International Discount Telecommunications Inc – the Hackensack, New Jersey company that pioneered call-back services back in 1992 and subsequently developed an Internet telephony system that interfaces with the regular public switched telephone network (CI No 2,820) – wants to expand its standard telephony business, and is in negotiations to buy international carrier Econophone Inc. Econophone, which is a Federal Communications Commission-approved facilities-based carrier in the US, also has a license to offer long-distance services in the UK. Furthermore, it operates a transatlantic fiber-optic cable which runs between the US and the UK. There is no word yet on the financial terms being discussed for closely-held Econophone. IDT is casting itself as a David, to telecommunications carriers’ Goliath, by trying to reverse the trend of telecommunications carriers moving into the Internet provision business. The company is planning to introduce an aggressive pricing strategy that will guarantee to undercut rivals by 10%. It will also offer free Internet access for long distance subscribers where rivals such as AT&T Corp charge around $20 per month.
