The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008 - (Page 16)

PREPAID WIRELESS June 15 · 2008 - 16 Virgin Mobile to Use Platform-A Third Screen Media’s Mobile Advertising Serving Platform WARREN, N.J. (May 21, 2008) AOL and Virgin Mobile USA announced that Platform-A will serve as the exclusive display advertising and sales partner for Virgin Mobile USA’s WAP banner inventory. The announcement said that the Platform-A sales force will manage Virgin Mobile USA’s WAP banner inventory, leveraging Platform-A’s Third Screen Media mobile advertising serving platform. Third Screen Media is a business unit of Platform-A. Virgin Mobile USA has an audience of more than 5 million subscribers, making it the largest MVNO in the US, according to the company. “We’re extremely pleased to provide our mobile ad management services to Virgin Mobile USA at a time when mobile advertising is taking off,” said Lynda Clarizio, President of Platform-A. “Working with Virgin Mobile USA, we can help advertisers expand their mobile marketing efforts and effectively engage the 14- to 34-year-old youth market. Our relationship with Virgin Mobile USA further supports Platform-A’s mission of developing solutions for advertisers and publishers across multi-digital channels.” “Virgin Mobile USA is committed to enhancing the value of services for our customers, while connecting them to relevant and appealing brands,” said Bob Stohrer, CMO, Virgin Mobile USA. “This new step will extend the already successful Sugar Mama ad platform by letting likeminded brands reach our dynamic demographic through highly valued on-deck real estate. The combination of Platform-A’s knowledgeable sales force and advertising assets, along with Third Screen Media’s technology performance, particularly in high commercial volume situations, provide us with impressive power in mobile advertising.” Source: Virgin Mobile USA (www.virginmobileusa.com) States Considering Photo ID for Prepaid Wireless AP Story Says Bills Already Introduced in MI, GA WASHINGTON, DC (May 12, 2008) AP is reporting that several U.S. states are considering bills that would require photo identification to buy prepaid cell phones, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. NCSL says that bills have already been introduced in Michigan and Georgia, and that bills are being considered in other states, according to a report in the Washington Post. According to the stories, since prepaid cell phones are not traceable to the purchaser, requiring a photo identification would close this loophole. The Post story quotes a Chicago detective, Timothy J. Murphy, who wrote a letter to state and federal lawmakers two years ago complaining that many of his homicide investigations were hindered by prepaid or pay-as-you-go phones. Source: Associated Press (www.ap.org) Prepaid Reviews Podcast Includes TPP Editor Retske Compares MVNOs with Long Distance History GUELPH, ON (May 22, 2008) The second edition of the Prepaid Podcast, created by Prepaid Reviews, covers trends in the the prepaid realm, the Virgin-Helio merger talks, MVNOs, and mobile phone trafficking from TracFone’s perspective. The 29 minute podcast can be found on the Prepaid Reviews website: http://www.prepaidreviews.com/podcast/PrepaidPodcast0508. mp3. In the podcast, Prepaid Reviews editor, Joe Pawlikowski, explores the Virgin-Helio rumors. Pawlikowski notes that many people have talked about the lack of incentive for Virgin, but he discusses how Virgin could benefit from a merger. Gene Retske, editor of The Prepaid Press talks to Pawlikowski about past trends in the telecommunications industry, and how they parallel the current MVNO situation. Then, the podcast moves on to the topic of restrictions on the purchase of prepaid phones. Congress may look into the matter, because of a concern that these untraceable phones may be a boon to drug dealers. Some states are considering an ID mandatory to purchase a prepaid phone. Pawlikowski talks with Jim Baldinger, attorney for TracFone, who has a different concern about prepaid phone trafficking. Traffickers can buy cheap, subsidized phones, unlock them, and then sell them as new. Baldinger says this is not only hurting cell companies, it’s also doing damage to consumers. Source: Prepaid Reviews (www.prepaidreviews.com) Sprint Reports Lower Wireless Revenues Profit Flips to Loss OVERLAND PARK, KS (May 12, 2008) Sprint Nextel Corp. (NySE: S) reported that in the first quarter of 2008, wireless revenues declined 9%, to $8 billion compared to the same period a year ago, and 6% from the fourth quarter of 2007. Sprint said the declines were mainly a result of lower Average Rate Per User (ARPU), and a decrease in traditional post-paid subscribers. The Adjusted Operating Income for 1Q08 was a loss of $253 million, a flip from profits of $253 million reported in the first quarter of 2007. AOI was $168 million in the fourth quarter of 2007. Sprint said the decline in Adjusted Operating Income was due to lower service revenues, but partially offset by reduced operating expenses. “As expected, our Wireless business delivered weak financial results,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint Nextel CEO. “While the business will continue to face challenges in the short term, we are making progress in methodically attacking the sources of our performance issues. In the first quarter, we implemented a new, more focused brand campaign, we executed on our plans to take costs out of the business, and we made progress on the larger organizational and strategic decisions that we believe will lead to improved profitability in the long term.” Hesse also said that he thinks Sprint will benefit from the announcement last week that Sprint will deploy 4G. Hesse said that the 4G strategy “captures and leverages the value of Sprint’s sizable spectrum holdings, provides Sprint with additional financial flexibility, gives us a time-to-market advantage over our competitors in the important growth area of wireless broadband, and allows Sprint management to focus our resources and attention on improving the performance of our core business.” In the face of