• 2^nd Annual Children’s Charity Auction
• Long Beach Show Review
• California Conservancy Divers Phone Card
• Press Releases
• Promotional Offers

Check out the latest phonecard auctions on Ebay. Visit Ebay at: http://www.cardmall.com/ebay

NEWS / COMMENTARIES

Third Anniversary Issue

This issue marks my third year anniversary publishing Phonecards On-Line. The very first issue was published on September 30, 1995. I actually started a web site as a way to reach readers on-line. My on-line businesses, which include Card Mall, Coin Mall, Phone Card Central, Collector-Link, and soon to be active Paper Money Net, all actually started from my newsletter! The first issue was sent out via newsgroups, and CompuServe’s Phone and Money Card Section. The second issue perhaps was e-mail to 50 people. There are now over 3,000 people subscribed to this newsletter, plus another 900 people per month on average are visiting the POL web site at Card Mall. Over the past three years, I have averaged publishing 48 weeks a year, not too bad considering I have moved three times, including a 3,000 mile move. I look forward to many more years of publishing this newsletter -–Thank you to my loyal readers for staying with me.

Long Beach Show Review

The Long Beach Collectibles Show just ended. This show had the lowest turnout of phonecard dealers since I started attending the show a couple of years ago. Only four were there, when there are usually about twice as many. Overall, attendance seemed low for the show. I spoke with a number of coin dealers who complained that sales were considerably lower, although the phonecard dealers did not report this. I still had a nice time going and chatting with old friends.

California Conservancy Divers Phone Card

At the Long Beach show, I learned from Jordan Shienbaum, a collector, about a phonecard that was produced to support this organization. They are involved in underwater projects around the Catalina Island area. The phone time went bad as soon as the cards were issued, although the expiration date would have already passed. Only 300 of these cards were made, and the organization (which is non-profit) is trying to sell them to recoup some of the costs for producing the card. I received one at the show, they are quite nice. A scanned picture is available at the web site to view the card. If you are interested in purchasing this card (originally issued for $10, and in a folder) they are available for only $3.00, or 2 for $5.00. Shipping is also inexpensive, a .55 SASE for up to 3 cards, or just add $1.00 to the total. I am told that the buyer of the cards can write off the purchase price in their taxes as a charitable contribution.

Payment for these cards can be sent to:

California Conservancy Divers

Attn: Doug Hodne

22314 Avis Court

Torrance, CA 90505

PRESS RELEASES

UniDial Communications Turns Farm Aid Membership Card Into a Prepaid Long Distance Calling Card

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 1998--To help raise funds for Farm Aid, UniDial Communications, one of the nation's largest telecom resellers, has turned the Farm Aid membership card into a five-minute, prepaid calling card. The limited edition card features artwork by Vermont artist Katharine Montstream, and will be given to all donors signing on for the $35 Farm Aid membership.

With all the production and long distance costs for the cards donated by UniDial, Farm Aid will be able to put the full cost of the membership toward its mission of helping family farms. The collectible cards will be available at all the stadium vendors during the October 3rd Farm Aid concert, to be held at The New World Music Theatre in Tinley Park, Ill. Those who can't

make it to the concert can become members by visiting the Farm Aid web site at www.country.com, or call by calling 1-800-FARM AID during the live broadcast of ``Farm Aid '98,'' scheduled on TNN October 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m EST.

Only 8,000 of the limited edition cards will be produced, available on a first come, first serve basis. The cards have the potential to help Farm Aid raise $130,000 worth of memberships.

``We're very grateful to UniDial for bringing the idea to us,'' said Carolyn Mugar, executive director of Farm Aid. ``This is a beautiful card that should appeal to prepaid calling card collectors. But more important, it helps us give something of value back to our Farm Aid donors. Considering all our donors do for the sake of the family farm, it's great to be able to do that.''

UniDial donated the cards as part of its national partnership with USA Harvest, the nation's largest all-volunteer hunger relief organization. USA Harvest and Farm Aid have worked together for three years. In fact, people attending Farm Aid concerts have brought hundreds of thousands of pounds of canned food items to benefit USA Harvest's chapters. Farm Aid Prepaid Cards sold at the concert will also bear the USA Harvest logo, though 100% of the proceeds will go toward Farm Aid.

