'Mom, it's Mugsy;' phone firms wrestle for prisoners' business in hot growth market; big companies dangle cash, add antifraud devices, to entice jail officials; callers who hate to wait
Article Abstract:
MCI Communications and AT&T are trying to hold on to a unique, but lucrative, niche of the telecommunications market that involves providing telephone services to prison inmates. Calls made from prisons are among the most profitable services that long-distance carriers provide because such calls are almost always higher-priced collect calls. Moreover, the carriers are allowed to assess expensive surcharges on the recipients of prisoners' calls. In addition, calls made from prisoners tend to last longer, and cost more than typical calls made from individuals outside the criminal system. The result is that a single phone placed in a prison can generate as much as $15,000 per year in phone charges, or approximately five times more than street corner pay phones. Analysts believe that the roughly 50,000 pay phones found in US prisons account for $1 billion worth of revenue. Companies wanting to join MCI and AT&T in this prison phone services market are regional Bell operating companies and other carriers.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1995
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AOL fights to keep its customers on-line
Article Abstract:
America Online (AOL) suffers an all-day blackout on Aug 7, 1996, and the outage represents the type of obstacles the company must overcome to attract and maintain its subscriber base. While AOL has six million subscribers and adds as many as 20,000 to 25,000 new subscribers each day, it also sees 50% of its new customers terminate the service within a year. The turnover, or 'churn' rate, is not unusual for the industry and is a result of the company's massive marketing campaign that gives new users 15 free hours. To keep those users, AOL plans a relaunch effort in Sep 1996, when it will release new software that is easier to use and provides faster service. AOL faces a challenge from both ends of the user spectrum. It has already attracted most of the technically savvy users, some of whom have left AOL for less expensive Internet service providers. On the other hand, novice users often find AOL too confusing.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1996
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SBC will buy phone services from Williams
Article Abstract:
SBC Communcations Inc. plans to invest up to $500 million and acquire a 10% stake in a long distance telephone carrier owned by Williams Companies Inc. The Baby Bell telecommunications provider hopes to begin offering a wide range of voice, data and video services to residential and corporate customers once the company opens up its local markets to competition and federal and state regulators approve its proposed merger with Ameritech Corp. Williams, an energy concern, will benefit by having long-distance communications traffic travel through its fiber-optic network.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1999
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