IDT Launches Latino MVNO

By Tara Seals

IDT Corp. has rolled out TúYo Mobile, a wireless product tailored for Latinos.

The prepaid service offers low rates for direct international calling, downloadable Latino ringtones and graphics, and a proprietary calling card feature allowing international calling from any phone using their TúYo balance. The offer is fully bilingual, including customer service, packaging, handset menu and downloadable content.

Although the service is created on an MVNO resale basis, IDT has only identified the underlying provider as a major GSM wireless carrier, narrowing the candidates down to T-Mobile USA and Cingular Wireless.

International calling rates per minute begin at 2 cents to Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and 3 cents to Chile, Columbia and Venezuela, plus airtime. Domestic airtime starts at 10 cents per minute.

IDT sees its creation of TúYo Mobile as the next logical evolution of products developed for Hispanics. IDT has prepaid calling card sales of more than one million cards a day through more than 300,000 retail outlets, it says.

TúYo Mobile speaks directly to the lifestyle of U.S. Hispanics, says Jim Courter, IDTs CEO. IDT has become the preferred communications company of Hispanics in the U.S. by providing prepaid phone cards that meet their needs. Now Latino customers can turn to TúYo for convenient and cost effective mobile calling to friends and relatives around the globe.

TúYo Mobile offers a variety of GSM phones including the Nokia 6102, which includes a built-in video camera and FM stereo radio, and Motorolas popular V180 flip-phone.

Customers can purchase TúYo Mobile products in the coming weeks at retailers in the metropolitan areas of New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC and Las Vegas, as well on the Web at tuyo.com. The service will be available nationwide in 2006.