``We're very proud to be able to help two great organizations like Farm Aid and USA Harvest,'' said Kimberly Moran, Director of Marketing for UniDial Communications. ``Prepaid calling cards are an important part of our product line, and it's a great feeling knowing one of our products can help generate income for such an important cause - the survival of the family

farm.''

UniDial, in conjunction with its vendor partners, offers all businesses and consumers state-of-the-art telecommunications services and the most comprehensive customer service in the industry. Founded in 1993, UniDial is known as one of the largest telecommunications resellers in the industry, serving customers from coast to coast. UniDial is a privately held company

headquartered in Louisville, Ky.

Digitec Announces National Rollout of Brasil Direct and Mexico Direct Prepaid Phone Cards

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 1998-- DIGITEC 2000 Inc. (OTC/BB:DGTT - news) announced today the national rollout of its Brasil Direct and Mexico Direct brands.

Brasil Direct and Mexico Direct, specialty country cards, were initially tested in approximately 2,500 locations in the New York metropolitan area prior to the national rollout.

The success of the brands enabled Digitec to increase its number of New York retail locations by approximately 15 percent. The traffic growth filled the company's initial bandwidth capacity to both Brazil and Mexico of two million and 5.5 million minutes per month respectively. The company is currently adding additional capacity to meet the strong demand.

``Our business plan is to become a facilities-based carrier during the current fiscal year and we are excited about being right on schedule,'' observed Frank Magliato, Digitec's chief executive officer. Magliato continued, ``These cards are competitively priced and their reception in the marketplace has been exceptional.''

Digitec 2000 Inc. is a leading provider of prepaid telecommunications products and services. The company develops corporate and affinity prepaid phone card programs as well as utility cards for retail distribution. The company's DigiTEC Direct, F/X, Brasil Direct, Mexico Direct, Caribbean Direct and F/X South America are among the most prominent brands in the retail market.

Esprit Telecom Launches The Euro Calling Card

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 1998-- Esprit Telecom Group plc (Nasdaq:ESPRY - news; Easdaq: ESPR), the leading pan-European telecoms company, today launched the Esprit Telecom Euro Calling Card.

Available throughout Europe, the Euro Calling Card is the first pre-paid card priced in Euros. It is also believed to be the first card to use Universal International Freephone Numbers, or UIFNs. Using UIFNs, customers can access the service by using exactly the same freephone access numbers in most European countries.

``The Esprit Telecom Euro Calling Card can be used from any tone dialling phone -- be this in a hotel, phone kiosk, business or residence -- to call any country in the world at competitive international prices. For European travellers, it offers a valuable supplement to a mobile phone as it is not restricted by incomplete coverage areas, and, of course, does not need

recharging,'' said Nick Pellew, marketing director at Esprit Telecom Group plc.

The Esprit Telecom Euro Calling Card is also aimed at companies wishing to promote their own pan-European positioning. Companies may jointly brand the card with their own logo as well as having their own artwork on the face of the card.

With a face value of 15 Euros, the Euro Calling Card offers rich functionality including advice of balance, follow on call facilities, security coding and language set and reset. It supports six European languages (English, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish.) Security features include a scratch off PIN number and tamper proof packaging. The card is also compatible with modem dialling, enabling users to collect and send email from their PCs.

``The Euro Calling Card complements our existing portfolio of cards which includes a post paid card, the Elite Calling Card. We aim to give our customers a choice of products with our unique mix of quality and service at competitive prices -- and a distinctive European feel,'' said Graham Halls, managing director of Esprit Telecom UK.

About Esprit Telecom

Esprit Telecom Group plc, a NASDAQ and EASDAQ quoted company trading under the symbols ``ESPRY'' and ``ESPR'' respectively, is one of the largest independent European telecommunications service providers. The company has sales offices in 26 major cities in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, France, Belgium, and Italy and a state of the art digital fibre optic telecommunications network stretching across 31 cities in eight European countries.

Esprit Telecom Background Paper: UIFNs

A UIFN is a single freephone number which is the same in every country where it is used. UIFNs are all prefixed by the international access code, then 800 and an eight digit number.

Universal International Freephone Numbers (UIFNs) are the result of agreement between the world's major PTTs (the national telecommunications operators such as BT or Deutsche Telekom) to operate reciprocal arrangements for a universal freephone product. This has been done within the realms of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The ITU is an international organisation within which governments and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services.

