MobileSphere provides mobile communications solutions to large enterprise, universities, telecommunications providers and retailers, and consumers.

Recapturing Long-Distance Revenue on Campus
by Mark Allen, MobileSphere

Today university telecommunication departments are facing difficult decisions on how to provide long-distance service to students in a cost-efficient manner. The vast increase in cellular phone use on campuses has caused a considerable decline in landline utilization among on-campus residents, resulting in significant reductions in long-distance revenue.

However, even with the proliferation of cell phones on campus, universities still need to maintain a residence-hall phone and provide long-distance service to students. How do you provide this service without incurring huge overhead costs, liabilities, expenses, and headaches?

Currently, several long-distance options exist:

Traditional One-Plus
With this option, which has been the preferred choice for many universities, the university telecom department provides 1+ long-distance service for student use from residence halls. This is convenient for students, but may not be cost effective for universities as they are typically required to manage billing and customer service (or outsource it at further expense). In addition, the university is responsible for tracking down delinquent accounts for payment.

One-plus service usually involves long-term contracts with carriers. A vendor partnership alleviates the concerns of maintaining a system on campus, and there is something to be said for predictability. Good negotiators make sure that rates are competitive and no extraneous fees exist. Unfortunately, many outside vendors request a minimum revenue commitment from university telecommunication departments. These can prove to be daunting as market conditions change. Vendor partnerships can be successful, but generally have higher rates, and students ultimately leave for cheaper alternatives. Traditional one-plus may be the solution of choice for colleges and universities that have their own infrastructure and support services, but revenues will not always offset costs.

Prepaid Phone Cards
Some universities have opted to provide students with prepaid, credit-card–style calling cards as an alternative to one-plus. Most prepaid cards offer lower per-minute rates than traditional one-plus, and mitigate university involvement in terms of eliminating billing and collection functions. This solution may seem like a good short-term fix, but administering prepaid card programs can require significant university resources. Most programs have substantial upfront costs related to inventory, and distribution can be very labor-intensive. In addition, it is difficult to estimate student usage from semester to semester, and ultimately, the university may be left with an inventory of expired cards.

Virtual, Web-based Prepaid Calling Solutions
These services enable students and staff to purchase prepaid calling time, both domestically and internationally, from a reputable carrier via a Web-based transaction platform that resides on the university's housing or student telecom website. Web-based solutions often offer advanced calling features that allow users to place calls from cell phones and off-campus phones as well. Some vendors have virtual calling cards built-in, enabling network access from any phone throughout the continental U.S. All calls, regardless of origination (cell, residence hall, other), are typically billed to the same prepaid account. Most vendors provide lucrative revenue-sharing programs as well. Through an interface on the university's telecom website, students can directly purchase long-distance using a debit /credit card, effectively eliminating storage and distribution hassles.

Although the current long-distance landscape is bleak as revenues continue to decline, providing long-distance service is and will continue to be a necessity on campus. While some of the solutions listed above can alleviate current problems, the real answer is simple: technologie. The advent of the Internet and technologie has created innovative options for campus telecom managers to consider when reviewing their long-distance alternatives.

Babson Free Press - NEWS Issue: 01/29/04

ITSD Offers International Calling Plan For Your Cell Phone
By Ashley Jain

CellularLD has arrived on the Babson campus. Combined with ITSD, CellularLD offers wireless long-distance service for domestic and international calls. This new service, part of MobileSphere, offers competitive rates through pre-paid service.

MobileSphere began operations in October of 2000 in Boston and is a trailblazer in the wireless long-distance industry. MobileSphere uses the company's organically-built calling and billing platform to place itself in competition with big name wireless carriers.

Using CellularLD is fairly simple. During registration, you are given an access number, similar to the PIN given to Babson students through PaeTec telephone services. Activation is immediate, so students can use their account as soon as they sign up. Students choose a pre-paid amount, ranging from $5 to $100, with no other fees. Calls are billed per minute, and students can check on the website for rates for international calling.

If a student doesn't have a cell phone but is still interested in CellularLD, the company offers a calling card feature, which allows customers to call from any phone in the continental U.S. using a toll-free or local-access number. Calling to Australia is $.05/minute, including taxes. Calling a cell phone in Spain is $.48/minute. It is cheaper to call an international landline than it is to call an international cell phone. In comparison to T-Mobile, one of the cheapest carriers that offers international calling on its wireless plan, CellularLD wins, hands down.

Overall, CellularLD is a fairly good deal, and Babson students get $5 free just by signing up to try the service.

MobileSphere Partners with Boston University to Provide International Wireless Long Distance Service

Boston , MA, October 29, 2003 – MobileSphere, Ltd., a global wireless communications company, announced today that it has partnered with Boston University to provide highly cost-effective international wireless long distance to the university's student, faculty and administrative community. MobileSphere's global communications solution, CellularLD™, enables wireless users to bypass their wireless carrier, saving substantially on overseas calls from a cell phone.

With rates as low as 8 cents-per-minute to most major cities in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, MobileSphere provides savings of up to 90% over major wireless providers. CellularLD, which features direct dial on-network calling, is much easier to use than prepaid calling cards, the cumbersome long distance alternative that many students use today to save money on international calling from cell phones. In addition, CellularLD has no connection fees, monthly charges or other surcharges, is compatible with any cell phone, and works with all major wireless carriers.

Boston University students, faculty, and staff can take advantage of a special “Buy $20, Get $5 Free” promotion by enrolling for the service on the Web at www.cellularld.com/bu before November 30, 2003 . International calls are prepaid and billed to a credit or debt card. Call detail records, billing, and other features are available online through MobileSphere's account management center.

“For the vast majority of students, placing overseas calls from a cell phone has never been a viable option … until today,” said Gavin Macomber, MobileSphere's Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development. “We are very pleased that Boston University has selected MobileSphere as its international wireless long distance carrier, and we look forward to providing a valuable service to the university community.“

“The Office of Telecommunications at Boston University is constantly looking for ways to apply its leverage to help students, faculty and staff reduce their telecommunications expenses and provide protection from a constantly changing confusing environment,” said James A. Shea, Director of Telecommunications at Boston University. “Our partnership with MobileSphere is helping us to achieve this goal by introducing our community to this well-managed and creative company with very competitive pricing for international wireless long distance.”