continued customer losses, almost a million in a year, Hesse said he plans to cut more jobs and possibly sell off some portions of the company. Rumors of an acquisition of Sprint Nextel by T-Mobile, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, have been circulating. The acquisition would make T-Mobile the biggest wireless carrier in the US. “We continue to place the highest priority on reducing churn by improving the customer experience. Our ‘Simply Everything Plan’, which provides our customers with unprecedented simplicity along with the immediacy of our ‘Now Network,’ has had a good response from existing and new customers,” Hesse said. Source: Sprint Nextel (www.sprint.com) Prepaid Wireless in Brief Facebook has a brand new Sugar Mama, thanks to a unique new application that lets friends earn wireless airtime for other friends who are Virgin Mobile USA customers. The national provider of wireless communications services and plans without annual contracts has designed the “Fund My Phone” application, allowing Virgin Mobile USA’s more than 5 million customers to get their Facebook friends to help pay for their wireless minutes. “Fund My Phone” is an extension of the popular Sugar Mama mobile marketing program first launched by Virgin Mobile USA in 2006. Customers who opt in to Sugar Mama are invited to earn up to 75 minutes per month by viewing a variety of ad spots and other creative materials and answer a few questions. Virgin Mobile USA – www.virginmobileusa.com clarity, CHARGE Anywhere will be the used exclusively as of June 3rd, 2008. For over 6 years Comstar has been providing secure payment gateway services leveraging ComsGate, its suite of wireless, dial, and IP gateways. CHARGE Anywhere – www.chargeanywhere.com Virgin Mobile Adds Samsung to Offerings Slash Camera Phone Slider First with Samsung WARREN, N.J. (May 19, 2008) Virgin Mobile USA has added a new handset by Samsung, the first wireless handset developed with Samsung Mobile. The Slash is a slim slider phone with a sleek and compact profile and will sell for $79.99. It comes with a VGA camera, Bluetooth, text messaging and email messaging capabilities. “When it comes to our handsets, we’re committed to offering our customers choice, value and flexibility without sacrificing style or features,” said Bob Stohrer, Chief Marketing Officer, Virgin Mobile USA. “Samsung has a strong reputation for designing products that raise the bar across all of these criteria. We’re thrilled to work with them to bring a cool new offering like Slash to market.” “Samsung Mobile is passionate about designing stylish phones that are easy to use,” said Bill Ogle, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung Mobile. “Our first collaboration with Virgin Mobile USA cuts right to the core of what our customers are looking for, a phone with exciting features and a cool design.” Slash also includes an integrated speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, a bright color display and can hold up to 499 contact entries, with up to five phone numbers, two email addresses and one website per individual. Slash uses Autotext for fast and easy text messaging. Games such as Gameloft Jukebox and Superscape Demo come preloaded on the handset. The VirginXL portal gives Slash owners access to Virgin Mobile’s content, including animated and real music ringtones and ringback tones, and Headliner, Virgin Mobile’s’ music magazine with ondemand access to music-related content like artist news, charts and concert dates. Spanish-speaking customers have access to a Spanish-language user interface and menu also preloaded on Slash. Slash weighs 3 ounces and measures 3.8” by 1.8” by 0.7”. Its battery life is said to be up to 3.5 hours of talk time and a week of standby time. Source: Virgin Mobile USA (www.virginmobileusa.com) Boost Mobile has launched the new i335, priced under $60. Underneath its slim candy bar design, Boost Mobile’ i335 is built to U.S. military sta http://www.ap.org http://www.virginmobileusa.com http://www.prepaidreviews.com/podcast/PrepaidPodcast0508.mp3 http://www.prepaidreviews.com/podcast/PrepaidPodcast0508.mp3 http://www.prepaidreviews.com/podcast/PrepaidPodcast0508.mp3 http://www.prepaidreviews.com http://www.chargeanywhere.com http://www.sprint.com http://www.virginmobileusa.com http://www.visagemobile.com http://www.convergys.com http://www.boostmobile.com http://www.virginmobileusa.com http://www.ap.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008

The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008 Contents The Retske Report: The More Things Change… Regulatory Rundown: June 2008 5 Minutes With Harvey Caron VP/Marketing Director, Pentagon Graphics TPPExpo’08 Spotlight Handset Trafficking Dealt Blow Prepaid Wireless Roundup Virgin Mobile to Use Platform-A Sprint Reports Lower Wireless Revenues Virgin Mobile Adds Samsung to Offerings States Considering Photo ID for Prepaid Wireless Prepaid Reviews Podcast Includes TPP Editor Prepaid Wireless in Brief Managing Equipment and Capacity Upgrades Atlantax Systems and TMI Form Alliance The Legal Line Spot Rates FTC Halts Bogus Prepaid Phone Card Claims Titan Global Re-Appoints Kurt Jensen as Pres/CEO Calling Cards in Brief TX AG Files Suit Against Calling Card Company Startec Moves to PhoenixSoft Cirrus Ringplus.net Offers Free Calls Interchange Fee War Begins edo Interactive Launches Networking Card MasterCard Uses CSC Platform nFinanSe Gets $15 Million Line of Credit Travelex Cash Passport Debuts at US Retail Stores CardEx Offers Cost-Free Gift Cards Payments in Brief Altair and Blueberry Launch a Prepaid Card for Moms FrontStream Acquires Direct Technology Innovations New Etelcharge Version Goes Live Prepaid 101: POSA Retail Focus in Brief NRF Says Retailers Fighting Organized Crime Blackhawk Announces Annual Hawk Awards NRF Says Retail Sales Showed Resiliency in April TravelCenters Adopts Coinstar Pay As You Go Marriott Offers a $25 Visa Gift Card NRF Favors Law Protecting Retailers from Lawsuits Starbucks Card Members Get Free AT&T Wireless Wi-Fi Our Advertisers Classifieds Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.