Business Editors/High-Tech Writers     SUPERCOMM 2003     Booth #11731

    ATLANTA--(<a href=www.businesswire.com>BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2003--

Global Capabilities and Security Features Key Factors Driving the VOISS(TM) Solution Selection     VocalData Inc., an application developer of hosted IP telephony services, today announced that LDTeleCom, a next generation service provider for the Latin American market, has selected its VOISS(TM) application server to provide hosted PBX services to its customers in the U.S., Venezuela, Peru, Argentina and Spain.     LDTeleCom provides international and long distance VoIP to 3,500 residential and business customers, with a focus on shared tenant environments. By adding hosted PBX capabilities to its service portfolio, LDTeleCom will be able to offer additional, higher-margin services to its existing customers.     "After researching solutions from a variety of vendors for the past two years, LDTeleCom has determined that VocalData's VOISS application server is the ideal choice due to its flexible multi-language support and the VOISS Proxy Firewall's ability to terminate VoIP traffic behind firewalls," said Carlos Lahrssen, president and CEO, LDTeleCom. "It was really amazing to see how I could travel anywhere with my IP phone and receive calls through any LAN, without reconfiguration or firewall problems. VocalData's IP telephony solution is truly plug and play, which will translate to easier installation and administration for LDTeleCom."     VocalData's multi-language capabilities include a modular support structure for the web portal, which enables rapid translation of the language resource file into the customer's preferred language. Web portals are GUI web-based applications, which allow users to link communications capabilities with desktop directories and call logs, allowing for, click to dial and unprecedented end-user control over telephone preferences, with features such as find me/follow me. In addition to the Spanish required for LDTeleCom, VocalData customers are using web portals in a variety of languages, including Japanese and French.     "We've seen strong support for hosted IP telephony among service providers in Asia and the U.S., and it's exciting to see the evolving value proposition for Latin American service providers as well," said Mark Whittier, vice president of corporate marketing, VocalData. "LDTeleCom is now extending its success from long distance VoIP into local VoIP, which represents a huge opportunity for them."

    About LDTeleCom

    LDTeleCom is a next generation carrier with POPs in the USA, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and Spain. It is a licensed international carrier in all of the countries in its service regions, and is licensed for local service in most of its service region. LDTeleCom has over 3500 customers and manages a virtual communication network reaching over 200 countries.

    About VocalData

    VocalData, Inc. provides an integrated suite of hosted IP telephony applications that enable service providers to reliably and cost-effectively deliver voice-over-IP solutions. VocalData's award-winning VOISS solution is a comprehensive set of hosted PBX and IP Centrex applications that delivers higher value telephony services to business customers, while reducing the costs associated with traditional PBX telephony systems. Through VocalData's broad customer and partner base, there are more than 35,000 VOISS lines today. VocalData was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Richardson, Texas. For more information, visit www.vocaldata.com.

    VOISS is a trademark of VocalData, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners.

--30--LR/da*

CONTACT: Calysto Communications
         Laura Borgstede, 404/266-2060, Ext. 11
         lborgstede@calysto.com

KEYWORD: TEXAS GEORGIA VENEZUELA SPAIN COLOMBIA ARGENTINA INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA EUROPE TRACK

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS E-COMMERCE INTERNET MARKETING AGREEMENTS PRODUCT TRADESHOW

SOURCE: VocalData Inc.

Countries anticipating 0.5-1% inflation include Taiwan, Switzerland, Singapore, Germany, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia. Zeev Klein   3 Jun 03   14:08

A survey of inflation expectations by British journal “The Economist” forecasts that inflation in Israel will be less than 2% in 2003, among the lowest in the world.

”The Economist” predicts great differences in inflation between different countries: deflation in several Far Eastern countries, and double-digit or higher inflation in South America and Africa. The magazine predicts negative 2.5% inflation in Hong Kong, negative 1% in Japan, and negative 0.5% in China.

Countries expecting 0.5-1% inflation include Taiwan, Switzerland, Singapore, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Saudi Arabia.

