By Tabitha Engel
A rather unwelcomed recording greeted me after I punched the numbers for my prepaid phone card this week. The automated voice of a what seemed to be a very pleasant woman said that the Federal Communications Commission was reviewing prepaid phone card fees, then the pleasant sounding lady, who probably really sounds like Edith Bunker in real life, offered a phone number for me to call if I wanted to ask the folks in Washington to keep my rate low.
Do you suppose the FCC is bored these days? Or perhaps over-staffed? Or just really mean and hateful? For years, I have enjoyed a very competitively priced phone card that has allowed me to discontinue my long distance calling plan. It is with glee that I inform long-distance plan telemarketers that I do not choose to switch my long distance, as I do not have long distance.
«How can this be, Tabbeethie Ongalea?» they predictably ask. «Are you mad, woman? Of course you need a long distance plan!»
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July 20 (Bloomberg) -- The following stocks may make significant gains or losses in Latin American markets today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names. The Colombian stock market will close today to celebrate the country’s Independence Day. Prices are from the previous session.
Brazil
Embratel Participacoes SA (EBTP4 BS): The country’s largest long-distance phone company may say tomorrow that net income fell to 28 million reais ($9.4 million) from 128.4 million reais in the same period a year ago, according to the estimate of Merrill Lynch & Co. The shares fell 17 centavos, or 2.1 percent, to 7.94 reais yesterday.
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Telepronto offers a
one-number service to South Floridians with too many phones.
BY ROMINA GARBER
With so many ways to get in touch with a person, there is a growing need for simplicity -- and a South Florida company is aiming to meet that demand with a one-number-fits-all service.
TelePronto sells two services: ProntoNumber, which is for individuals, and ProntoAttendant, which is for corporations. Both of these services are based on one basic idea: one telephone number that follows a person wherever he goes.
Subscribers can choose a personal toll-free number or a local number. Once this number is dialed, ProntoNumber will contact the subscriber, wherever he is, by calling his cellular phone, home phone, work phone and any other number he has set up on his personal ProntoNumber account, which allows a maximum of four numbers.
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Shopping Services brought to Mobile Subscribers in Shanghai
SHANGHAI, China, July 20 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Smartpay Jieyin Ltd. («Smartpay») today announced the launch of the first mobile shopping service in China’s most prosperous metropolitan region -- Shanghai -- partnering with Shanghai Unicom and China Merchants Bank (Shanghai Branch).
Starting today, over 3 million Shanghai Unicom subscribers can purchase pre-paid mobile «top-up» cards, long distance VoIP minutes, ISP access, online gaming time and other products and pay for them conveniently and electronically using Smartpay.
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