IDT Corp. Seeks Thorough FCC Review of Restructured Sale of Global Crossing to Singapore Conglomerate
CEO Says That Selling Critical Telecommunications Infrastructure to Company Owned by a Foreign Government Not in the Best Interests of the United States |
Newark, NJ, May 7, 2003 -- IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT, IDT.C), a multinational carrier, telephone and technology company, today asked the Federal Communications Commission to thoroughly review the proposed restructuring of the agreement to sell Global Crossing to Singapore Technologies Telemedia and Hutchinson Telecommunications, Ltd., following the withdrawal of Hutchinson Telecommunications from the deal.
In its letter to the Commission, IDT points out that, "Rather than seeking approval for one private entity (Hutchinson) and one government-backed entity (Singapore) to each acquire a 30.75% stake in Global Crossing, the parties now plan to seek approval for a single entity, Singapore – an affiliate of a foreign government – to acquire a controlling 61.5% interest in Global Crossing's critical infrastructure assets."
Because of the danger that granting control of Global Crossing to a company owned by a foreign government would put American telecommunications companies at a distinct competitive disadvantage, IDT's CEO Jim Courter called upon the FCC and the Congress to give heightened scrutiny to the restructured transaction, in light of the serious public policy and national security issues it raises.
"We are simply asking the Federal Communications Commission, as guardians and trustees of America's telecommunications infrastructure, to insure that these assets are used to further competition and to put the interests of our nation before those of a foreign governmental entity," Courter said.
Please click on the attachment for the letter to the FCC.
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.
IDT Corporation common shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbols IDT and IDT.C.
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.
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May 07, 2003 |
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