Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Lays Down USF on Prepaid Phone Card Companies

Looks like most of calling cards and VoIP companies now have to scramble to get in compliance with the new laws requiring them to collect Universal Service Fund (USF) fees from all users. VoIP users will see it in additional fees on their monthly phone bill, but calling card users will not see it as directly since most phone card providers will just build it into the rates. What the phone card customers will notice is less minute.

FCC also requires Prepaid Caling Card Service Provider to have a certification before being approved to run their business.

Source:
http://www.fcc.gov

Inside Scoop: Blackstone (Telecom Company)

This video shows the inside office of Blackstone, their marketing of their prepaid phone cards through Prepaid Stop machines. Enjoy =)

Deutsche Telekom Eyes Hutchison Whampoa’s European Wireless Businesses

Germany’s incumbent telephone carrier, Deutsche Telekom, is planning to make further acquisitions in Western Europe in the coming months, and is considering Hutchison Whampoa’s wireless units as potential buyout targets, according to Wirtschaftswoche, a German weekly business magazine.

Hutchison operates mobile networks under the “3” brand name in Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, as well as in non-European countries such as Indonesia, Australia, and its home market of Hong Kong.

Its operations in Austria, Italy, Ireland, and the UK are currently being eyed by Deutsche Telekom, according to sources cited by Wirtschaftswoche, although no concrete negotiations between Deutsche and Hutchison are known to be occurring at this time.

In US, Deutsche Telekom owns T-Mobile mobile phone carrier.

Source:
http://www.teleclick.ca/2007/10/deutsche-telekom-eyes-hutchison-whampoas-european-wireless-businesses/

Lawsuit against IDT, Provider of Prepaid Phone Cards

Class action
Does a class action lawsuit get our industry’s attention? Not really. When IDT, the volume leader in our effervescent industry, the “Coca Cola” in a world of Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, was named in a class action lawsuit, few people in our industry seemed to care. The suit represented U.S. customers who purchased IDT calling cards from 1997 to Jan. 22, 2007, claiming that the amount of minutes advertised on cards did not match the amount of minutes delivered. Sound familiar? As IDT headed to the courthouse, many of their competitors seemed to continue doing business as usual. IDT’s decision to fight the allegations brought heated discussion at a past Intele-CardNews Editorial Advisory Board meeting held by this magazine. Some felt IDT was surely wrong and should pay. IDT maintained innocence and the right to defend against any and all allegations. In January when the suit was settled for $20 million, IDT continued to maintain innocence, but agreed to settle to eliminate litigation costs and uncertainties.

Tit for tat
After settling their lawsuit and amending their business practices, IDT’s second-quarter results were less than stellar. In fact, a 10 percent drop in revenue led IDT to investigate its competitors’ calling cards. IDT claims they found their rivals significantly overstating the number of minutes delivered on their cards. In what some would call an ingenious business maneuver and others would term a total shock, on March 8, 2007, IDT sued six of its competitors, alleging that the companies were essentially doing what IDT was accused of in the class action suit, not delivering advertised minutes on prepaid calling cards. IDT’s civil anti-fraud lawsuit is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against the competing companies. The complaint alleges that deceptive practices by their competitors are causing consumers to lose more than $1 million a day. They are merely trying to level the playing field, they say. This leaves some pundits wondering how long this can go on? How many more lawsuits will there be? Will this industry be driven out of business by legal fees? Will smaller companies be forced out of business or will they start delivering the minutes they advertise?

Source:
http://www.intelecard.com/

Funny Phone Ads

source: www.seanquinnproductions.tk

Jury Issues $156 million Dollar Judgement Against At&t Over Prepaid Calling Cards

A federal jury recently ruled in favor of Dallas based TGIP Inc. on their claim that At&t had used two of their patents that allowed the company to deliver point of sale activation for some of their prepaid calling cards. The lawsuit was originally filed back in March of 2006 and named At&t as well as Verizon, MCI and IDT. The later three companies settled out of court but At&t fought it all the way.

The $156 million dollar award was determined by a 4% royalty on At&ts 3.5 billion in calling card sales during the time frame in question.While At&t is going to appeal the verdict, it seems as if this company has set the proper precedent in court to lay claim to most of the POSA technology in the market today.

Ariel Lin in Phone Card Ads (Part 2)

This is another version of the same phone card ad featuring Ariel Lin.



Click here for the other phonecard ad featuring Ariel Lin

Enjoy !

Vonage Introduces New International Calling Packages

Broadband phone provider, Vonage, has launched a number of new international calling plans for new and existing residential subscribers in the U.S.

The new plans are available to Premium Unlimited customers for an additional monthly fee of $6 to $15 per month. The Premium Unlimited service costs $24.99 per month, and comes with built-in unlimited calling within the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK.

Vonage is now offering customized international long distance plans covering Asia, Europe, and Latin America, as well as a “world” service encompassing 60 overseas jurisdictions.

To better promote these new options, Vonage has added a special search function to its international rates page, allowing customers to conveniently determine which international plan suits them best.

Souce:
http://www.teleclick.ca/2007/09/vonage-introduces-new-international-calling-packages/

Beware of the Hidden Fees in Phone Cards

Woman Won Over Verizon's False Bill Claims

Shaila Touchton, an Indian-decent woman, was very surprised one day when she received a bill from Verizon for $590 for calls to India, Colorado and New Jersey. When she complained to Verizon's customer service, they put her in a long hold for hours several times, and they still claimed that she owed them for those long distance and international calls.

Touchton has been using a particular calling card to make calls to India and other long distance calls, and always used the 1-800 number. She said she never did long distance and international calls directly from her phone, and moreover, the Colorado and New Jersey calls proved this bill wass false since she and her husband did not know anyone in those states.

After getting nowhere with the customer service, she finally contacted a media outlet in south Florida. As soon as the media outlet contacted Verizon, they credited her account for those disputed calls. However, even though they credited her back, they still belive that she accidently punched the wrong dial when using her prepaid phone card and got switched to Verizon's international calling plan.

Not saying this woman is lying but having been in this business for a while, there have been so many times people calling into the calling card customer service department saying that their local phone company charged them for calls they made using the prepaid phone cards. And 9 out of 10 times it is usually due to users' error, forgetting to dial the access number and just dialing directly. It is possible that Verizon made a mistake but it's also possible that she made a mistake.

Source:
http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=63720