channel news December 2003

Posted: 12/2003

channel news

Dancris Selects ITXC for Network Outsource
Solution

International voice carrier ITXC Corp. and facilities-based
international carrier Dancris Telecom recently announced their outsourcing deal.

Dancris will outsource its primary international routes to
ITXC for highquality call completion over ITXCs global Voice over IP network,
ITXC.net.

ITXC says its VoIP network could reach every phone in the
world through direct traffic relationships with carriers worldwide. ITXC is a
carriers carrier and does not compete directly in any retail markets.

Dancris will rely on ITXC for international routes that
include India, Mexico and the Philippines. These routes form the foundation of
Dancris prepaid calling card programs in North America. By outsourcing these
routes to ITXC, Dancris says it can focus on marketing, distributing, acquiring
and retaining prepaid programs.

We can put the burden of network management on a
world-class supplier and not be forced to try to duplicate their efforts,
says Christina Rao, marketing director for Dancris. We believe this will
enable us to increase net profits and simplify our operational management and
support of our calling card programs.?

We believe this relationship will help them win in the
highly competitive prepaid environment, says Neal Axelrad, ITXCs sales
director for America. Managing a global network requires enormous investment
in resources and doesnt extend the competitive advantage for most prepaid
companies.

Dancris and ITXC already have exchanged more than 85 million
minutes since beginning their commercial relationship in 2001.

Virgin Mobile USA Fare Now Available at CompUSA, Sprint Stores

Virgin Mobile USA LLC, a mobile virtual network operator and
provider of a national prepaid wireless service targeted toward the youth
market, is making Virgin Mobile products and services available at more than 220
CompUSA stores and more than 550 Sprint PCS stores nationwide.

Our partnership with CompUSA furthers our goal of making
Virgin Mobile available in the type of retail environments that strongly appeal
to the youth market, says Howard Handler, Virgin Mobile USA chief marketing
officer.

Handler adds, The national rollout of Virgin Mobile in
Sprints retail network exemplifies the depth of our partnership. Not only
does this broaden Virgin Mobiles distribution, but it also broadens Sprints
customer base.

Virgin Mobile USA is a joint venture between Sprint PCS and
the Virgin Group, created in October 2001, as the first MVNO in the United
States.

Virgin Mobile USA offers a pay-as-you-go pricing plan: 25
cents per minute for the first 10 minutes of each day, then 10 cents for every
minute thereafter. There are no contracts to sign, no monthly bills and no
hidden fees. Virgin Mobile phones come with features known as VirginXtras. These
include the Rescue Ring (users pre-set their phone to get out of a sticky
situation such as a bad date); the Hit List (users listen to and vote on brand
new music); a library of ringtones and games; and access to exclusive content
from MTV and VH1 2 go, including Txt2TRL (users can send text messages right to
MTVs show Total Request Live), MTV news alerts and Video Clash (users
vote for videos they think deserve air time).

Coinstar To Offer PRE Solutions Prepaid

Coinstar Inc., the self-service coin-counting service
provider, will offer PRE Solutions Inc.s prepaid consumer products via its
kiosks.

The products available from PRE Solutions include prepaid
wireless, long-distance and Internet services as well as Web content, including
ring tones and games. Coinstar will add these to its self-service devices, available
in various public locations, such as supermarkets.

The synergies of this relationship will allow PRE Solutions
the opportunity to deliver our prepaid products through selfservice Coinstar
Centers and TOP-UP kiosks, says Tom Konz, senior vice president of marketing
and operations for PRE Solutions.

Coinstars goal is to become a convenient touch-point for
a wide range of electronic consumer services, and we look forward to working
with PRE Solutions to help us deliver popular prepaid products, says Peter
Rowan, vice president of new business innovation for Coinstar.

American Wireless Resells ClickCall

American Wireless Inc. will sell Click Communications Inc.s
ClickCall service, for prepaid international calling. ClickCall allows
pre-registered cellular phone customers to place international calls by dialing
the ClickCall toll-free access number prior to the international number.

The companies say ClickCall provides savings of up to 80
percent on calls from mobile phones in the United States to more than 260
countries worldwide.

ClickCall is available in prepaid denominations of $10, $20,
$50 and $100 from all American Wireless dealers throughout the United States.

Customers really appreciate the simplicity of speed-dialing
their ClickCall access number from their cellular phonebook and the knowledge
that they are simply being charged the published low rate per minute for their
call, says Ken Parkford, vice president of sales for Click Communications.
The company does not charge connection or monthly maintenance fees.

ClickCall customers can view a detailed record of their calls
in the Customer Login section on the ClickCall Web site.

IDT Cards Debut at Retail

IDT Corp. has been selected as the exclusive calling card
provider for Community Distributors Inc.s Drug Fair and Cost Cutters stores,
encompassing 52 retailers throughout New Jersey. The agreement marks the first
time an IDT-branded point-of-sale calling card will be sold at retail.

The cards have both domestic and international capability and
are offered with and without a connection fee. Consumers can choose from a $5 or $10 card, or cards with face
values of 40 or 80 minutes.