Within its remit it manages the allocation of telephone numbers.

When a number is required, the request is registered by ITU. In this way a single definitive list of allocated numbers is kept to prevent duplication. The next phase is to get the number activated in each country where the customer wishes to use it. To give an idea of how this differs to simply having a freephone number in each country, freephone codes in Spain start 900, in the UK 800 and in Italy 167 (and so forth).

When the UIFN is dialled, the call is routed to the individual service operator (in this case Esprit Telecom). The routing from there is dependent upon the card held. For instance, calls may be routed according to:

-- Country of call origin (eg to enable a call centre service

representative with the right language skills to be selected)

-- time of day (to operate a 24 hour service operation in countries

across different time zones)

-- volume of calls (to enable overflow answering).

The scheme works because all telephone companies operate against a single register of numbers and agree to route calls to the individual service provider. Once the number is allocated/selected, the intelligence of the call routing is dependent upon the customer needs and the abilities of the service provider.

Further information about Esprit Telecom is available on the Internet at: http://www.esprittele.com

SMARTALK SELLS PREPAID CELLULAR

Columbus, OH, Sept 25, 1998 (DLD Digest) - SmarTalk Teleservices, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMTK) today announced the launch of prepaid cellular at retail with orders from Kmart, Service Merchandise, Hills Department Stores, Fred Meyer, Ace Hardware, Fry's Electronics, Longs Drugs, Bradlees, Northern Auto and BJ's Wholesale Club.

``Within 100 days of launching the prepaid cellular product, SmarTalk secured orders from some of the largest retailers in the United States. We expect to continue to leverage our industry leading prepaid position and retail expertise to secure additional distribution,'' CEO Erich Spangenberg stated. ``The SmarTalk prepaid cellular phone should enable SmarTalk to

capitalize on one of the most exciting segments of the telecommunications market. Statistics show that over 30% of those who apply for cellular service in the U.S. today are declined service due to insufficient credit. Our SmarTalk prepaid cellular phone targets these consumers and provides a convenient alternative for their cellular phone needs with no credit check. For budget conscious consumers and traditionally creditworthy but high-spending consumers such as traveling salespeople, the SmarTalk prepaid service is an excellent way to control cellular usage with no contract and no activation fees. Our retail partners recognize this tremendous opportunity,'' Spangenberg continued.

The new prepaid cellular phone product is also sold to consumers through direct-response broadcast advertising that features corporate spokesperson Dick Clark on most national cable stations, and will be sold on the Home Shopping Network later this year. SmarTalk continues to invest in direct response broadcast advertising to promote the new cellular prepaid phone system and has been identified by a recent Jordan Whitney Report as the No. 1 direct response advertising spot reinforcing the Company's ``As Seen on TV'' retailer programs.

With a suggested retail price of $99, the SmarTalk Prepaid Cellular Phone is manufactured exclusively for SmarTalk by Phillips Electronics and is packaged with a re-chargeable battery, a charger and $15 of talk time with the purchase of another prepaid cellular card. Cellular airtime for this program is provided by Shared Technologies Cellular. This SmarTalk

prepaid cellular phone system gives consumers, who prefer to set a budget, an affordable cellular phone option and a hassle-free method for making calls nationally. Consumers may recharge their phone by purchasing additional time at retailers or through SmarTalk's customer service center.

SmarTalk Teleservices, Inc. is a leading provider of prepaid calling cards and prepaid wireless services. Based in Dublin, Ohio, SmarTalk maintains distribution agreements with the U.S. Postal Service and leading mass merchandisers, consumer electronics retailers, supermarkets, hotels, home office superstores and convenience stores throughout North America and the U.K. SmarTalk also creates promotional card programs for advertisers and corporate clients. Visit the SmarTalk website at www.smartalk.com.

PROMOTIONAL OFFERS

AT&T Prepaid Offer

a FREE 5 MINUTE AT&T PrePaid Card while supplies last.

No purchase or call necessary. Subject to Sweepstakes Official Rules available at the Web site. Promotion runs 9/21/98 through 10/20/98.

From: Timothy Ahearn

Until Next Time,

Alan

Distribution

Phonecards On-Line© is published by Alan Cohen. It is a weekly newsletter devoted to phonecards - Current news, viewpoints, and reviews of new issues.

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