A note regarding prepaid cellular.
Seems there are two types of technologies in use. One requires a special handset, the other apparently does not. Here in the Los Angeles area, there are two major cellular providers - LA Cellular, and AirTouch (others are moving in, but for now those two predominate).
I visited an LA Cellular office over the weekend and had a chat with the manager. He told me that the pre-paid service they offer does not require a special handset - anyone with a cell phone could buy the prepaid cards, and LA Cellular's computers could "download" (or somehow keep track of) the time allotted. He noted that AirTouch's service requires a special handset(btw, he wasn't touting one or the other solution as superior, just different). I saw in the prior post that CANCALL has an agreement with AirTouch.
He told me that 50% of the people coming in there for service don't meet the credit requirements, and response to the prepaid concept has been strong (he didn't give me specific numbers).
The prepaid cellular market is crowded right now. I have a stake in a company called UC 'NWIN Systems (UCNS), who supposedly has a chipset for prepaid cellular phones. Its been two years now, and I haven't heard of any significant usage. I know that there are a lot of other players.
Any thoughts on the competing technologies, and who the leaders in the industry are? Not needing a special handset sounds like a real competitive advantage to me, but I don't pretend to know everything about it. |
