Phone Card Fundraiser for Troops

A fund raiser held in Texarkana AR Elks Lodge #399, AR to purchase phone cards for troops overseas for the holiday season. The fund raiser was highlighted by two performances by "Elvis" Butch Dicus from Jacksonville AR & a dance featuring the Classic Gold Band with Windy & Richard. The admission was $10 per person & all proceeds with be used for phone card purchases. The even was held on Saturday, Nov 17, 2007 from 7pm to 11pm @ 4701 Garland Avenue, Texarkana, AR 71854.

The Calling Card

This is a Phone Card "mini movie." Enjoy!

Coinstar Announces New Products

Coinstar E-Payment Services Inc., a Coinstar Inc. company, announced two new products for its Pay-As-You-Go program. The new products, Azteca Mobile and Ilimitado Mexico (Unlimited Mexico), are marketed towards the Mexicans living in United States.

Azteca Mobile is a prepaid wireless program that provides voice and data capabilities, which includes two-way radio services and phone numbers for both the United States and Mexico. Unlimited Mexico from TeleCents Communications is a pay-per-call card that can be used from any phone. When a specified domestic toll-free access number is dialed, international long-distance calling rates are eliminated.

Coinstar’s Pay-As-You-Go product suite includes universal and single brand gift cards, national and regional wireless programs, long distance cards, prepaid debit cards, and money transfer. This turnkey program is available to convenience stores and other retailers to drive incremental traffic and revenue. With no upfront costs, Coinstar provides retailers with a complete category management solution including point-of-sale integration, inventory set-up and management, retail merchandising, and reporting.

Source:
http://www.prepaid-press.com/news_detail.php?t=pt&id=941

New Solo Phone Disconnects Skype from Computer

Ipevo, a maker of Skype telephones, has unveiled the Solo, a phone that makes VoIP calls without having to be plugged in to a computer. The Solo jacks directly in to a broadband Internet wall jack. WiFi is not supported at this time, though Ipevo expects to release a dongle that will enable that capability by the end of the year.

Skype hardware maker Ipevo announced on Tuesday the U.S. launch of the Solo, a desktop Skype phone that makes phone calls over the Internet without being tethered to a computer.
Ipevo officials hope the stand-alone device will catch the fancy of users who shy away from computers. The always-on phone, however, requires a broadband Internet connection.

The Solo is embedded with Skype software so users can place phone calls to anywhere in the world from any available wired broadband connection. "The Solo allows users to Skype without the overhead of being tethered to a computer. Some people don't like to have their computers always on just to use the phone. Others just like have a separate phone connection," Ed Lucero, Ipevo's vice president and general manger for North America, told TechNewsWorld.

Familiarity Counts The company based its design for the Solo on usability standards that will give the Internet phone the look and feel of a traditional household phone. It comes equipped with an RJ-45 Ethernet connector and Skype software so users can make and receive Internet voice calls right out of the box.

Setup is as simple as plugging in the network cable, logging in to the user's Skype account and placing a call. Solo supports Skype-to-Skype, SkypeIn, SkypeOut and Skype Voicemail features that enable customers to take advantage of Skype's free calling to other Skype users, as well as the low-cost rates to call mobile phones and landlines anywhere in the world.

"Technology is not meant to be complex. In fact, the most innovative products fit in perfectly with our everyday lives and become second nature," said Lucero. "We've made placing a Skype call as easy and familiar as placing a regular phone call."

WiFi Soon The Solo also has a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port on the rear panel next to the Ethernet connector. Although that port is not functional now, it will accommodate a wireless expansion very soon, according to Lucero.

The Solo cannot be powered with a cable between the USB port on the Solo and a computer. The Solo needs to be plugged into an AC power supply, Lucero said. Neither will the Solo work with a user's wireless router connected to a computer system . Users will have to connect the phone device by cable to an available RJ-45 connector on the router. "We will release by the end of this year a WiFi dongle that will allow users to make a wireless connection to the Internet," Lucero said.

Key Features The Solo has a one-click speakerphone function for hands-free talking. LED indicators show the power on/off status, missed call, message waiting, mute and speakerphone modes.

The Skype phone also has memory keys for speed dialing and a 2.4-inch TFT color LCD display with adjustable viewing angle. Cost and Availability The Solo go on sale Oct. 9 for US$169.99.

Source:
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/59721.html

State Recovers $19 million in Settlement with Qwest

Alaska has negotiated a $19 million securities fraud settlement with Denver-based Qwest Communications International Incorporated.

The Department of Law reported Wednesday that the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation will receive $13 million of that sum.

The Department of Revenue and the Alaska Retirement Management Board will receive $6 million.

This represents the third settlement Alaska has negotiated with corporations in as many years.

Two years ago, it received $45 million dollars from AOL Time Warner; last year the state landed $14 million from WorldCom.


Source:
http://www.9news.com/money/top-article.aspx?storyid=81445

Phonetime's YTD Revenue Over $50 Million

Phonetime Inc., one of Canada's leading suppliers of long distance telecommunication services, today announced that as of the end of July its revenue has exceeded $50 million for the year-to-date, more than doubling last years total revenues. In addition it has processed over 1.5 billion minutes of long distance traffic so far in 2007.

Phonetime attributes its surge in revenue in 2007 to the Company's decision to expand into wholesale markets world-wide. In addition to the dynamic growth of its wholesale operation, Phonetime's retail operation Call Select has also achieved record sales, contributing consistent monthly revenues of over $1 million with higher margins. Completing Phonetime's vertically integrated sales strategy, the Company has also seen improved sales growth of its legacy phone card business.

Wayne Silver, Phonetime's President and CEO, stated that, "it's clear we are offering exceptional value to both our wholesale and retail clients. Our annual sales volume of long distance traffic is very significant and gives us buying power equalled by only the incumbent Canadian telephone companies. Moreover, we believe these results are a testament not only to the size of our world-wide network, but also to the quality of our services and the superior efforts of our staff. As a result, we look forward to continued revenue growth."

Rodney Franklin, Phonetime's Chairman and CFO, commented, "The fact that significant revenue is derived from both our retail and wholesale services validates our earlier strategic decision to diversify our service offerings and expand our network facilities into Europe and develop a presence in the United States. We are confident that as we trend towards $100 million in revenue, our position as an important supplier of international telecommunications services will be recognized by the financial markets."

Source:
http://biz.yahoo.com/ccn/070808/200708080406412001.html?.v=1

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/