At the show, I spent a lot of time talking with Jerome Stevens of Los Angeles. We discussed the possibility of creating a small but regular show somewhere in the Los Angeles area. It would have a few dealers, as well as be a place to get together and talk about collecting. If there are any dealers or collectors in Southern California and are interested in this, please get in touch with me.
) Hi Collectors,
There is lots of phonecard news here in Canada, that I'd like to tell you about ! Firstly, there are two more companies issuing chip cards ! One company is QuébecTel, which services Eastern Québec, and the second is MTS, which services the Province of Manitoba.
The cards are basically the same as the current Bell cards, just that they are located in different service areas where the company has a different name. The QuébecTel cards are called "LaPuce" (like the Bell Québec cards) and the MGS cards are called "QuickChange PayPhone Pass" (like the Bell Ontario cards) I have been told that the QuébecTel cards can work in the Bell phones, but I have not heard about the MGS cards, but I would think that they would work in the Bell phones as well.
As of now, I know of 18 different QuébecTel issues, with all cards being printed in small denominations. (The highest card print I have is 7 000) I believe that the cards were first issued in 02/96, as that is the date of issue on the first card. One card is already sold out. I don't have any pictures of the cards yet, but some of them are very beautiful !
The MGS cards I have no idea on the first date of issue, but I am guessing 01/97. So far I only know of two different, and those two were also issued in low quantities of 5,000 each.
I will post more information on the cards to the list when I learn more about them. I do not have any of these cards for sale or swap though, and will probably never have any for swap ! My current knowledge of the cards is pretty limited, so I apologize in advance for any questions that I can't answer. I will create a reference list of the new cards in mid-June (when my final exams are finished !) and will have more information about the cards hopefully by then.
Now onto some Bell chip card news...
The popularity of the new chip phonecards are increasing here in Ontario, and I believe the same is happening in Québec too. Everyday, I see more and more people using the cards, and I am finding more phonecard wrappers at the phones, but rarely phonecards :( Bell is doing lots of advertising for the cards on radio, in the newspapers, and in the subways. Practically every single phone in Ontario can accept the cards, and there are also ads about the cards in the phonebooths themselves. Bell is also pushing the phonecard hobby as well. On many of the wrappers, Bell is telling people not to throw their used cards away, but to collect them instead ! (Probably why I rarely find cards here)
The first ever meeting of the Greater Toronto Phonecard Club took place on Sunday, May 25 at the Madeira Community House at 2 pm in Toronto. I was rather surprised by the turnout. There were 16 people there, including two dealers and some of the collector's wives. After everyone had introduced themselves, we had a small discussion and then some swapping went on. The meeting ended at around 4 pm, and it was decided that the next meeting will take place Sunday, June 22, same time, same place. I tried to get some extra used Canadians for my friends on the internet, but I had no luck ! Maybe next time !
After some serious detective work, I have some more news on Canadian chip cards. It appears now that all of the country will soon have chip card technology. I have just received word that SaskTel (in Saskatchewan) and Telus (in Alberta) are producing chip cards as well. These two new companies, in addition to MTS (Manitoba), Bell (Ontario & Québec) and QuébecTel (Eastern Québec) geographically cover most of Canada.
The only companies yet to introduce chip card technology are BCTel (British Columbia), NorthwestTel (in Canada's Arctic), and the smaller Atlantic Canada telcos Island Tel (Prince Edward Island), MT&T (Nova Scotia), NBTel (New Brunswick) and NewTel (Newfoundland & Labrador). I would think that BCTel will be issuing chip cards quite soon as when I was in Vancouver this summer, I saw a few chip phones at the Vancouver Airport.
I would really like to see NorthwestTel, the company which serves the Canadian Arctic, issue cards. I am quite sure that they would be quite beautiful ! But, I think that it will be a while before any chip cards are issued there as I don't believe that any remote cards have yet been issued.
For the SaskTel (Province of Saskatchewan) chip cards, I only know of three different cards being issued, with no idea of the designs. (I just ordered them today) There is a $5 card with 7,000 issued, a $10 card with 5,000 issued and a $20 card with 2,000 issued.
I have yet no idea on the amount of Telus (Province of Alberta) chip cards issued at present, but I would think that there may be many issued. (Calgary and Edmonton have about 1 million people each) I was unable to get in touch with customer relations today, but I left a message with the receptionist and they said that they would return my call. (I was informed by the receptionist at SaskTel that Telus was also issuing chip cards)
Well, as you can see, chip phone cards are exploding here in Canada. Also on a related note, cash cards will be in national use here by mid-1998. Two trials, in Kingston, Ontario, and Guelph, Ontario have been taking place, and I have heard that most banks are heading towards the system that is being tested in Guelph, which is called MONDEX.
