Consortium to take control of Net2Phone

NEW YORK: A consortium led by IDT Corp that includes AT&T Corp. and

Liberty Media Corp. took a controlling interest in Net2Phone Inc., which routes

voice calls over the Internet, Net2Phone said on Tuesday.

Under terms, the three companies will have 49 per cent ownership of Newark,

New Jersey-based Net2Phone and 60 per cent of the voting power.

IDT and AT&T contributed a total of 28.9 million shares of Net2Phone to a

new limited liability company. Liberty then purchased a "substantial"

portion of the new company's units from AT&T. IDT will manage the

consortium, Net2Phone said.

Telecommunications providers looking to cut the costs of telecommunications

have eyed Net2Phone’s technology. Net2Phone is used by millions of users

around the world to place calls between computers, telephones and other devices.

(C) Reuters Limited.