Phone Plus Prepaid:  Deals & Contracts

Posted: 6/2003

Deals & Contracts

* Sony Ericsson and Telemac Corp.
have entered into a licensing agreement under which Sony Ericsson will extend
its SIM Application Toolkit in selected models to interoperate with a Telemac-enabled
SIM.

Sony Ericsson wireless devices
incorporating Telemac-enabled SIMs will support Telemac CostControl technology,
Telemac’s patented network-edge real-time billing and accounting solution.
Telemac CostControl technology eliminates most infrastructure elements and
reduces nonrevenue-generating network traffic associated with consumer requests
for updated billing information, thereby reducing a wireless operator’s cost for
prepaid and postpaid spending limits programs.

"Our partnership with Telemac
demonstrates Sony Ericsson’s commitment to developing advanced wireless
technology that answers mobile consumers’ demand for more cost-effective billing
solutions," says Steve Stolakis, director of product planning for Sony
Ericsson.

Telemac has licensed Telemac
CostControl technology to wireless operators worldwide and nearly 15 million
Telemac-enabled mobile phones have been sold.

* VeriFone Inc., a provider
of secure electronic payment technologies, and EWI Prepaid, a global
provider of secure prepaid services, have formed a strategic marketing alliance.
Under the terms of the agreement, EWI will integrate its patented PinXpress
technology into VeriFone’s point-of-sale (PoS) terminals throughout Latin
America.

The fully integrated solution allows
retailers to provision and manage their entire prepaid service category in real
time from their own PoS system. EWI and VeriFone will jointly market and
distribute the integrated solution to retailers — including discount drug
stores, supermarkets and convenience stores — in Mexico, as well as Caribbean
and South American countries, such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile.

PinXpress enables consumers to
purchase prepaid services, such as wireless, long distance, Internet, coupons,
tickets, gasoline and utilities, at any retail store without using hard cards.
With PinXpress, stores provide prepaid services via a PoS integration that’s
tied directly to its networked cash register system. VeriFone markets
programmable PoS terminals to use PinXpress.

VeriFone has about 75 percent market
share in the retail placement of PoS terminals in Latin America, and has shipped
about 10 million electronic-payment systems throughout the world.

"Teaming with VeriFone provides
us an opportunity to accelerate our growth throughout Latin America with a
trusted and well-established market leader," says EWI Chairman Miles
Paschini, who leads international operations. "Our digital technology
provides retailers a superior method of distributing prepaid services to their
customers that saves money, reduces management burden and overhead, and vastly
improves product selection."

* POSA Tech Inc. has chosen Q
Comm International Inc.’s Qxpress 200 PoSA technology for the electronic
recharge and distribution of prepaid wireless airtime, phone cards and other
services to POSA Tech’s participating retailers.

Doug Pfeiffer, CEO of POSA Tech,
says the company already has installed nearly 100 of Q Comm’s Qxpress 200
terminals in retail locations with sales volume per store at about $2,200 per
month.

"We’re basically just getting
started and expect to see the numbers of terminal placements increase
dramatically since we just signed three significant retail chains,"
Pfeiffer says. "Also, we were just chosen as the exclusive prepaid category
manager for the buying group for many of the BP Amoco, ConocoPhillips and
Marathon Oil convenience stores and gas stations."

"We are impressed with POSA
Tech," says Stephen C. Flaherty, president of Q Comm International.
"They have some of the most experienced PoSA and prepaid players in the
industry. Combining their industry expertise with aggressive marketing, POSA
Tech has done a nice job developing a turnkey point-of-purchase kit for
retailers. They have been successful adding new distribution points and are on
track to accomplish big things. We look forward to working with them in an
ongoing partnership."

POSA Tech’s retail clients include
wireless stores, convenience stores and check cashers, and the company plans to
begin working with grocery and drug stores in the near future. POSA Tech offers
its retail clients turnkey services including assistance in selecting prepaid
products, merchandising, and training on PoSA and daily operations. It recruits
retail clients both through independent agents and its own direct sales force.

* Hop-On.com Inc., a
developer of disposable and fully recyclable cellular phones, announced it has
received a letter of intent for the purchase of two million phones from Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Ltd., India’s state-run telecommunications carrier. The first
Hop-On GSM model disposable cell phone units will begin shipping in June with
the balance of the two million phones scheduled to ship by the end of the year.

The company says the letter of
intent represents a significant development for Hop-On and is the latest
indication of its success in establishing a global brand for affordable wireless
services.

The company says the Indian market
is attractive given its size, growth rate and its low disposable income consumer
profile is ideally suited to Hop-On’s low-cost handset offerings.

It says Indian carriers have made
substantial investments in network hardware and related infrastructure costs.
However, by working with Hop-On they can move traffic onto their networks faster
and more cost effectively.