I have just got my new QuébecTel and MTS cards in the and they are absolutely gorgeous ! Any collector who likes nice phonecards, will surely like these ones. I will do my best to try and scan some of them, but that won't be for at least a week or two. (I'm in the midst of final examinations )
As I've said before, I'll send more info to the lists as I learn more details on the cards !
Submitted by Garry Clark (gclark@metz.une.edu.au)
Although telephonecards are not widely used in Colombia, quite a variety of them have been issued in this South American country. Most of them are quite nice and all of them are very collectable items, because they are quite scarce.
Only six years ago, in 1991, "Telecom" -the colombian state owned telephone carrier- started issuing phonecards, magnetic ones manufactured by Tamura; since them, there have been 61 different ones, plus a few produced by local authorities as well as some promotional cards made by private companies (actually, we only know of one of this kind)
The cards in the second series are the less attractive of all the ones issued in Colombia. They are plain black and white, although some times with a touch of red or blue, with promotional messages from Telecom. There were four cards worth 5,000 pesos, two of 10,000 pesos and one of 20,000 pesos (at the time, US $ 5.55, 11.11 and 22.22).
The third series the gem of colombian phonecards. Named "Masters of Colombian Painting", it`s devouted to the art of 12 contemporary painters, from the world known Fernando Botero and his "gordos" (fat people) to the locally very popular Ana Mercedes Hoyos and her caribbean topics.
This collection of colombian phonecards it`s at the same time a general catalogue of painting: all tendencies from pure realism (Manzur, Caballero) to abstraction (Hernández) are represented. And so are all kind of topics, from still life (Teyé, Santiago Cárdenas) to circus gnomes (Grau), soccer players (Manzur), female (Morales) and male (Caballero) nudes or dreamy landscapes (Ariza).
There are four cards featuring the works of each painter: two X 5,500 pesos (US $ 5.5), one X 10,500 pesos (10.5) and one X 15,500 pesos (US 15.5). These prices included, for the first time in Colombia, a 500 pesos (US $0.5) surcharge on top of the actual calling time.
Unfortunately, after producing that great series, Colombian Telecom has gone back to promote their own servecices in the current fourth series. So far, there are three card in this series: 10,700 pesos (US $ 11.26), 15,700 pesos (US $ 16.52) and 20,700 pesos (US $ 21.78), including a 700 pesos (US $ 0.73) handling surcharge. They are a bit more atractive than the first series because at least they are print in full colour.
As for other cards, Banco de Colombia has issued a promotional card, the only known example of this kind in Colombia. It´s a magnetic one manufactured by Tamura, depicting an eagle.
There are as well remote memory cards issued for the use by inmates in "La Picota", Bogota´s main jail. These are very crude issues, printed on paper, and relly difficult to get.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Elías García is a spanish journalist currently based in Puerto Rico and covering the Caribbean region. Prior to going to Puerto Rico, he was a correspondant in Colombia for five years. He is a keen collector -and part-time dealer- of both phonecards and banknotes. E-mail: efe@tld.net
GTI maintains agreements to distribute phone cards into such leading national retailers as Dominick's Finer Foods, Eckerd Drug, Food4Less, Ralphs Supermarkets and Spencer Gifts, amongst others. Additionally, GTI holds a variety of licenses for use in connection with prepaid calling cards including entertainment properties such as Star Wars.
The purchase price for GTI is approximately $70 million, involving the issuance of approximately 2.5 million shares of common stock and $26 million of the Company's subordinated notes due 2001, as well as the assumption of approximately $10 million of GTI indebtedness.
Last week, SMARTALK also announced the acquisition of Boston-based SmarTel Communications, Inc., the nation's leading premium and incentive based calling card company. SmarTel creates interactive communications and value-added promotional prepaid programs for such clients as Gillette, Hewlett-Packard, Wells Fargo Bank, Nabisco, Pfizer and Prudential Securities.
"Eastman Kodak has joined with telecom provider Frontier Technologies to produce a calling card for the 30th anniversary of Mickey Mantle's 500th home run. The card incorporates 24 separate images to create an animated sequence. But such thrills aren't cheap. The card's five minutes of calling time sell for nearly $20. The card's distributor is at 800-333-2053.
From: Pete Cuiry
Collector Jeffrey Weiss reports that the Moore Business Products phone card offer does not work. "I have filled out the form three times in the past. I never received anything in over four months. I went to their site and got their 800 number. My friend Matt Groller and I talked to all kinds of people trying to find out where our cards were. We finally talked to someone of significant importance and she told us that she would send us two cards the next day. We never received anything. I did receive their catalog about two or three times, but never a phone card. I filled out the form again but never received anything except another catalog. We finally decided that this was a waste of our time. I still have not received a phone card."
From: Steve (Last name unknown!)
From: Linda Abdulhadi
From: Andrew Henderson
Until Next Week,
Alan
2) Direct e-mail. Send a message to: phoneline@cardmall.com
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