[Nemencine]

thank you all for your thoughtful replies. ALL OF YOU.

Others that i havent replied to, either on the thread or through PM : Bcien, samsamsam, naswanji, brodiga, caligula, wiscanada. LET me extend special thanks. I appreciate all of you taking the time to contribute thoughts and constructive criticisms to this idea. Only a fool goes headlong to implement any idea(regardless of how brilliant he may think the idea is) without subjecting it to assessments/analysis of others. It is better to realize the mistakes early on, than to be halfway done or completed and realize that all your efforts and time has been wasted because you overlook certain things.

Besides, that is the tradition in the scientific discipline(my uni/college training) : your research paper gets analyzed and criticized from 20 different angles...if it cannot withstand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Of course, improvements are also suggested. Which is what i like about these threads: some of you also tried to come up with potential solutions to the problems you raised. You are like my think thank--and i am not even paying you! hahahahaa.


Mr. Calculus

suggestion here, is admittedly farfetched, but the core remains solid: i need a business plan to hold the SP hostage in some way. That is what i take from his suggested solution. I have been thinking of how exactly to go about doing that....Let us say, i am impressed by Groupon's ability to reach a 1billion dollar valuation while exploiting/cheating the restaurants/retailers/merchants. It was a clever loansharking scam.

Mr. BCIEN.

Thanks for the contribution...the business idea intends to bypass the refillable calling cards. Of course, skype and refillable calling cards will eat out of the market share....but still...the market share of un-refillable cards are still in the 100s of millions. This asian chick merely took photos of food and share it...and she cashed out with a solid, $10million in cash. I am not hoping to be ted turner or some telecome giant...i just want to be in and out quickly, i wont mind a couple of million here and there, for an early retirement at a very young age. I am not trying to build a telecom giant. I dont mind a nice car, either. (the slampieces/smokeshow i can get on my own)

Respectfully, i dont quite like the unlimited international phone call idea. I have a hard time imagining that will make money. Bitches can talk for hours, non stop. Flat rate/unlimited talk works concept will work for something like a gym membership: flat rate/unlimited usage...because people are generally too lazy to come to the gym. Bitches are not too lazy to talk all fracking day long. But thanks for your suggestions, Bcien.


mr. ENSAM.

Your suggestion is superb. Instead of trying to negotiate with SP or whoever is hosting the cardsaver billing server...i simply not deal with them: i will need a robot/algorithm that will go through the fractional reserve on each different cards, jumping seamlessly from one card to another, as they are exhausted...while somehow managing to keep the customer connected to their friends in china without a break or prompt, until all the minutes are exhausted. A technical feat.

Of course, i will make money by charging them a registration fee on the website/app. In fact, the website/app will be a place, where you can simply download the minutes from your various cards regardless of what kind of card it is. It will be one card/app to rule them all.

IT IS THE BEST SOLUTION SO FAR....of course, creating such a robot/algorithm is where the difficulty lies. Excellent suggestion.

I can even link their account to a card...so they carry one card around instead of different cards for different countries...the same way that wallaby is trying to do one credit card for all the cards.

I will research this further...to see if i can get it done and what it is going to cost me.

mr. SAMSAMSAM

You make a lot of good points...let me try and address them:

#1. Can i build such a platform cost effectively? i will soon found out the more research i put into ENSAM's solution idea.
#2.The $0.50 is just an arbitrary number used for the sake of doing the math calculation. I certainly dont expect all the cards to be that exact amount. Also, what is advertised by calling cards and what you get generally differs: too many hidden costs. Pennies or sub-pennies doesnt matter: millions upon millions of pennies adds up quickly.
#3 and #4. True, different phone cards have different rates based on different countries(excellent point, samsamsam), this potential problem will be resolved by ENSAM's idea too: the algorithm will simply select the best calling rate for you to use, going from the cheapest to the costliest like wallaby's credit card does. Ensam's solution will basically be like wallaby's business model applied to calling cards.
#5.User-friendly business model? It better be. Otherwise, it is waste of time. In fact, to make it even more user friendly is to create an APP that allows people with 4g phone to take snapshot of their calling cards' serial # and pin # and access #. (they can do this in one shot--it is at the back of the calling card)...and the APP will upload the info into their account...which they can then use to call anywhere using the plastic card that i issue for them, all under a minute. It doesnt take more than seconds to take a snapshot with a phone. they wont even need to enter pin# anymore.
#6. All pertinent questions...but first, i need to see what it will cost me to get a setup that mimicks wallaby's but designed for calling cards...then, i will do a projection of all other costs...right now, i need to hash out potential technical problems,competitions, and viability...then, i will look into various setup costs and volume of business. All that i need is volume, really....millions of pennies/subpennies will add up to a shitload of cash. That is what HFT does in stock trading...they make little cents all over the place millions of times over. I beleive chase bank in america allows you to upload/deposit your check with a snapshot...i dont see why the same cannot be done with regards to calling cards: upload the info about your remaining balance on your calling cards with a snapshot. that will take less than 15 seconds. The problem is the engineering challenge/cost of designing such an algorithm/app/plastic calling card. One to rule them all.

thanks for all the ideas.

mr. NASWANJI

I think they do have computers and internet access and 4g phones. who doesnt nowadays? The best way to answer this definitely, which i will look into, is to look at the data/statistics of household income/geographical location of people that uses prepaid calling cards in the western world to call people in developing worlds like mexico or china or india. yeah, i will definitely do the research on that.

Skype is competitive. I am not denying that...but why then is the prepaid calling card business expected to be $1.6 billion dollar in 2013? why hasnt skype crushed them to absolute pieces? Maybe in the future, skype will crush them, but for now...they are set to reach $1.6 billion this year...and hundreds of millions for the next couple of years.....my goal? i wont mind a couple of million here and there, for an early retirement at a very young age. I am not trying to build a telecom giant.

Yes,the telecom are big giants....that is why i like ENSAM's solution which is basically a wallaby's version of prepaid calling card. In this way, i dont even have to say hello to the telecom giants. i can tell them to kiss my arse. The problem, of course, is the engineering feat/algorithm programs needed to pull this off. I will look around and see what comes up and how much it will cost versus the time frame i think i have with regards to samsamsam's point; and skype emerging dominance. i appreciate the input, naswanji

mr. BRODIAGA

You echo Calculus' counter-point very well...pointing out/elaborating with similar business schemes with regards to rebate cards, etc...thanks. I also think using wallaby's business model will work here...by completely ignoring any deal with SP. I have to thank ENSAM's for germinating that idea. The problem of course, is creating wallaby-like algorithm or setup that will accomplish the same thing for prepaid calling cards.

mr. CALIGULA,

Frack it! on a cursory glance, we are on similar trajectory. You can even use their app with any calling option you have. I can see them taking ideas from this thread and merely adding to their app as upgrade. Where did you get these lads, caligula?


mr. WISCANADA,

Thanks. I will try and avoid getting arrested with a philippino slut for immigration purposes. Perhaps, if i can develop it well enough(the algorithm), i can license the idea/technology to Service Provider or companies like CALIGULA's rebtel. who knows.

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Again, i appreciate everybody for taking their time to help me sort out the germane from the chaff of this idea. Much appreciated.

--Nemencine.