Silver Star Communications COO Ron McCue was elected to serve as chair of the United States Telecom Association’s (USTelecom) Board of Directors.

McCue just completed a term as vice chair of USTelecom’s board and succeeds Skip Frantz, chairman of Windstream Corp.. Dan Hesse, chairman and CEO of Embarq, was elected to serve as vice chair. Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs for AT&T Inc., will continue in his role as secretary and Bert Kramer, senior vice president of operations for D&E Communications, will continue to serve as treasurer.

Past USTelecom chair Arne “Skip” Haynes, president and CEO of Rainier Connect, rejoins the board.

USTelecom’s board is comprised of executives from the communications companies that help chart the direction for the industry and the association. Silver Star Communications is a communications service provider that offers wireline and wireless voice, high-speed Internet, and digital television ... (more)

In 1999, Siesta Telecom heard the call from God when they placed a picture of Pope John Paul II, along with his signature, seal and a prayer on a prepaid phone card by the prepaid telephone card company “Siesta Telecom”.

I’m not sure if there are any holy hidden fee’s on this card but would feel more comfortable throwing an extra dollar in the collection plate than scratching the back of His Holiness looking for a PIN number. I can see the headline now: “Seas part to allow for 3cents per minute to Rome.” Below are pictures of the card, and a copy of the press-release.

Press Release

Miami, FL, Nov. 18, 1999 (DLD Digest) - Siesta Telecom Inc., the premier prepaid telephone-card company located in Sarasota, Fla., has announced the first- ever, prepaid phone card series of His Holiness Pope John Paul II.

The Vatican Card Series will feature never-before-seen images of Pope John Paul II, along with his personal signature, seal and accompanying prayer — the ... (more)

Prepaid phone card industry is a very big and tough business, and it is also dirty. When IDT sued its fellow competitors, it showed how bad the situation is. Here's some insight on the lawsuit.

Class action
Does a class action lawsuit get our industry’s attention? Not really. When IDT, the volume leader in our effervescent industry, the “Coca Cola” in a world of Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, was named in a class action lawsuit, few people in our industry seemed to care. The suit represented U.S. customers who purchased IDT calling cards from 1997 to Jan. 22, 2007, claiming that the amount of minutes advertised on cards did not match the amount of minutes delivered. Sound familiar? As IDT headed to the courthouse, many of their competitors seemed to continue doing business as usual. IDT’s decision to fight the allegations brought heated discussion at a past Intele-CardNews Editorial Advisory Board meeting held by this magazine. Some felt IDT was surely wrong and should pay. IDT ... (more)

IDT Corporation is an innovative and opportunity seeking multinational holding company with operations that span various industries, including prepaid and rechargeable calling cards, consumer local, long distance, and wireless phone services, announced several changes in management personnel as well as a new executive compensation plan for IDT Telecom. The plan is intended to identify and create incentives for Telecom management to turn around and create enhanced value from the various operations of that division.

The new Telecom management team will be led by Motti Lichtenstein, who also served as CEO of IDT Telecom during its period of most significant growth. Joining Mr. Lichtenstein on the IDT Telecom executive management team will be Mikhail Leibov, who will serve as President, Marcelo Fischer as CFO, Ely Tendler as General Counsel, and Yona Katz as COO. Mr. Leibov headed up the growth of Corbina, IDT's Russian telecom operation, from its inception through its acquisition by IDT and ultimate ... (more)

IDT and Union Telecard Alliance Commence Anti-Fraud Lawsuit on Prepaid Calling Cards

IDT Telecom, Inc. and Union Telecard Alliance, LLC (collectively, "IDT") commenced a civil anti-fraud lawsuit today against certain of its competitors in the US prepaid calling card market. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal district court in Newark, New Jersey, alleges, among other things, that defendants CVT Prepaid Solutions, Inc., Dollar Phone Corp., Dollar Phone Services, Inc., Dollar Phone Enterprises, Inc., Dollar Phone Access, Inc., Epana Networks, Inc., Locus Telecommunications, Inc., Total Call International, Inc., STi Phonecard, Inc., Find & Focus Abilities, Inc, VOIP Enterprises, Inc., and Telco Group, Inc. (collectively, "the Defendants") are systematically falsely promising minutes that consumers cannot obtain from the cards they have bought. The complaint alleges that the defendants' deceptive practice causes consumers to lose more than one million dollars a day. ... (more)