Zimbabwe heads the 2003 global inflation forecast list with 305%, followed by Angola with 115% and Iraq with 75%. The inflation forecast for a number of other (mostly South American) countries, including Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Turkey, is 20-40%.

Published by Globes [online] - <a href=www.globes.co.il>www.globes.co.il - on June 3, 2003

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 By: Katherine Wells

Council on Hemispheric Affairs research associate Katherine Wells writes:

• Weakened and divided since the failure of the December/January strike, the opposition has been unable to achieve its principle goal of a guaranteed August referendum by an agreement with Chavez.
• The agreement is a victory for Chavez, allowing him to claim that the turmoil is ending, without actually having to risk his Presidency.

After nearly seven months of intermittent negotiation, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias and the leadership of the opposition signed an agreement in an attempt to diffuse the country's current political crisis. In their public statements, both sides are praising the accord as evidence of support for the Constitution and as a step towards ending the violent turmoil in Venezuela.

• In reality, however, the agreement is a strong victory for Chavez and demonstrates that the weakness of the opposition was very much a factor at the negotiating table.

The agreement calls on both sides to respect the constitutional principle of allowing a referendum only after an elected official has served half of his or her elected term, insinuating that any possible referendum will include not only the President, but also opposition governors and mayors. Although the opposition was seeking early general elections, the agreement does not even guarantee that a referendum will take place ... nor does it prohibit Chavez from blocking opposition efforts to stage such a vote.

With current opinion polls showing that the Venezuelan President would not win an August referendum, Chavez has little motivation to facilitate it. While hailing the agreement as a step by the opposition to acknowledge the primacy of the Constitution, the President maintains that "the referendum is only a possibility ... it is not certain that there will be a referendum."

• Even Cesar Gaviria, OAS secretary-general and one of the chief moderators of the negotiations, acknowledged "the document does not put an end to the crisis."

The opposition does have some victories to show its supporters ... in the agreement the government finally acknowledged that human rights abuses and an armed citizenry are current problems plaguing the Venezuelan population. However, the main threat posed by the agreement lies in the language referring to any possible referendum. Since the document refers to all elected officials, it is likely that Chavez will threaten to force referendums for some of the opposition governors and mayors, should he himself have to face a vote.

The Venezuelan President has proven himself a master strategist. During both the coup and recent strikes, Chavez defied opinion polls and not only managed to survive, but quite possibly has emerged stronger than before.

• The opposition should keep this in mind as it uses the agreement to press towards a referendum in August.

Chavez was forced to concede little in negotiations, and is not bound to facilitate such a vote. Even if it does take place, Chavez has sufficient time to court anew the part of his population that he had previously lost, and may once again be able to overcome his current low popularity ratings in opinion polls to retain power. It is also possible that Chavez could lose any referendum, but win the subsequent Presidential election, in which he would be allowed to run. While Chavez does not have a majority of the Venezuelan population behind him, the opposition is weak and divided. If the economy revives and the President is able to rebuild his constituency, his re-election prospects may be anything but bleak.

Katherine Wells is a research associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs. The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. For more information contact +1 (202) 216-9261 or email coha@coha.org

Reuters, 06.03.03, 4:36 AM ET

In SINGAPORE story headlined "Oil at 6-week highs, ponders possible OPEC cut" please read in the fifth paragraph... 13 million barrels... instead of...13 percent...and please read... nearly 40 million barrels... instead of... nearly 40 percent (corrects to millions of barrels from percent). A corrected repetition follows: (Updates prices)

SINGAPORE, June 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices held at six-week highs on Tuesday, as traders pondered whether the OPEC producers' cartel would trim supplies when it meets next week at a time when U.S. fuel stocks are low heading into peak summer demand.

U.S. July light crude rose as high as $30.86 a barrel, the highest since April 21. By 0608 GMT, July was eight cents higher at $30.79 following a jump of more than $1 in New York on Monday.

London's Brent crude was up 17 cents at $27.55 a barrel.

