Here's an article on disposable cell phones...apparently they aren't on the market yet.Disposable Cell Phones Are Closer to Reality
The Augusta Chronicle Scripps Howard News Service 04/02/2002
Disposable cell phones were promised to offer all the convenience of wireless phones and more - no contracts, no hidden fees and you can toss them when the minutes run out.
Just one problem: We're still waiting.
Over the last two years, companies have burst through the revolving door of the disposable cell phone market. They've been saying that soon they'll offer consumers little phones that can be used like a phone card, with prepaid minutes that can be used anytime, anywhere.
But despite sporadic product announcements, the first batch of phones is still in pre-production, with the earliest arrivals not expected until this summer.
New Horizons Technologies in Orlando, Fla., has received a stamp of approval from the Federal Communications Commission - the last major step before production. The company is churning out its first batch in a small factory in Tallin, Estonia. It expects to soon open a full-time production plant in Monterrey, Mexico, and begin selling phones in May or June, said Stephen Romeo, the company's vice president of sales and marketing.
The release was pushed back so the firm could redesign the phone to add more features, shrink its size and make it headset- compatible.
The New Horizons model, expected to sell for about $50, will look and act like a standard cellular telephone. Each owner will get a telephone number to accept calls, and will be able to dial out.
Users will call through a toll-free service, as with prepaid phone cards. And the service will allow a phone owner to "recharge" minutes after the first hour of calling time expires, Mr. Romeo said.
"It's really the ultimate phone card because it's just the phone card with the phone," he said. "There are a lot of people who have not gotten into the wireless world because of the cost of cellular products."
Another company, Hop-On Communications in Garden Grove, Calif., announced this month that it will team up with the Chinese company Holley Communications. Holley has received Federal Communications Commission approval for its phone technology.
Though Hop-On phones were part of a Universal Studios promotion for the DVD release of Jurassic Park III last fall, the devices - expected to cost about $30 for 60 minutes of talk time - will not be manufactured or distributed until this summer.
The disposable-phone industry will cater mostly to frequent travelers who need a cellular phone, particularly for phone service abroad, as well as those who can't, or won't, sign contracts with cellular companies: the under-18 crowd and people with poor credit.
Companies say those customers are the last big frontier of potential mobile-phone customers.
