The Prepaid Press - December 15, 2007 - (Page 14)

WIRELESS December 15 · 2007 - 14 Prepaid Wireless Roundup By Joe Pawlikowski problem in that time span, so they will apply for waivers to extend the deadline. Most affected by this issue is Boost Mobile. Their pay-as-you-go and Premium Prepaid plans operate on the iDen network -- though their new Boost Unlimited service operates on the CDMA network. Beyond making sure your passport is up to date and having to show up at the airport hours before your ﬂight, your cell phone service is likely shut out once you land. Phones using CDMA technology won’t work period, since that technology is only widely available in the U.S. GSM phones have their sets of problems, too, mainly due to the American practice of locking phones. With an unlocked phone, you can drop in a new SIM card, and voila, you have a functioning device. When the phone is locked, though, another company’s SIM card won’t work. AT&T, America’s largest GSM provider, is taking steps to remedy this, though. They struck an agreement that allows their users, speciﬁcally GoPhone prepaid users, to seamlessly roam into Mexico. There is no need for a new SIM card. Just walk, ﬂy, or drive across the border, and you’ll still be able to use your GoPhone just as you did in the U.S. The catch, for now, is the rate: 99 cents per minute, even if you’re calling locally. Dropping a new SIM into an unlocked phone is still cheaper, but at least now the service is available. It’s a step in the right direction. For more information on AT&T Go Phone, please visit: http://www.prepaidreviews.com/att.html Joe Pawlikowski is a Senior Editor for Prepaid Reviews, an independent website that reviews prepaid cell phone providers and reports on the prepaid wireless industry. He can be reached at info@prepaidreviews.com Leap Wireless misrepresents customer data For the past few months, a possible merger between MetroPCS and Leap Wireless has been discussed at length. Analysts have favored such a deal for a long time, and it looked to be getting closer in September, when Metro put in an all-stock merger bid. Leap hemmed and hawed, and eventually said ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ Virgin is also making a move into the Indian market, which is really starting to pick up steam -- it is said that it’s the fastest growing telecom market in the world. In early November, Metro officially took their bid off the table. Ten days later, Leap announced that they hadn’t reported their third quarter numbers because they had found issues with statements going back to 2004. The company now has a deadline in December to ﬁle these past reports. The original quarterly reports had counted customers that were no longer with Leap, inﬂating their numbers. On November 28th, a possible class-action suit was announced. A class was formed, though at that point was not certiﬁed, so a case cannot move forward. This class is intended for investors in Leap Wireless, not customers of the service. The San Diego-based Leap Wireless notably operates two cell phone carriers. Cricket Communications offers ﬂat-rate, unlimited voice and text messaging plans to various regions throughout the U.S. Their other offering, Jump Mobile, works on a per-minute pay-as-you-go plan, and features free incoming calls and text messages. For more information on Cricket plans, please see: http://www.prepaidreviews.com/cricket. html For more information on Jump Mobile plans, please see: http://www.prepaidreviews.com/ jumpmobile.html leap into the Indian cell market, a difficult endeavor because of certain restrictions on telecommunications. Prepaid comprises 22 percent of the Canadian cell phone market, and Virgin is No. 1 in that category. This brings up the perpetual corporate conundrum: Where do we go from here? To the postpaid market, says Virgin Media founder Richard Branson. This might not be an easy transition for Virgin, as their nocredit-checks policy ﬁts well with their target demographic, teens and 20-somethings, many of whom cannot pass one. There is a level of optimism, though, as nearly 50 percent of Virgin subscribers in the U.S. are over the age of 35. For more information on Virgin Mobile’s Canadian prepaid services, please visit: http://www. prepaidreviews.ca/virginmobile.html Virgin is also making a move into the Indian market, which is really starting to pick up steam -- it is said that it’s the fastest growing telecom market in the world. There are rules for foreign companies entering the country, and foreign holdings can only amount to 74 percent of the market. Virgin, though, has found an appropriate partner and looks to be moving in. For more information on Boost Mobile’s prepaid offerings, please visit: http://www.prepaidreviews.com/boostmobile.html AT&T’s GoPhone now allows roaming to Mexico Traveling internationally can be a huge hassle. Nextel, Boost must ﬁx problems by June For years, we’ve been hearing about Sprint’s inability to successfully integrate the Nextel network with their own. They do have technological differences, as Sprint runs on CDMA, while Nextel uses the push-to-talk-friendly iDen network. This has helped Sprint Nextel’s prepaid branch, Boost Mobile, but problems persist on the postpaid end. [AT&T] struck an agreement that allows their users, speciﬁcally GoPhone prepaid users, to seamlessly roam into Mexico. Now the company faces bigger troubles. They’ve been notiﬁed by the FCC that their iDen network is interfering with police and ﬁre radios. Given the seriousness of this issue, the government has given Sprint until June of 2008 to correct the problem, lest the iDen network be shut down. Sprint acknowledges that they probably won’t be able to correct the Virgin mobile moves to postpaid market in Canada, and moves into India After launching their IPO in September, Virgin Mobile has been rather active. Of note over the past few months are their plans to become a postpaid carrier in Canada, and their http://www.prepaidreviews.com/att.html http://www.prepaidreviews.com/boostmobile.html http://www.prepaidreviews.com/boostmobile.html http://www.prepaidreviews.ca/virginmobile.html http://www.prepaidreviews.ca/virginmobile.html http://www.prepaidreviews.com/cricket.html http://www.prepaidreviews.com/cricket.html http://www.prepaidreviews.com/jumpmobile.html http://www.ivr.com http://www.prepaidreviews.com/jumpmobile.html http://www.ivr.com http://www.ivr.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - December 15, 2007

The Prepaid Press - December 15, 2007 GENERAL PREPAID 2007: Prepaid in Review New Prepaid Association? Contents A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Regulatory Rundown: FCC Enforcement, SEC Cracks Down, VoIP Hacking, & Wireless Regulation The Legal Line WIRELESS Prepaid Wireless Roundup kajeet to Offer Horoscopes, Jokes and Trivia Redknee Extends Converged Billing Solution AT&T GoPhone Offers Roaming Option in Mexico Total Call Mobile Introduces Holiday Bonus Wireless in Brief INTERNATIONAL Spot Rates Keycorp to Distribute Hypercom in Canada International in Brief Mobile Communications in Latin America Gets a Leg Up TELECOM & TECHNOLOGY T&T in Brief Phone House Launches New Card Facebook Goes Mobile CVT and Total Call Settle IDT Lawsuit Wireline Capex Grows 7% in Third Quarter PAYMENTS Transcard Selected for Discover Payroll Cards Vesdia and MXT Card Services Form Alliance The Giving Tree Card Gives Back MasterCard Launches Prepaid Travel Card Payments in Brief 7-Eleven Pushes Video Games Capital One and NetSpend Merger Off i2c Launches New Release of Campaign Manager Prepaid Card Dispensing from ATMs Credit Card Design Competition Begins NRF Says Gift Cards Gaining Popularity EXTRAS Classifieds Contact Us Our Advertisers

The Prepaid Press - December 15, 2007

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