Phone Plus Prepaid: Retail News

Posted: 9/2003

Retail News

AGSi Enters the Prepaid Market
By Tara Seals

Alliance Group Services Inc. (AGSi), a wholesale network provider, has entered the prepaid market with a card targeting Hispanics who want to call Mexico.

The cards cost $10 for 103 minutes, and there are no additional fees or connection charges. The cards are tailored for the nation’s largest minority group, with Spanish instructions on the card and voice prompts “en Espanol.”

The company struck an agreement with the world’s largest retailer to market the card. Sales of the AGSi/Wal-Mart Stores Inc. card thus far have been beating expectations, say executives.

Troy Aikman, the former star quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and an investor in Alliance Group Services, is a business associate who could play a role in promoting the card and “opening doors,” though management says it had not been determined whether Aikman would be used in any TV, radio or print advertising.

Moviso Signs Distribution Deal with Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is distributing Moviso LLC’s prepaid ring tone cards at about 2,000 retail stores across the country. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is featuring the prepaid cards alongside its range of prepaid wireless airtime products.

Moviso prepaid cards let consumers personalize their mobile phones to ring with favorite songs and, unlike ring tones purchased on the Internet or telephone, do not require a credit card to buy.

“Our prepaid ring tone cards are just one of many content and service products offered to the wireless market, and present a great new revenue source for our carrier, retailer and entertainment industry partners,” says Shawn Conahan, Moviso’s president. “We are excited to offer Wal-Mart customers this selection as we believe the power of prepaid mobile media is reaching new customers and driving additional interest to the industry.”

Moviso’s prepaid ring tone card includes licensed content from rock, hip-hop and R&B artists. Each prepaid card purchase gives consumers three ring tones, which they can select from a catalog of at least 15 compositions.

The prepaid ring tone cards are activated on purchase and contain simple instructions and a unique PIN for accessing content. Customers call a toll-free number from the cell phone, enter the PIN and select the content they wish to download. Customers also can visit the Moviso Web site to download from the company’s extensive list of 2,000 or so additional ring tones.

The cards, which are also available in 5,000 7-Eleven Inc. stores across the country, cost $4.97 each. They are available for the following Nokia phone models: 3360, 3390, 3395, 5120, 5125, 5160, 5165, 5190, 6190, 6340, 6360, 7160, 7190, 8260, 8265, 8290, 8390 and 8890. Moviso plans to support additional phone models and manufacturers this year.

IDT Named Exclusive Calling Card Provider for Barnes & Noble College Bookstores

IDT Corp. was selected as the exclusive calling card provider to Barnes & Noble College Bookstores Inc., a manager of college and university bookstores. This summer, IDT began providing the company’s nearly 500 on-campus retail outlets with point-of-sale (PoS) activated calling cards.

Barnes & Noble College Bookstores is a privately held sister company to Barnes & Noble Inc., the nation’s largest bookseller. It operates college bookstores at about 400 institutions including Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago and the coops at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The cards will be sold in three denominations: $5, $10 and $20 cards with domestic and international capability and a customized $20 international calling card.

GoPhone Bridges Prepaid-Postpaid Gap

Bridging the gap between prepaid and postpaid, AT&T Wireless recently introduced GoPhone, a national wireless service providing unlimited night and weekend calling, domestic long distance and roaming without a credit check or long-term contract. GoPhone can be purchased off-the-shelf in more than 10,000 stores nationally, including Target, 7-Eleven, CompUSA, Staples, Ritz Camera and AT&T Wireless stores.

Customers can choose from one of four Go Phone calling plans priced from $19.99 to $49.99 a month and with rates as low as 9 cents per minute, which is comparable to rates previously available only to customers on plans that required long-term contracts.

“These plans look and are priced like today’s ubiquitous postpaid accounts, but they charge a recurring monthly upfront fee to a credit or debit card,” says Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research Inc. He says eliminating the credit check and emphasizing Web and automated, phone-based self-service makes GoPhone customer less costly to activate.

Customers can track and manage their GoPhone accounts online or by accessing the “Account Activity” option on their GoPhone handset. GoPhone automatically deducts a set fee from a customer’s preferred bank account, credit card or debit card each month — or more often, if their GoPhone account needs to be replenished before the month is out. GoPhone will send a text message alerting the customer that their balance is running low and that a new payment will automatically be charged.

The GoPhone handset, with a suggested retail price of $89.99, is a Nokia 3590. It uses AT&T Wireless’ GSM/GPRS wireless network, which offers customers optional services such as text and e-mail messaging and the ability to access entertainment and information sites using AT&T Wireless mMode service. GoPhone customers can purchase mMode for an additional $3.99 a month.

“There is a huge pent-up demand that these prepaid offerings address,” says analyst Jeff Kagan. “There are millions of potential customers who haven’t taken the wireless plunge either because they are credit-challenged, or because buying a wireless phone was too confusing. This credit-friendly, simple, off-the-shelf approach will bring new waves of wireless customers in to the stores.”

Blackstone Releases Prepaid Prescription Cards, Senior Traffic Academy

Continuing its strategy of expansion beyond telecom, Blackstone Calling Card has launched prepaid prescription discount cards and prepaid senior traffic academy courses.

The Senior Traffic Academy course is the latest in Blackstone’s line of prepaid online traffic school and teen traffic academy programs. The program allows seniors to attend the course on the Internet. Individuals over the age of 55 receive a state-mandated insurance discount for three years after taking a driver-safety course.

The student purchases the product, accesses the Internet, enters the Web site indicated on the card, enters his or her PIN and accesses the class. Upon successful completion of the course, the student receives a certificate to send to his or her insurance carrier.

The prepaid prescription discount card can be purchased for $9.95 and is good for 60 days of household prescription drug coverage, plus diabetic supplies, diabetic devices and insulin on prescription. Consumers can save up to 40 percent on all prescriptions at about 50,000 pharmacies nationwide, says the company. Services are provided through PSDT, a products and service distribution company, in concert with NPAX, the marketing arm of NPA, which is a division of Express Scripts, a provider of pharmacy benefit management services.

The new offers are available via e-PIN delivery using the Blackstone pointof- sale machine or the Prepaid One Stop, its self-service interactive kiosk. They also are available in a traditional hanging-card format.