IDT Long Distance Gets Highest Rating In Wall Street Journal Ranking of Long Distance Carriers
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NEWARK, N.J. - October 3, 2002 - IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT.B, IDT), a leading multinational carrier and telephone company, is proud to announce that the company's consumer long distance service was given a "thumbs up," which is the highest ranking given by the Wall Street Journal in its independent survey of cellular and long distance telephone companies. The results of the comprehensive survey are published in the Personal Finance Section of the Thursday, October 3, 2002 edition of the Wall Street Journal.
In the survey of long distance carriers, which included all the major carriers, including MCI, Sprint and AT&T, IDT received the best overall ratings. The Wall Street Journal said, "In an age of impossible-to-decipher bills, IDT stands out as an exception. The discount carrier's rate structure is so simple (five-cents-a-minute round the clock) reading the bill doesn't require a calculator to weed out hidden fees and charges. And the tax section includes only actual taxes, not added fees that go to the carrier."
"I'm very proud. Clearly, this ranking is proof positive of IDT's success in winning the battle of the long distance carriers and becoming the top choice for consumers and business customers," said IDT Chairman Howard Jonas. "But for the people here at IDT, success isn't a destination or just a corporate milestone for us to reach. Success is a journey that we are committed to travel everyday for the rest of our lives."
The Wall Street Journal noted that IDT "charges in six second increments rather than rounding to the closest minute." The report went on to say that, IDT offers "cheap rates" and "excellent discount international options."
"While it's very gratifying to be recognized as one of the best long distance companies by The Wall Street Journal, we believe that we still have room to improve as we grow," said Jim Courter, CEO of IDT. "We're working hard to upgrade our customer service and our online initiatives to keep pace with the overwhelming increase in volume of customers flooding to IDT from the other long distance carriers."
IDT consumer long distance offers many additional advantages. IDT customers are not charged for multiple lines in their primary residence or in a second or vacation home. In addition, IDT offers customers a 10 cents a minute calling card with absolutely no fees or surcharges.
IDT CORPORATION
IDT, through its IDT Telecom subsidiary, is a leading facilities-based, multinational carrier that provides a broad range of telecommunications services to its retail and wholesale customers worldwide. Through its own national telecommunications backbone and fiber optic network infrastructure, IDT Telecom 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 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 June 10, 2002, there were 53.4 million shares of Class B common stock (IDT.B) outstanding, and 24.9 million shares of common stock (IDT). Of these, 4.0 million shares of Class B common stock and 5.4 million shares of common stock were held by units of IDT Corporation.
Except for historical information, all of the expectations and Assumptions contained in the foregoing are forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, involving risks and uncertainties. These statements refer to our plans to implement our growth strategy, improve our financial performance, expand our infrastructure, develop new products and services, expand our customer base and enter international markets. The forward-looking statements also include our expectations concerning factors affecting the markets for our products, including the demand for long distance telecommunications, and Internet access services. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results that we anticipate. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those risks discussed in this release. In addition to the factors specifically noted in the forward looking statements, other important factors that could result in those differences include (a) general economic conditions in the telecommunications and Internet markets, including inflation, recession, interest rates, and other economic factors; (b) casualty to or other disruption of our facilities and operations; (c) those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10K for the period ended July 31, 2001 and (d) other factors that generally affect the business of telecommunications, Internet and other communications companies. We assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from the results anticipated in the forward-looking statements.
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Oct 03, 2002 |
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