Phone Plus Prepaid: RETAIL NEWS

Posted: 3/2003

RETAIL NEWS

Blackstone Launches Prepaid Traffic School

By Tara Seals

Blackstone Calling Card Inc. added prepaid online traffic school to its suite of prepaid products and services. The service is available in Florida and will roll out nationwide by the third quarter.

"Approximately 3.5 million tickets are issued each year in the state of Florida, of which only 500,000 drivers attend traffic school to adjudicate the ticket," says Mike Acton, Blackstone's general manager. "The main reason for not taking advantage of traffic school is convenience, people don't have the time to attend four hours of traffic school. Prepaid online traffic school eliminates this issue as the student attends traffic school on the Internet, in the comfort of his or her home, at his or her convenience!"

The state-certified, four-hour course will be available for $35, through a variety of distribution methods, including physical cards, PINs via the Blackstone point-of-sale terminal, PINs via the Blackstone Web site or by vending machine. The student purchases the product, accesses the Internet and the Web site indicated on the card, enters a PIN and attends the online course. The course is available round-the-clock, and a user can take it as many times as needed to pass.

In Florida, the course includes the entire curriculum of the state's Department of Motor Vehicles traditional traffic schools. There are a total of eight chapters. At the end of each chapter attendees take a short quiz, and there is a cumulative final exam. After passing, registrants receive an e-mailed confirmation of course completion, and then receive a certificate in the mail. Attendees are responsible for ensuring their county courts receive the certificates and all other information needed for processing.

For Florida, a certificate of course completion means an 18 percent reduction in fines, no license points for the violation and no insurance increases.

"We fervently believe that with the advent of prepaid online traffic school, we will be able to improve the safety of the roadways," says Gregg Berrian, president of Traffic Academy Inc., Blackstone's partner for the service.

Blackstone and Traffic Academy also offer a $35 prepaid driver's license test for teens.

AT&T Partners with Best Western for Travel Card Offer

The Best Western hotel company has launched a virtual, prepaid travel card, good for hotel charges. For every $100 users load on the card, they also receive a 100-minute calling card from AT&T Corp.

The travel card can be used to cover hotel charges at about 4,000 Best Western hotels worldwide. The card is available in U.S. and Canadian dollars, and in Euros.

The travel card is available for purchase or reloading online at www.travelcard.bestwestern.com, at Best Western hotels, through a travel agent or by phone in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The travel and calling cards can be shipped overnight or e-mailed to the recipient.

Cybertel Launches Global Prepaid Calling Card

Cybertel Communications Corp. has launched a global prepaid calling card it claims offers rates lower than retail norms.

The card uses the Dancris Telecom network to deliver service and will be available in every major market in North America. The cards will compete with those available in discount outlets, including "members only" programs such as those at Sam's Club and Costco. The rates will be particularly affordable to China and the Pacific Rim, the company says, because Dancris has a joint venture in Beijing, China, and trades minutes with China Unicom, the second largest telecommunications company in China. The carrier also has plans to build a voice over IP network in 32 places throughout China.

Cybertel offers long-distance, personal toll-free numbers, calling cards and other telecommunications services, including value-added services for business.

Orange UK Offers Real-Time Prepaid Wireless Data

Orange UK, Britain's largest wireless operator, will offer its 13.1 million customers home network-based, prepaid data services billed in real time.

The GPRS services, based on WaterCove Networks Inc.'s Mobile Data Service System, include mobile e-mail, Internet access, alerts and photo messaging, and are the first to be offered in a prepaid but real-time environment, says the carrier.

In July 2002, research firm Analysys reported prepaid customers comprise 63 percent of subscribers in Western Europe. The group predicts European operators could sacrifice as much as $15.7 billion dollars in lost revenue if they fail to offer Europe's 170 million prepaid subscribers new mobile data services.

In addition to providing the efficient management and accounting of prepaid subscribers' data usage and debiting credit accounts in real time, the WaterCove system provides real-time metering, which helps operators protect against revenue loss due to fraud.

telcoBlue Adds Brazil to Country Destinations

telcoBlue Inc. has added Brazil as a destination country for its PC-originated "Connectivity+," an IP voice service. Callers can use their PCs to dial anyone with a regular telephone in Rio de Janiero or Sao Paolo, using telcoBlue's prepaid calling card, which is available at the company Web site. Rates are as little as 3.6 cents a minute with no origination or administrative fees.

Purchasers of telcoBlue prepaid calling cards also may use their PCs to recharge their accounts, check account balances and access call history details.

The Federal Communications Commission estimates U.S. callers spend about $300 million a year on long distance, using 650 million minutes of network time. That works out to an average cost of 46 cents per minute over conventional telephone systems.

telcoBlue says it achieves low rates by using voice over IP and by selecting high-traffic destinations. A large call load allows the company to negotiate more favorable last-mile costs for the switches and cabling necessary to terminate calls to existing phone numbers.