IDT Corporation: A Global Telecommunications Company

Howard Jonas was a young entrepreneur, who has been traveling the world to enhance his venture. When he was in his office in Israel in 1990, he received a huge amount of phone bills for his international calls. It is that phone bill that sparked his idea to find means of lowering the cost of international calls by re-originating them in the United States.

It was in that year that he founded IDT Corporation. The business is listed as an American telecommunications company that has helped millions of immigrants cut back on their expenses when it comes to international calls. The name IDT once stood for International Discount Telecommunications. It is a multi-billion venture that generates more than $1.6 billion annually. It trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol IDT.

Through the entertainment, communication and financial services offered by IDT, they are able to enrich the lives of their consumers. It continues to expand its operations through acquisition to give more value to their end users and shareholders. It was in 1996 that the company made a technological breakthrough that leveraged some of the mobile applications nowadays. It was in that year that the company introduced the first PC2Phone, the first VoIP service that allows its users to connect using a phone and the traditional PC. This means that even before Skype and Viber dominated the social media platforms we have today, more than 10 years back, Howard Jones and his team already introduced the first method of connecting using two different devices.

In 1997, the company made another milestone by starting to sell prepaid phone cards. It didn’t take long for the company to become the largest supplier of these cards around the world. As technology evolves, the business also finds means to compete globally. IDT continues to publicly trade on the New York Stock Exchange.