[marcelo]

Packet8 and SIPPhone now talk to one another.

Packet8 President Barry Andrews says this is the first of many. "Anytime we can make agreements that allows us to connwect without relying on PSTN, we're all for it," says Andrews. "We're talking to other VoIP providers on this as well."

Here's Packet8's press release on the new interconnectivity agreement.

8x8 and SIPphone Announce Interoperability and Marketing Agreement

VON CONFERENCE, BOSTON, Mass., September 22, 2003 -- 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGHT) and SIPphone, Inc. today announced that an agreement has been reached to allow Packet8 users to call SIPphone users (and vice versa) over the internet without the need to terminate through the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network).

As part of the agreement, Packet8 and SIPphone have agreed to grant access to the telephone numbers of their customers (without compromising the privacy of such information) and allow direct dialing to each others customers without the use of special codes or prefixes. From a practical perspective, this results in a benefit to the consumers of both services, as they will be able to call each other anywhere in the world, free of any additional charge. Also included in the agreement is a cooperative marketing arrangement, whereby SIPphone users who are interested in PSTN origination or termination services (i.e. the ability to call, or be called, by any regular plain old telephone) will be encouraged to sign up with the Packet8 service.

"We are very excited to announce this cooperation with SIPphone," said Bryan Martin, Chief Executive Officer of 8x8. "Michael Robertson's vision of a fundamental change in telephone communications based around the SIP protocol is directly in line with our own," he continued. "We look forward to quickly implementing this interoperability between our two services and we are confident this will be seen as a significant benefit to both companies' customers."

"We're deploying thousands of SIPphones around the world and private peering with Packet8 will allow our users to make free calls worldwide," said Michael Robertson, CEO of SIPphone. "We're excited about recommending Packet8 to our customers that require PSTN access."

About 8x8, Inc.
8x8, Inc. offers the Packet8 broadband telephone service (www.packet8.net), consumer videophones, hosted iPBX solutions (through its subsidiary Centile, Inc.), and voice and video semiconductors and related software (through its subsidiary Netergy Microelectronics, Inc.). For more information, visit 8x8's web site at www.8x8.com.

About Packet8
Launched in November 2002, Packet8 enables anyone with high-speed internet access to sign up for telephone service at http://www.packet8.net. Customers can choose a direct-dial phone number from any of the rate centers offered by the service, and then use an 8x8-supplied terminal adapter to connect any telephone to a broadband internet connection and make or receive calls from a regular telephone number. All Packet8 telephone accounts come with voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, web access to account controls, and real-time online billing. High speed, instant-on broadband videophone accounts, which use the 8x8 DV325 SIP videophone, are also available. The DV325 videophone functions as a Packet8 voice line when making or receiving voice telephone calls from regular telephone numbers.

About SIPphone
SIPphone's goal is to bring the benefit of SIP and free phone calls to a worldwide audience. By offering affordable, plug and play phones and an easy-to-use directory, SIPphone hopes to revolutionize how consumers do voice communications and how they pay for calls.

The founder of SIPphone is Michael Robertson who also founded MP3.com (digital music) and Lindows.com (digital delivery of software). SIPphone (www.sipphone.com) is based in San Diego, California.

Editors: 8x8 and Packet8 are trademarks of 8x8, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.