AT&T Corp has lost a key Internet executive to an internet telephony start-up in a move that looks to have prompted a cautious venture into the internet telephony market. AT&T says it has entered a number of agreements with internet telephony services start-up ITXC Corp, a company founded by Tom Evslin, AT&T vice president and head of AT&T’s WorldNet internet access
service. Evslin says he will quit AT&T to head up the ITXP as soon as a replacement is found. Evslin founded AT&Ts WorldNet internet services business in 1994, which has gone on to sign more than 900,000 users. His latest venture, ITXC, which stands for Internet Telephony Exchange Carrier, aims to provide the routing and settlement services already used by traditional telecommunications companies but to companies offering internet telephony in direct competition to the core long-distance services offered by AT&T and other International telecoms carriers. It will be based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The start-up has already secured significant backing not just from AT&T. Internet telephony specialist VocalTec Communications Ltd, as well as AT&T, is to take seats on the board of the new company. As well as having signed unspecific agreements with IXTC, AT&T and VocalTec also retain the option of taking equity stakes in the start-up. In addition the Herzilya, Israel-based VocalTec also says that Evslin will join its board of directors once he leaves AT&T this will not be until a successor if found, according to AT&T.
