10/23/95 LONDON CALLING-ON THE CHEAP

LONDON CALLING-ON THE CHEAP

INTERNATIONAL DISCOUNT Telecommunications made its name several years back with a clever ``callback'' scheme that lets people in foreign countries take advantage of the U.S.'s relatively low tariffs on international telephone calls. Customers dial briefly into IDT's switch in Hackensack, N.J., and it automatically calls back and connects them to any number they choose--U.S. or foreign. More recently, using audio-equipped PCs and voice-digitizing software from companies such as VocalTec and Camelot, users have begun making extremely cheap--if low-quality--calls over the global Internet.
Having become a major provider of Internet access to consumers and companies in the U.S. and abroad, IDT now plans to marry the technologies and make yet another end-run around international tariffs. Beginning in three to six months, its phone switch will accept Internet calls from foreign countries and direct them over standard phone lines to any destination in the U.S. or Britain. IDT has not firmed up pricing yet, but a spokesman says it will charge just 10 cents a minute for a Tokyo-to-New York link. Initial marketing will be directed at customers in Southeast Asia and Japan. The sound quality of the connections will be limited--varying according to traffic conditions on the Net and IDT's software.
EDITED BY JOHN W. VERITY