Traders are concerned gasoline inventories in the United States, where demand for motor fuel accounts for 12 percent of global oil consumption, will be insufficient to meet demand in the summer vacation season when road travel hits a peak. Recent government data showed U.S. gasoline stocks as of May 23 running 13 million barrels below a year ago, while crude inventories were nearly 40 million barrels below levels last year.

At the same time, Iraqi crude exports have yet to return to the world market despite the end of the war in April. Baghdad exported roughly 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude before the U.S.-led invasion in March.

But OPEC suppliers are considering possible production cuts at the June 11 meeting in Doha in preparation for a resumption in Iraqi oil flows.

Venezuela said last week the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries may reduce official output limits of 25.4 million bpd by one million bpd, but the decision hinged on the extent and speed of recovery of Iraq's oil industry.

Iraqi officials are targeting output of 1.5 million bpd by mid-June, roughly half of the country's pre-war production. Exports should account for about 50 percent of output.

Commodities strategist David Thurtell at the Commonwealth Bank in Sydney said at current prices OPEC may choose to delay any supply curbs rather than cause a further spike in prices.

"At these levels OPEC may put any further production cuts on ice. The risk reward for me is now getting close to a sell," said Thurtell.

"Any further cuts, which would mean a period of high prices, won't do anything for demand or the world economy, which is struggling," he said.

<a href=www.sun-sentinel.com>By Sandra Hernandez, Sun Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 3 2003

Hollywood · Aleyda Rojas has spent much of the past five months fighting back tears. But on Monday, she didn't shy away from weeping openly as she embraced her son as he returned from the frontlines of Iraq.

"My dear, today you are reborn in my eyes," she said as mother and son were reunited at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. "I'm just so happy."

Scenes like these are increasingly repeated across the United States as soldiers return home to their families, and for them, for Rojas and a small group of South Florida Hispanic women, it marks the end of a painful, uncertain period.

In March, Rojas joined an informal support group for South Broward Latinas with family serving in the war. The women say it has helped them endure some of the toughest days of their lives.

"I don't know what I would have done without them," said Rojas, whose son Josué Samudio, 18, joined the Marines only two days after graduating from high school in the hopes of earning money for college. In January he was deployed to the Persian Gulf. He fought in Baghdad and was posted to guard Iraqi military officials.

Rojas credits the group with helping her cope with the isolation and worry that the dangers of war could find her son.

"I spoke with one of the women who told me she had gone through something similar, and I felt like I wasn't crazy," Rojas said.

Even so, four months under constant stress landed her in the hospital, where doctors discovered a heart condition in April. "Some nights I would come home from work, and I was so afraid that someone would be waiting to tell me something had happened to my son. My husband tells me I would often talk in my sleep and cry out, asking, `Where is Josué?'" she said.

Once she left the hospital, she continued to call the other mothers in the group to share the anxiety she felt for her son, so far from home. But mostly she turned to them to help understand the toll it was taking on her family here, including her husband and daughter, 6.

"It's hard to explain to someone that you are being hard on your husband or don't have patience with your little daughter because of the fear and stress."

One of the women she formed a bond with is Sol Rivero, whose daughter and son-in-law were both deployed to Iraq.

Rivero, who moved to Miami Lakes from Venezuela almost a decade ago, said she was heartened when Rojas called 10 days ago to tell her the news of her son's homecoming.

"I guess it reminds me my daughter is coming home soon, and it keeps me going," said Rivero, whose daughter Jinais Paiz, is scheduled to return at the end of June.

But for Rojas and the other women, the joy remains tinged with bittersweet thought of the soldiers who remain behind, like Grace Castro's son Jonah, who is expected to return in July.

"I am happy that my son is home, but I know there are mothers out there whose child is still there or have lost a son and I can't stop thinking about those families," Rojas said.

More than 105,000 Hispanics are serving in the military. They make up more than 9 percent of the enlisted men and women, according to the Department of Defense. Latinos account for 8 percent of the 1.2 million members of the ready reservists. More than 240,000 of all enlisted soldiers were deployed to the Middle East.

Sandra Hernandez can be reached at shernandez@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7923.