IDT Chairman Authors White Paper on Company's Current Position and Strategic Outlook

NEWARK, N.J.--(Business Wire)--
IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT, IDT.C) announced that its Chairman,
Howard Jonas, has authored a white paper explaining his view of
certain strategic approaches of the company and discussing some
initiatives that reflect those approaches, as well as IDT's plans for
building long-term value. The white paper can be viewed on IDT's
website by clicking here, and is reprinted below for your convenience.
The views expressed in the white paper are those of Mr. Jonas and do
not necessarily reflect the views of IDT, its board of directors or
other members of IDT's management.

Fuel for the Future: IDT's Current Position and Strategic Outlook

A White Paper by Howard Jonas, Chairman of IDT Corporation

As I write this, IDT's share price is under $7. Four years ago, it
was roughly three times as much. For those of you who have stuck with
us through this long, painful slide, I am honored by your loyalty. But
I am also determined to do better for you.

I'm writing this paper for two reasons. First, to tell you why I
believe that the market is fundamentally underestimating IDT's
underlying value, and second, to share with you our vision for IDT's
future, including two of our most interesting new projects.

I believe that our GAAP financial statements fundamentally
understate IDT's true value and financial performance. This situation
is not unique to IDT: GAAP requires full expensing of investments in
intangible assets, including items such as process improvements,
advertising and sales promotion, employee training, and numerous other
outlays that GAAP views as operational expenses but more accurately
represent investments in strategic assets. Therefore, companies that
invest heavily in intangibles in order to generate positive future
cash flow may have difficulty showing positive current earnings.

GAAP's treatment of spending intended to build strategic value was
based on the assumption that there was little correlation between such
expenditures and future revenue. Yet a variety of studies have since
shown that an economically meaningful association does exist between
these outlays and subsequent earnings. Put another way, these
investment expenditures can actually be indicators of higher future
cash flows. Broadly, then, among companies that invest heavily in
their own future, current negative earnings fail to convey the full
picture of performance or the true value of equity.

I am not alone in this view of the shortsightedness of GAAP.
Several academics have in the past criticized GAAP's policy of
expensing investments in intangible assets. They claim that investors
often fail to fully realize the value relevance of these expensed
investments. This undervaluing of investments in R&D and like
expenditures results in market inefficiency as the true value of
equity is not fully recognized. Worse still, it creates incentive to
reduce spending on discretionary intangible investments in order to
enhance short term performance. According to some academics, the
damaging influence of this mentality is so pervasive that it
represents a fundamental flaw in the entire financial accounting
model.

At IDT, we have always shunned the temptation to increase short
term performance by sacrificing long term economic health. Rather, we
continue to invest millions of dollars a year on activities that
directly add value to our incubating businesses. These strategic
investments are the building blocks for our future business units and
the sources of future cash flows and value for our shareholder. We
have spent millions of dollars positioning and defending our
intellectual property. We build high-growth businesses that are going
to be important asset plays - including the costly market share
building activities for Zedge, IDW Publishing, and IDT's New York
energy supply company (ESCO). We know that in the long term, these
investments will return multiples of the amounts invested to our
shareholders when we monetize these dynamic and growing businesses.

Our investments in Zedge, for example, have generated explosive
growth. Our zedge.net website now has six and a half million
registered users, and is one of the fastest growing mobile content
providers in the world. IDT Energy began with a small acquisition in
2006. By investing significantly in marketing and customer
acquisition, the company has grown to over 350,000 meters, placing us
among the largest independent residential ESCOs in New York State.

Were we to eschew these investments into our future - the millions
spent defending our IP, the market-building activities in Zedge and
IDT Energy, and all similar strategic investments - our company would
likely show current net profit. Yet with an eye to the latent value we
believe results from our pattern of investing in our own future, we
will continue to make strategic investments to incubate dynamic,
promising, asset play businesses. As we continue to grow and seek
monetization opportunities, the underlying value of the company will
emerge.

