By 2006, prepaid subscribers will account for one quarter (50 million) of all US wireless users, up from 16 million in 2001, and will deliver revenues of about USD 20 billion, according to the Yankee Group. Since "a major obstacle to widespread adoption of prepaid services is the lack of an easy and convenient way to buy more minutes", says Coinstar CEO, Rich Stiller, Coinstar has teamed with Prizm to pilot prepaid wireless services at over 75 supermarkets in California, Florida and Rhode Island. Prepaid users will be able to go into a Coinstar store and top up their prepaid accounts by entering a phone number and cash.
Coinstar's network of self-service coin-counting machines will enable consumers to buy prepaid services at supermarkets under a partnership that merges Coinstar's presence in the grocery market, with Prizm's transaction-processing services. The service, branded by Prizm as "Top Up", links to US wireless carriers that offer prepaid plans, which represent approximately 80 per cent of the market. Separately, AT&T has announced a deal with Warner Music Group, to enable its subscribers to preview new music releases, to buy CDs, order a musical ringtone, or to download images of their favorite groups to their phone's screen.
Analysts say the AT&T-Warner Music deal is significant as the first between a carrier and a major music firm, which will differentiate by updating mobile content on a weekly basis. AT&T, which has a new wireless gaming agreement with Sega, will offer its music service with e-tailer, Amazon.com. Under a deal with Snapfish, AT&T customers can view, store, and print photos from their mobile phone, even those from a traditional film. Subscribers sending their film to Snapfish for processing receive prints and negatives, while having images scanned into an online album to share with family and friends via their mobile phone.
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