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   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

   October 2, 2012  Neil Grace (202) 418-0506

   Email: neil.grace@fcc.gov

      FCC PROPOSES $5 MILLION FORFEITURE TO COMBAT DECEPTIVE MARKETING OF
             PREPAID CALLING CARDS TARGETING IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES

    Prepaid Calling Card Forfeitures Total $30 Million in Past Year against
                                 Six Carriers;

    FCC Warns Consumers to Beware of Deceptive Prepaid Calling Card Schemes

   Washington, D.C. -The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement
   Bureau has proposed a $5 million forfeiture against NobelTel, LLC for
   deceptively marketing prepaid calling cards to consumers. With this latest
   enforcement action, the FCC has now proposed forfeitures totaling $30
   million against six carriers within the past year to combat the deceptive
   marketing of prepaid calling cards. Such cards are commonly sold in
   convenience stores and gas stations across the country.

   In each of the six enforcement actions to date, the FCC's Enforcement
   Bureau found that the carrier targeted immigrant populations, and claimed
   that buyers could make hundreds or thousands of minutes of telephone calls
   to their native countries for just several dollars. However, the FCC's
   Enforcement Bureau discovered that buyers could make calls for only a
   fraction of those minutes, due to the carriers' assessment of various fees
   that are not clearly and conspicuously disclosed.

   FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, "As this action makes clear, we
   remain vigilant in our effort to crack down on prepaid calling card
   scammers who engage in deceptive marketing. Millions of Americans depend
   on prepaid calling cards to connect with family and friends around the
   world, and the FCC will not tolerate predatory schemes that include unfair
   or unclear fees. The Commission will continue to monitor marketing
   activities around prepaid calling cards - and will not hesitate to take
   decisive action when warranted."

   To illustrate the kind of practices at issue, the Commission observed in
   the case against NobelTel, LLC that a $2 card marketed as offering 400
   minutes of calls to Mexico might be exhausted after just one 10-minute
   call. This is due to different fees, such as "daily" and "hang-up" fees,
   that might be assessed after the call was completed. The card advertising
   contained disclosures, but only in small type and without clarity about
   when the fees would and would not apply. According to the FCC, the only
   possible way consumers might be able to make calls of 400 minutes was if
   they made a single call of that length - almost seven hours.

   To continue to heighten public awareness of these practices, and to warn
   carriers about the consequences of engaging in them, the FCC is also
   releasing an Enforcement Advisory about deceptive marketing of prepaid
   calling cards, in both English and Spanish.

   For further information, contact Richard A. Hindman at (202) 418-7320.
   News and other information about the FCC is available at www.fcc.gov.

                                     -FCC-

   NEWS

   Federal Communications Commission

   445 12th Street, S.W.

   Washington, D. C. 20554

   This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the
   full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.

   See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

                                        News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

                                                 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

                                                          TTY: 1-888-835-5322