Net2Phone, a leading Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider, is announcing a partnership to provide VoIP services to
Atlantic Broadband, a cable television multiple systems operator. Atlantic Broadband's Phone Service and its Triple Play package are now available in an area of central Pennsylvania, where it serves 145,000 subscribers.
Atlantic Broadband joins Liberty CableVision of Puerto Rico, Bresnan Communications, Millennium Digital Media, Northland Communications, CMA Communications and other cable operators who have selected Net2Phone's end-to-end, managed VoIP solution. Net2Phone assumes the role of PacketCable integrator and telecom administration agent, taking accountability for the telephony deployment together with the Cedar Point SAFARI C3 Multimedia Switching System and the provisioning and management of the public switched telephony network (PSTN) elements including local, domestic and international long distance, operator services and directory assistance.
As part of the end-to-end solution, Net2Phone seamlessly integrates the VoIP platform into Atlantic Broadband's existing custom care and billing systems to deliver a fully automated digital phone and high-speed data provisioning solution including PSTN service activation (i.e., local service request, number porting, directory listing, E911, etc.). To complement the solution, Net2Phone provides 24x7 service assurance thereby ensuring the quality of Atlantic Broadband's telephony offering. Net2Phone will track and monitor voice quality and network performance metrics from start to finish and will provide Atlantic Broadband with a real time view of the call traffic routed over its network.
Cable operators face many competitive threats from both satellite and DSL operators. To remain competitive and offer its subscribers new ways to take advantage of innovative services, Atlantic Broadband is introducing its Triple Play of digital video, high-speed Internet access and telephony, relying on Net2Phone and the inherent characteristics of the PacketCable standard in order to deliver a high quality telephony service. Atlantic Broadband customers benefit from savings compared to the cost of locally available landline phone service, in addition to receiving an aggregated Triple Play offering. The digital phone service also includes a subscriber Internet portal to manage features, view call detail and listen to voicemail via any Internet connection.
Atlantic Broadband's full featured Phone Service is offered at $29.95 per month when combined with any level of either video or Internet service. Verizon and Sprint offer comparable phone service and features for $15-$30 more per month. The stand-alone price of Atlantic Broadband Phone Service is $44.95 per month -- still a better value than the competitors' comparable services.
"Our partnership with Net2Phone has enabled us to effectively launch feature-rich, carrier-quality telephone service that gives us a significant advantage over our phone company and satellite competitors, neither of which can match our first-to-market Triple Play package in central Pennsylvania," said Atlantic Broadband CEO David Keefe.
"Helping Atlantic Broadband maintain its competitive edge by delivering a high quality, attractively priced, feature rich product is the principle of the Net2Phone cable strategy," commented Net2Phone Cable Telephony President, Michael Pastor. "We are pleased with the expanding number of mid-sized US cable MSOs that have elected to partner with Net2Phone. As we continue to increase the scale of our US customer base, we will develop and introduce additional products, such as commercial services and wireless telephony. By leveraging the marketing abilities of our cable operator customers, we hope to effectively target the subscribers most likely to utilize these new products and services, and provide additional competitive advantages to our cable operator customers as they roll-out features their competitors cannot yet provide."