Net2Phone inks distribution deal with InfoSpace.com

Shares of Internet telephony provider Net2Phone (Nasdaq: NTOP) rose Monday after the company announced its third distribution deal in a week.

Net2Phone signed two-year, $14.4 million agreement to feature its Web-based unified messaging service on the InfoSpace.com (Nasdaq: INSP) affiliate network. The deal marks an expansion of Net2Phone and InfoSpace.com's previous agreement that used Net2Phone's one-click PC-to-phone dialing throughout its yellow pages and white pages. Net2Phone recently got a boost from deals with Sprint and Compaq (NYSE: CPQ). The company has also struck product-bundling deals with America Online Inc.'s (NYSE: AOL) ICQ chat service and its Netscape Navigator Web browser.

Net2Phone was up 3 1/8 to 77 15/16, while Infospace, which provides content for websites, rose 1/4 to 45 1/2.

The deal will allow InfoSpace.com to feature Net2Phone's PC-based products, including its messaging platform, where users will be able to send and receive voice mail, faxes, e-mail and phone calls all off one integrated Web site. Users can also download Net2Phone's PC-to-phone software and for cheap long-distance calls.

Net2Phone's Click2Talk software included in Infospace's unified messaging application will let users create a website for conducting communications, including voice, fax and e-mail.