Wired News Report
Business

How Low Can They Go?

AT&T answers its competitors' long-distance rates with 7 cents a minute -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Also: Infospace will distribute Net2Phone technology and services.... And Reuters' new-media man leaves to head a Net music company.

It was AT&T's turn Monday in the continuing back-and-forth over long-distance calling rates.

Answering MCIWorldCom's recent foray deep into single digits, AT&T (T) unfurled One Rate 7, which, as you might guess, offers long-distance calling at 7 cents a minute. Unlike MCI's 5-cents-a-minute plan, which is available only in off-peak hours during the week, AT&T's fresh scheme promises its low rate around the clock, seven days a week. Sprint (FON), too, offers an off-peak plan like MCI's.

Also:
Infospace to distribute for Net2Phone
Reuters new-media man quits- - - - - -

MCI (WCOM) charges $1.95 per month for its limited nickel service; AT&T said users who sign up for its local residential service will pay $4.95 a month, all others $5.95.

AT&T also introduced a wireless plan that allows up to five family members to place unlimited calls to each other.

  1. Back to topNet2Phone gets distribution: Internet content provider Infospace.com said Monday that it will distribute Net2Phone's technology and services as the result of a two-year, $14.4 million agreement between the companies.

Infospace said it will carry Net2Phone's messaging service, which the company said allows users to send and receive voice mail, faxes, email, and phone calls off one integrated Web site; its PC-to-phone software, which aims to turn computers into phones; and its ActiveShopper feature, which connects Web shoppers to a live operator at a retailer.

Infospace (INSP) is a behind-the-scenes provider of telephone directories, maps, directions, restaurant listings, classified advertising, and other content for some 1,800 Web sites reaching four out of five Web users. Net2Phone (NTOP) went public earlier this summer.

4. Back to topMusic man: The man who led Reuters through the new-media thickets in recent years is leaving the company, joining the rush to digital music.

  Andrew Nibley told *The Wall Street Journal* he'll become president and chief executive officer of [GetMusic LLC](http://www.getmusic.com), which sells music in its traditional CD and cassette forms, as well as by download.
  
  Nibley, 48, told the *Journal* that the convergence of the Internet and music "is going to be very explosive, both as a social phenomenon and as a business phenomenon, and I'd like to be a part of that."