, check their Web site: www.stanfordalumni.org.

Free Or Much Cheaper Directory Assistance For Mobile Phone Users

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Broadview Gives "No Limits" to Customers in New York 

By Liz Montalbano 
Posted on: 11/24/1999 

Broadview Networks (www.broadviewnet.com), an ICP serving the Northeast, has announced a service plan for residents in New York that offers a flat-rate package for local, regional and long distance calling and Internet access.

The Broadview No Limits plan is priced at $29.95 per month and currently is available for residents of New York, Long Island and Westchester and Rockland counties. According to the company, this price for all service is 55 percent less than the equivalent services from ILEC Bell Atlantic Corp. (www.bellatlantic.com) or AT&T Corp. (www.att.com) if they are purchased on an à-la-carte basis.

Vern M. Kennedy, president and CEO of the Long Island City, N.Y.-based company, says the user-friendly plan is long overdue for New York customers.

"New Yorkers have always wanted easy, unlimited local calling plans," Kennedy said in a press statement. "Broadview No Limits goes beyond local to provide the most comprehensive package of affordable calling and Internet services."

The No Limits plan provides the following services in one package: local dial tone; unlimited local calling; unlimited dial-up Internet access; up to 300 minutes of free regional calling per month, with subsequent usage billed at 5 cents per minute; and state-to-state long distance calling for 7 cents per minute all day, every day.

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Dialpad.com Registers 500,000 Members in First Month

Free Web-to-Phone Service With One-Click-Calling(TM) Catches on Like Wildfire 

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Dialpad.com, Inc., the Internet's first free, Java-based Web-to-phone service, today announced its rapid membership sign-up and adoption rate of 500,000 members in the first month since it went live Oct. 18, 1999.  With the Company's first mainstream consumer service, registered members are able to call any phone number in the U.S. for free from their Web browser.  Company statistics show average daily session per member is 16.91 minutes with an average duration per call of 4.27 minutes.  Over 14.2 million minutes have been used by members in the first month with average banner ad impressions reaching 2 million per day. 

The Company has spent the last two years developing proprietary, patent-pending Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology and combined it with a simple, user-friendly Java applet on top of GTE Internetworking's private fiber network backbone to form the basis for Dialpad.com's service. 

Numerous market forecasts show that VoIP is going to explode and change many aspects of communications.  According to market research data by IDC, IP telephony service revenue is expected to reach $480 million in 1999.  Revenue is forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 108% to reach nearly $19 billion in 2004.  Total 1998 IP Telephony market size was 310 million minutes.  This is projected to grow to 2.7 billion minutes at the end of 1999.  IDC forecasts that IP telephony minutes will nearly triple in 2000 to reach 9.6 billion, and reach 135 billion minutes by 2004. 

"Dialpad.com has a unique angle in the VoIP space -- they are the first mover in combining an easy-to-use Java applet, with the convenience of a free service on top of GTEi's private network backbone," said Mark Winther, vice president of worldwide telecommunications at IDC.  We think they're going to grab a large market share of VoIP minutes in the coming year." 

Dialpad.com has a multi-pronged business model and strategy to generate revenues.  Advertising, with 30-second rotating banners, anchor tenancy buttons, and a 3-second audio segment before every call will be the largest revenue generators.  In addition, up-front licensing fees for service integration with other Web sites will help drive the Internet's first One-Click-Calling feature.  Select portals, communities, e-commerce, yellow page and new media sites can now be enabled through a relatively simple customized development process as part of Dialpad.com's licensing programs. 

"We have an elegantly simple model," said Dr. Hyunduk Ahn, CEO of Dialpad.com.  Members sign-up and download a simple applet in minutes, and start making free long-distance phone calls from the Web browser instantly. This follows the same path of free email, only its much more pervasive, especially when we throw a global switch sometime next year." 

How DialPad.com Works 

The Dialpad.com service is enabled via a small, 160 Kbyte Java applet, which is activated when a member logs on.  The Dialpad.com applet provides complete convenience and simplicity when a member is engaged in an Internet session. 

Dialpad.com's proprietary, patent-pending Split-323 architecture(TM) divides the VoIP technology into two pieces:  a small, thin client applet, and a server-based module that seamlessly manages the call control process through the Company's scalable server network.  Within Dialpad.com, users interact with a standard telephone keypad metaphor, from which they dial and complete calls.  In the background, a Dialpad.com server contacts one of GTE Internetworking's Internet telephony gateways, allowing the call to be initiated.  The call is then placed, and members partake in conversation through a PC's microphone/speaker or headset to another PC or traditional phone line.

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Viatel to Offer Calls at 5 Cents a Minute Among Eight Countries

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IDT Unveils New Version of Net2Phone

Net2Phone 9.0 launched today; enables quicker installation, more efficient.

HACKENSACK, NJ—December 2, 1998 - IDT’s (NASDAQ: IDTC) Net2Phone today unveiled its completely redesigned version of Net2Phone, the first PC-to-phone service. The new 32-bit version, called Net2Phone 9.0, downloads 30% faster than previous version, installs considerably more quickly than its predecessor, and takes up less space in the computer.

New features of Net2Phone 9.0 include:

New compact graphical user interface 
Ability to push web pages from customer service center 
Full multilingual integration, supporting seven languages 
Up to 100 programmable speed-dial 
Ability to store Net2Phone in system tray for faster start-up 
Faster performance 
Volume-control 
Ability to recharge their Net2Phone account directly from the client (Previously, users were only able to check the status of their account in from the client, but had to re-charge their account on the web site. Now there is no need to open a browser to recharge. The web site can now be used to retrieve call history.)

Additionally, Net2Phone 9.0 enables improved speech quality and a streamlined user interface with a cell phone-like appearance. Until now, Net2Phone was only available in a 16-bit version, restricting new developments and flexibility within the application. For example, now call centers (including the Net2Phone customer support center) will be able to push web pages to the client in order to facilitate easier e-commerce and call center support. 

"This new platform enables Net2Phone to further improve the quality of IP Telephony. The addition of exciting and powerful new functionality as well as the overall friendliness of our implementation, will assure that Net2Phone will be on every busy user’s desktop," said David Greenblatt, Chief Operating Officer of Net2Phone. 

Net2Phone is IDT’s pioneer Internet telephony product, enabling computer users around the world to place telephone calls over the Internet to any telephone around the world at significantly reduced rates. Introduced first in July 1996, more than 1,000,000 users have placed telephone calls using IDT’s proprietary PC-to-phone technology. Companies such as IBM Global Services (NYSE: IBM), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Excite (NASDAQ: XCIT), and Creative Labs (NASDAQ: CREAF) either bundle or resell Net2Phone PC services to their customer base. Users can download Net2Phone PC free at http://www.net2phone.com. 

IDT is a leading emerging multinational carrier that combines its position as an international telecommunications operator, its experience as an Internet service provider and its leading position in Internet telephony to provide a broad range of telecommunications services to its wholesale and retail customers worldwide. The company provides its customers with integrated and competitively priced international and domestic long distance, pre-paid calling cards, Internet access and, through its Net2Phone product offerings, Internet telephony services including Net2Phone Direct, Net2Fax, and Click2Talk. For more information about IDT’s Internet telephony services, please visit http://www.net2phone.com. 

Except for historical information, all of the expectations and assumptions contained in the foregoing are forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, the competitive environment for Internet telephony, changes of rates of all related telco rates and services, legislation that may affect the Internet Telephony industry, IDT ‘s ability to operate the services described on a large scale commercial level. For additional information regarding these and other risks associated with the Company’s business refer to the Company’s reports filed with the SEC.

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