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Telecommunications Free phone calls - with advertising
Telecommunications Free phone calls - with advertising | Free phone calls - with advertising |
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| by Stuart Corner | |
| Thursday, 01 December 2005 | |
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The service, CommuniTel, is available to residents of Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. According to marketing manager, Tony Lee, "The wholesale call rates we've obtained are passed on to customers, and the service is further subsidised by advertising and market research clients. Subscribers to the service can also earn credit for paying attention to unobtrusive advertising messages over the phone or through email, or by taking part in online research. The opportunity for customers to earn credits can result in free calls for the customer, and a win-win scenario for all!" CommuniTel customers can opt-in to receive 15 second "voice banners" at the start of their phone calls, and respond to email promotional offers and online surveys in exchange for free international and long distance call credits. "CommuniTel's 'sponsored call' model allows us to offset call charges with advertising and market research revenue. A percentage of that revenue is then rewarded back to our customers in the form of free call credits for their participation in these activities," CEO Paul Norton said. "Our experience shows that consumers are happy to receive marketing messages provided they are non-obtrusive, relevant to their needs and wants, and if they can earn a little extra something for their attention," Norton said. The concept is not new, it was tried in Australia unsuccessfully in the late 90s by a company called Freephone. In 2000 this company, which had achieved little success, morphed into ASX-listed Optecom which managed to persuade investors to cough up $24 million in an IPO that gave the company a market cap of $73 million. In its prospectus the company puts its breakeven target at 120,000 to 140,000 households in Sydney and Melbourne, and said it aimed to achieve this by August 2001. By April 2001 it had signed up 65,000 subscribers but was burning cash at the rate of $600,000 per month and suspended its services. In August of 2001 the company changed its name to Ambri and now claims to be "pioneering the integration of biotechnology, nanotechnology and electronics." But this change of direction has brought no change of fortune for the company's long-suffering shareholders. Ambri held its AGM this week and chairman John Grant told shareholders that the company had lost al most $9 million in the past year, was still burning cash at the rate of almost $0.5 million per month and that it would be several years before the company's technology would be in the form of a product available for commercial sale. However, the company is still sitting on almost $10 million in cash. It is looking at 'merger' opportunities.
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