One prime example of IDT's commitment to investing in its future
is our IDT Carmel receivables management business, in which we invest
in financial assets - receivable portfolios - with proven independent
value. We have been making significant, periodic investments in these
portfolios, and expect to continue doing so. Expanding our debt
management portfolio through regular investment is a prudent strategy
that will yield significant cash and healthy rates of return in a
three to five year time frame. For many years, our prepaid calling
card business generated positive cash flow that allowed IDT to make
strategic investments in longer term asset plays. We believe that IDT
Carmel will serve this function for years to come.

Now, let's talk more about the future.

Since I founded IDT in 1990, we have never been shy about
challenging the status quo. Our initial business - callback -
successfully defied the incumbent telecoms' monopoly on overseas
calling. Net2Phone, our pioneering VoIP provider, helped to open all
voice communication to competition. IDT Entertainment leveraged new
technologies to significantly cut the cost of film animation. When the
corporate establishment fails the consumer, we find opportunity.

Today we remain dedicated to finding new ways to undercut the
powers-that-be to deliver better services to American consumers at a
lower cost.

IDT has recently embarked on two ventures aimed right at the heart
of business-as-usual in America.

America pays an astounding price for our dependence on foreign
oil. In 2007, we shelled out $331 billion for oil imports. But even
that astounding figure represents only a fraction of the true cost.
The defense costs - both in terms of American troops' lives lost
overseas and in dollars spent defending our oil supply - are heavier
still. At home, the cost of imported oil is hobbling our economy. It
sucks away capital from investment, slows economic growth, hampers job
creation, and slows productivity gains. America's economy is
staggering under the burden of our foreign oil addiction.

Yet, America could transform herself into an energy
self-sufficient nation by exploiting its untapped and unconventional
energy resources. The explosive growth of Canada's Athabasca oil sands
operations is a case in point. Bitumen production in Athabasca has
risen from nominal levels to over one million barrels a day in the
past five years. By 2030, production could reach five million barrels
daily. Moreover, the efficiency of these operations has improved
rapidly as new extraction processes and techniques have been developed
and applied.

America's unconventional fuel treasure lies in the Green River
Formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The Formation contains the
largest fossil energy reserves in the world. Most of it is in the form
of oil shale with proven reserves sufficient to supply America's
domestic oil needs for the foreseeable future.

IDT recently purchased a 75% stake in EGL Oil Shale. Along with
Shell and Chevron, EGL was one of three companies awarded oil shale
Research, Development and Demonstration leases on 160 acre tracts in
Western Colorado by the Bureau of Land Management. If EGL's
proprietary in-situ retorting technology proves economically viable
and environmentally responsible, the company will be awarded the right
to operate commercially on an adjacent 4,960 acre Preference Right
Lease Tract. Recovery rates on portions of the tract could be as high
as 2 million barrels per acre.

It would be difficult to overstate the risk of this venture. It
is, of course, highly speculative and long term. Big oil has spent
billions to open up the Formation's Green River Basin to large scale
oil shale production and still does not have a commercially viable
method of extracting the oil. The technological, environmental,
economic and regulatory hurdles are substantial. But it is even more
difficult to imagine that America will not exploit its oil shale
reserves sometime within the next few decades. The multi-trillion
dollar question is, "When will the country start fighting for its
energy independence?"

As the only independent lease holder pursuing in-situ extraction
technologies, our American Shale Oil (AMSO) subsidiary is in a prime
position to harness the technological genius of America. Big oil will
always pursue the cheapest global resources first. But for our nation,
unlocking our domestic oil shale reserves is the best hope for energy
independence. I am determined that AMSO will become the catalyst for a
truly national, collaborative and open approach to unlock the oil
shale reserves and help the nation achieve energy independence in an
environmentally responsible way.