Quality and value are the benchmarks we use to evaluate the
products we sell, says Michael Quinn, Community Distributors executive
vice president for merchandising. The new calling cards from IDT meet our
standards and the expectations of our customers.

The cards will be displayed on register racks in Drug Fair and
Cost Cutters stores. Marketing plans include ads in Drug Fair circulars and
coupon books.

POSA Tech Launches PINless Prepaid Wireless Program

POSA Tech Inc. has launched the PINless prepaid wireless
program, Freedom to Speak for distribution by retailers.

POSA Tech is offering retail stores up to $100 for each
activation along with an ongoing residual payment each month a customer pays his
or her bill.

The program gives customers the choice of five different rate
plans, ranging from $19 per month for 80 anytime minutes to $99 per month for
1,000 anytime minutes and unlimited nights and weekends. Freedom to Speak is
activated on the Sprint Network, and includes roaming and long distance in each
plan.

Tim Hill, president of POSA, says customers can pay their
monthly bills online or in person at locations including Western Union and Money
Gram.

The Freedom to Speak program is great for both the retailer
and consumer, Hill says. The retailer makes an ongoing commission for each
customer they activate no matter how and where they pay their bill, and
consumers finally are able to receive a prepaid plan that gives them the same
types of rates as a postpaid customer.

Verizon Sells Prepaid Long-Distance Cards Online

Prepaid phone card users now can purchase and recharge Verizon
Communications Inc.s calling cards anytime, from their computers. Until
recently, the Verizon cards were available only at select retail stores.

Verizon customers who do not live or work near the retail
stores that sell our prepaid cards have been requesting another way to purchase
them, says William M. Freeman, president of Verizons Public Communications
Group. Now, anytime, day or night, buying or recharging our cards
is more convenient than ever.

Customers can print their toll-free access number and PIN from
the Verizon Web site or have the information delivered to their e-mail
immediately after purchase. To place a call, customers dial the toll-free
number, then enter their PIN and the number they are calling. The cost of the
call is subtracted automatically from the value of the prepaid card.

Verizon offers four online cards with no maintenance fees: the
Domestic Connect Fee Card, the Flat Rate Card, the World Card and the Mexico
Card.

Brightstar Offers Prepaid Accessories Via PRE Solutions Merchants

Wireless master distributor Brightstar Corp. will market
wireless accessories via PRE Solutions Inc.s retailers.

The products will be sold through PRE Solutions merchants,
says a Brightstar spokesperson. The agreement enhances a partnership wherein
Brightstar provides multivendor prepaid wireless handset fulfillment. PRE Solutions and Brightstar also offer merchants surrounding
support services, such as prepaid transaction processing, wireless handset
fulfillment logistics, reporting, customized billing and point of sale
replenishment.

Brightstar has been a valuable partner of PRE Solutions in
providing the logistical and distribution services needed to provide our carrier
partners prepaid handsets to our merchant partners, says Mark Bowling, director of carrier relations at PRE
Solutions. We are excited about this new phase of our relationship that will
allow merchant partners to order prepaid handsets and accessories from a single
source.

Brightstar says its accessories are compatible with all major
namebrand cellular phones on the market, and it supports the accessory line with
an array of display units and point of sale materials.

PPM Plans
Electronic Distribution of Prepaid Services in Australia

New company Phonecard PIN Management Pty. Ltd. (PPM) plans to
distribute prepaid service electronically in Australia.

It has signed with Q Comm International Inc. to purchase and
install Q Comms server systems and license its transaction-processing
platform. It also will purchase Qxpress 200 point of sale activation
terminals. Both PPM and Q Comm will earn ongoing transaction fees for each
transaction processed through the system.

PPM also has signed a sales agreement with service provider
Alpha Telecom Pty. Ltd. to sell its prepaid long-distance services via Qxpress
PoSA terminals. Alphas sales representatives will introduce the Qxpress 200
PoSA terminal to Alphas entire retail network of more than 5,000 locations
throughout Australia, consisting of news agencies, convenience stores, grocery
stores and others.

PPMs strategy is to persuade retailers to replace prepaid
vouchers with e-vouchers printed on demand by Qxpress 200 PoSA terminals. The
company says that by converting to the electronic system, retailers will
eliminate most of their inventory costs, theft and stock outages. When an end
user requests a prepaid service, the retail associate will access the terminal
via a personalized password and print the PIN and other product information on a
durable, thermal card, which resembles traditional long-distance phone cards in
size and shape.

Touchlink Signs
Wholesale Agreement

Touchlink Communications has signed a wholesale services
agreement with VoipXchange.net to provide prepaid calling services using Voip-
Xchange.nets network.

Touchlink will purchase telephony routing services from
VoipXchange.net for various international and domestic destinations.

Touchlink recently signed an agreement with the non-profit
Korean American Grocers Association (KAGRO) to install point-of-sale terminals
and provide prepaid calling cards and mobile service, prepaid Visa/MasterCard,
money transfers, and credit card and ATM processing for KAGRO member stores.

We are pleased to engage Voip- Xchange.net as our partner
to provide KAGRO members and other organizations with competitive calling
services, says Henry Fahman, Touch-link parent Providential Holdings
Inc.s chairman and CEO.