Deltathree.com gains on eMachines deal

Deltathree.com (Nasdaq: DDDC), a provider of IP telephony services and other services, popped 20 percent Monday after it said it would provide its communications services on all eMachines (Nasdaq: EEEE) PCs.

Shares were up 3 11/16 to 21 11/16 after the company announced a partnership with eMachines. Deltathree.com's stock has been on a downswing; the company's fourth-quarter loss widened as it has focused on building out its network.

EMachines, which providers low-priced personal computers, flopped in its initial public offering last week.

As part of the agreement, deltathree.com's PC-to-Phone software will be integrated directly into eMachines' computers prior to shipment.

The deltathree.com PC-to-Phone service will allow customers to make phone calls from their PCs at prices substantially less than most telecommunications plans. This deal will expose millions of Americans to Internet telephony for the first time, the companies said; eMachines has the third largest share of the U.S. retail desktop PC market, having shipped 2 million PCs since September of 1998.

Customers will also have access deltathree.com's suite of Internet-based communications services including unified messaging, which provides users with the ability to manage their voicemails, emails and faxes from a single account, accessible online or over the phone.

"This is an exciting deal because it integrates Internet telephony as a standard service for PC users,'' said Noam Bardin, Chief Technology Officer of deltathree.com in a press release.

Deltathree.com's competitors include Net2Phone (Nasdaq: NTOP), iBasis (Nasdaq: IBAS) and NetSpeak (Nasdaq: NSPK).