The other IDT initiative I want to discuss is the Depot USA online
store. Depot USA cannot be compared to our oil shale initiative in
terms of its potential impact on the global economy. Oil shale
production could transform America from a net oil importer to an
exporter, and thereby reshape the world's geo-political balance. Nor
is Depot USA comparable to AMSO in terms of its potential value to
investors. Nevertheless, both ventures represent potential
breakthrough entrepreneurial approaches to address critical
vulnerabilities in the U.S. economy.

America has lost one quarter of the nearly twenty million jobs
manufacturers provided in 1979. During those same years, the American
middle class has, by most measures, been in a corresponding decline.
The rich have done very well, while the "middle class squeeze" has
pushed millions of families nearer poverty. This is no coincidence.
Manufacturing had long been the lynchpin of middle class prosperity.

The decline of manufacturing in the United States has been aided
and abetted by the national big-box retail chains. They have developed
global supply chains with a single-minded devotion to cutting costs,
but a mindless lack of regard for the ultimate welfare of their
American customers.

Conventional wisdom has it that the decline of the "Made in the
USA" movement in the early 1990's and the continuing struggles of the
Big Three automakers are further proof that American consumers'
purchase decisions are based on perceived value over country of
origin. That may be true for many folks. But it is also indisputably
true that a very large number of Americans want to buy American. The
big box retailers do not speak to these folks. They deliberately focus
the buyers' decision exclusively on price while downplaying products'
country of origin.

But imagine a world where consumers can easily find, identify and
purchase high quality American made goods at competitive prices.
Imagine how different consumer's choices would be if the intrinsic
value of buying American was explained and reinforced in the
marketplace. That's the idea behind "Depot USA", IDT's online store
now in development.

"Depot USA" is a long term, developmental project that will begin
by offering American made apparel, and then gradually expand into
other lines of product. We will market to and build a following among
the American consumers who prefer American made products.

Taken together, Depot USA and AMSO are two very interesting
ventures. Both are based on the premise that Americans and their
government must find new solutions to deliver a stronger, more secure
economic future. If we can contribute to the fight for energy
independence by opening the country's oil shale reserves, and boost
American manufacturing by giving American consumers online access to
domestically manufactured goods, then we will help change America for
the better, while doing very well for our shareholders.

About IDT Corporation:

IDT Corporation is an innovative and opportunity seeking
multinational holding company with operations that span various
industries. Through its Telecom subsidiary, IDT provides
telecommunications services worldwide to the retail and wholesale
markets. IDT Energy operates an Energy Services Company (ESCO) in New
York State. IDT subsidiary American Shale Oil Corporation (AMSO)
manages IDT's oil shale ventures. IDT's Capital division incubates
newer businesses, and the Company's Spectrum subsidiary holds its
spectrum license assets. IDT Telecom provides retail and wholesale
telecommunications services and products, including pre-paid and
rechargeable calling cards, consumer local, long distance, and
wireless phone services, and wholesale carrier services. Under the
Net2Phone brand name, the Company also provides a range of voice over
Internet protocol (VoIP) communications services. IDT Capital's
operations include receivables portfolio management and collection,
ethnic food distribution, brochure distribution, Internet Mobile
Group, Net2Phone Ventures and other initiatives. IDT Corporation's
Class B Common Stock and Common Stock trade on the New York Stock
Exchange under the ticker symbols IDT and IDT.C, respectively.

In this press release, all statements that are not purely about
historical facts, including, but not limited to, those with the words
"believe," "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate,"
"target" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. All forward-looking statements and risk factors included in this
document are made as of the date hereof, based on information
available to IDT as of the date thereof, and IDT assumes no obligation
to update any forward-looking statements or risk factors.

IDT Corporation
Investor Relations:
Bill Ulrey, 973-438-3838
invest@corp.idt.net
or
Media inquiries:
Michael Glassner, 973-438-3553
mglass@corp.idt.net

Copyright Business Wire 2008