Back to press releasesNEWARK, N.J., December 12, 2002 — IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT.B, IDT), a multinational carrier, telephone and technology company, announced today that it will change the name of its Winstar division to IDT Solutions. The name change will become effective at the end of March 2003.
“What’s in a name? To Shakespeare, a rose by any other name may have smelt just as sweet, but for IDT the name IDT Solutions paints a more accurate picture of our budding business services division,” said Howard Jonas, IDT Chairman. “IDT has become a trusted name in telecommunications services, and now IDT Solutions will benefit from that good will.”
In the next 60 days IDT will launch a major marketing campaign to make businesses aware of the high quality and lower cost alternatives that IDT Solutions can provide including voice, data and high speed internet services.
“Just as we have a responsibility to our customers, we have a duty to the IDT shareholders to maximize the value of all company assets. When we bought the operating assets of the old Winstar, we thought any negative public perception of the company would soon fade. But unfortunately it has persisted and we believe it is hurting its value,” said Jim Courter, IDT CEO. “We believe IDT Solutions will help unlock the division’s potential.”
IDT Solutions not only offers local phone service in the 22 markets serviced by Winstar, but will also offer enterprise customers nationwide, the full suite of IDT services, including domestic and international long distance, data, high-speed internet and VoIP.
“This is more than just a name change for IDT Solutions, it’s the complete integration of the Winstar technology into the IDT network and full line of services. We will provide a complete solution for any enterprise customer’s voice and data needs at a substantial savings to the other major US carriers,” said Brian Finkelstein, CEO IDT Solutions, formerly Winstar. “And in weeks to come we will be announcing an aggressive pricing plan for IDT Solutions.”
IDT Solutions, (formerly Winstar) is the reliable choice for local and long distance voice, data, high-speed Internet, and business continuity-standby networking services for business needs. IDT Solutions’ unmatched facilities-based network utilizes fixed broadband wireless technology to deliver highly reliable, affordable services as your primary or supplemental choice to the Regional Bell Operating (RBOC) monopolies in 22 U.S. markets. Excellent customer support, superior network reliability, and the financial stability of IDT make IDT Solutions the smart choice for your telecommunications services.
IDT Corporation, through its IDT Telecom subsidiary, is a facilities-based, multinational carrier that provides a broad range of telecommunications services to its retail and wholesale customers worldwide. IDT Telecom, by means of its own national telecommunications backbone and fiber optic network infrastructure, provides its customers with integrated and competitively priced international and domestic long distance telephony and prepaid calling cards. IDT and Liberty Media own 95% and 5 % of IDT Telecom, respectively. IDT Media is the IDT subsidiary principally responsible for the Company’s initiatives in media, new video technologies and print media.
Through its various subsidiaries, IDT has interests in several telecom, Internet-related and media companies. IDT acquired assets of Winstar Communications in December 2001. IDT Corporation common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols IDT.B and IDT. As of October 18, 2002, there were about 54.1 million shares of Class B common stock (IDT.B) outstanding, and about 25.0 million shares of common stock (IDT). Of these, approximately 4.0 million shares of Class B common stock and approximately 5.4 million shares of common stock were held by IDT Corporation.
In this press release, all statements that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those in which we use the words “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate, “target” and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment of what may happen in the future, actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these statements due to numerous important factors, including, but not limited to, those described in our most recent report on SEC Form 10-K (under the heading “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”), which may be revised or supplemented in subsequent reports on SEC Forms 10-Q and 8-K. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following: potential declines in prices for our products and services; our ability to maintain and grow our retail telecommunications services, particularly our prepaid calling card business; availability of termination capacity; financial stability of our customers; our ability to maintain carrier agreements with foreign carriers; effectiveness of our marketing and distribution efforts; increased competition, particularly from regional bell operating companies; our ability to manage our growth; competitiveness of our Winstar subsidiary; impact of government regulation; our ability to obtain telecommunications products or services required for our products and services; and general economic conditions, particularly in the telecommunications markets. We are under no obligation, and expressly disclaim any obligation, to update the forward-looking statements in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
