The Prepaid Press - June 15, 2008 - (Page 20)

CALLING CARDS June 15 · 2008 - 20 Spot Rates By using AXCESSRATE spot market price and quality data, or any portion thereof, you agree: 1. Such price and quality data shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. 2. Arbinet-thexchange, Inc. will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors, or omissions therefrom, or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the above. What is AXCESSRATEsm? AXCESSRATE provides pricing and quality information for international wholesale minutes. This information, powered by real-time trading activity on Arbinetthexchange, is the standard industry reference for voice minutes pricing and quality. Currently, hundreds of carriers use AXCESSRATE to increase the profitability of their trades. •• The Prepaid Press welcomes other exchanges and carriers who wish to also provide information. Contact us at editor@ prepaid-press.com if you would like to discuss involvement. Please note that Spot Rate is not an advertisement and does not represent an offer to sell at any particular rate. It is provided as a benchmark only. Interested parties should contact the carriers or exchanges directly for complete details. Price % Gainers (from 5/25/2008 to 5/31/2008) Country Destination UMI TOD CHANGE AVERAGE WEEK Rate ASR AVERAGE WEEK PRIOR Rate ASR United Kingdom Canada Mexico Pakistan Mexico United Kingdom United Kingdom Cameroon Poland United Kingdom Freephone 905 Ontario Guadalajara Mobile - Mobilink Acapulco Mobile - Tmobile Proper Mobile - Orange Mobile - PTC Mobile - Tmobile UKF CAN905 MXGDLX PKMKM MXACA UKTMM UKX CMORM PLPZM UKTMM All Day All Day All Day All Day All Day Off-peak Off-peak All Day Off-peak Peak +53.1 +49.3 +24.0 +23.7 +23.5 +23.0 +23.0 +19.8 +19.3 +17.8 $0.00490 $0.00506 $0.02735 $0.04187 $0.02062 $0.05332 $0.00717 $0.18401 $0.07644 $0.05654 76.2 55.7 38.7 27.6 51.5 40.5 58.4 29.6 66.7 37.2 $0.00320 $0.00339 $0.02205 $0.03386 $0.01670 $0.04334 $0.00583 $0.15363 $0.06405 $0.04798 65.5 71.5 41.7 31.9 54.2 43.2 51.5 47.3 77.6 40.7 Price % Losers (from 5/25/2008 to 5/31/2008) Country Destination UMI TOD CHANGE AVERAGE WEEK Rate ASR AVERAGE WEEK PRIOR Rate ASR United Kingdom Canada Senegal Germany Mali Germany Niger Germany Togo Senegal Mobile - Vodafone 289 Ontario Proper Mobile - Vodafone Bamako Mobile - Vodafone Mobile - Celtel Mobile - D1 (Tmobil) Mobile - Togocel Dakar UKVDM CAN289 SNX DEVDM MLBKO DEVDM NECTM DETMM TGOLM SNDKR Weekend All Day All Day Peak All Day Off-peak All Day Off-peak All Day All Day -58.5 -44.7 -33.6 -29.4 -25.9 -23.6 -21.5 -20.3 -19.7 -19.5 $0.05094 $0.00388 $0.08732 $0.10506 $0.06292 $0.10375 $0.04654 $0.10874 $0.20088 $0.09182 35.8 41.0 54.2 48.3 41.1 46.7 26.0 39.4 57.7 45.5 $0.12264 $0.00702 $0.13160 $0.14887 $0.08494 $0.13583 $0.05932 $0.13637 $0.25026 $0.11401 42.3 74.8 61.4 47.6 50.4 55.9 30.5 59.5 59.0 45.7 FTC Halts Bogus Prepaid Phone Card Claims Cards Failed to Deliver the Number of Minutes Promised in Ads WASHINGTON, DC (June 2, 2008) At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U. S. District Court has ordered a temporary halt to the deceptive advertising claims used to promote prepaid phone cards marketed by Alternatel, Inc.; G.F.G. Enterprises, LLC, also d/b/a Mystic Prepaid; Voice Prepaid, Inc.; Voice Distributors, Inc.; Telecom Express, Inc.; and their principals, pending trial. The agency alleges the marketers misrepresent the number of calling minutes consumers will get on their cards and fail to adequately disclose fees that will reduce the value of the cards. The defendants are part of an industry that sells approximately $4 billion worth of prepaid calling cards a year, many of which are sold to immigrants who depend on the cards to call friends and family in other countries. According to the FTC, the defendants market their prepaid calling cards through small retailers and over the Internet. The defendants’ cards, which sell for between $2 and $10, are marketed under a wide variety of names, including “Aló Mamá,” “Coffee Time,” “Rey de Florida,” “Tree Monkey,” and “Voz do Brasil.” The defendants advertise their cards through posters displayed in the stores where they are sold as well as in foreign language ads on the radio, television and in newspapers. The FTC alleges that consumers don’t receive the number of minutes advertised. For example, while a poster advertised that a calling card would deliver 360 minutes to Panama, the card delivered only 23 minutes of calling time. In fact, in 87 tests of the defendants’ cards, the cards delivered an average of only 50 percent of the advertised minutes. In addition, the FTC alleges the cards carry hidden fees that are disclosed in tiny font and in vague terms that are mostly incomprehensible in any language. Copies of the complaint are available at http:// www.ftc.gov. Source: Bureau of Consumer Protection THE PREPAID GRAPEVINE 1700 members and growing! The Prepaid Grapevine is the only interactive meeting place for the prepaid industry. Members share news, opinions and business strategies daily. .. e board h Get on the know! Get in t JOIN TODAY, IT’S FREE! VISIT WWW.PREPAIDGRAPEVINE.COM http://WWW.PREPAIDGRAPEVINE.COM http://www.ftc.gov http://WWW.PREPAIDGRAPEVINE.COM http://www.ftc.gov

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.