CARIBE - GENERAL:
Cable&Wireless, the operator on most of the english speaking Caribbean island-nations and whose cards can be used in most of the region, regardless or where you buy them or the country name stated on the front, is phasing out the magnetic system in favour of smart, chip cards. So far, Montserrat (pop. left: 3,500 out of 11,000 when the volcano erupted) is the only place where the new system is fully operational. Antigua will join soon.
Simultaneously, C&W has started issuing remote memory cards in several of the islands, and generic magnetic cards (no country name, only "caribbean phonecard") with US $ denominations (10, 15 & 20 so far).
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA:
After the beautiful "Butterflies series" (four cards), Cable&Wireles has issued four more series which are currently on the market. The most interesting one is the "Carnival Series", eight (so far??) great looking cards with images -some on black&white- of carnivals going back all the way to the sixties.
Then, they have the "Antigua sailing week" series, four cards. This is the second time C&W issues card related to this event, one of the best known sailing events in the world. The previous one was images from 1993; this latest ones has images from 1997.
The third series is devoted to the Internet, and it has (so far) three EC$10 (US$ 3.77) cards with drawings from a children4s contest on how they see the internet.
Finally, a very special one card series: "Total Eclipse of the sun". This is a EC$60 (US$ 22.65), print run of only 10,000. It has three sequential images of the moon passing over the sun. Beautiful!!! This will be the last card of the magnetic system issued in Antigua & Barbuda, as C&W will be changing soon to chip cards.
ARUBA:
This Dutch island on the Caribbean has already switched from the magnetic system to the chip one, and have issued an "Total Solar Eclipse series" too. Two very nice cards (30 & 60 units) with 80,000 print run commemorating the last solar eclipse of the century (Feb 26th 1998).
The latest series before this one, and still in the market, was "Elements", three cards with 80,000 print run with beautiful, artistic pictures celebrating "Awa" (Water in papiamento -the local language, a delightful mix of english, french, spanish, dutch, and african words- 30 units), "Biento" (Wind, 60 units) and "Solo" (Sun, 120 units).
PUERTO RICO:
After several years inactive in this field, ATT had started again issuing pre-paid remote memory cards for the local market. So far has issued three of them (5, 10 & 20 dollars) with an ATT-Puerto Rico logo on the lower left corner. Instructions on the back are both in english and spanish and each has its own scratch-off!! (obviously, the same number). For the first week, they issued nice, thick cards .... and then the horrible thin ones.
ST. LUCIA:
This little caribbean islands has some of my favourite cards: the ones commemorating the Jazz Festival they hold in May each year. And this is the latest series C&W is issuing there: "St. Lucia Jazz Festival 1998". First card is a 10 EC $ one (US$ 3.77) with a picture of a young boy blowing a trumpet. Second one (20 EC$, or 7.50 US) is the poster of the festival (great design!!!). This is the fourth series related to the Jazz Festival. The previous ones were issued in 1992 (3 cards), 1995 (one card) and 1997 (three great, great, GREAT!!!! looking cards).
Besides that, C&W joined the celebration of the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) summit in Castries (St. Lucia4s capital, June 30th-July4th) issuing a very short print run (5,000) remote memory card (EC $ 50, nearly 20 US$) named "The signing", with a sepia colour picture of the signing of the Charaguamas Treaty in 1973, when the CARICOM was formed.
A new discussion list has been created for those interested in phonecards! Collectors and dealers alike are welcome to join. Dealers are asked to limit their posts to one per day so that the list will not become overly commercialized, and everyone is asked to be polite and civil so that everyone will feel welcome to present their views and ideas about the hobby.
I hope that this list will help everyone to expand their collection, find new cards and swapping partners, and learn more about our hobby, phonecard collecting. Membership is free of chargeR To join, go to http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5225 or e-mail phonecard_collector@yahoo.com.
So far, the fire has caused minimal damage to AT&T facilities. However, call volumes are running extremely high, which can make it difficult for customers to complete calls on the first attempt. AT&T will coordinate with the Red Cross, providing shelter to some 50,000 Florida residents in the affected areas to provide funding to support relief efforts.
From: Janice Cooper
Until Next Time,
Alan
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