The American PrePaid Phonecall Association, APPPA, has completed its first major public
filing with the FCC. 

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2012 -  The comments were in response to an FCC request
for industry input on a proposed new set of rules for calculating and
collecting the USF, Universal Service Fees, from prepaid phone call
providers and their customers. USF was originally designed to provide
subsidies to consumers in rural or underserved areas who might not be
able to get access to telecommunications services. It has since been
expanded to include financial support for a wider variety of services,
including intercity Internet access.

"One of the primary reasons that APPPA was formed was to protect the
interests of our customers, the consumers of prepaid phone call
services," said Brian Pla, CEO of Auris, an APPPA Founding Member.
"Whatever the FCC does to restructure USF must put the interests of
consumers first. Without them, there is no industry." Pla said that it
is all too easy for the Commission and participants in the industry to
worry about their concerns, but the consuming public must be the first
consideration in any changes to be made. Auris and its sister company,
CIMA, provide hosting services for companies who offer prepaid
telephone services to a wide range of consumers.

The FCC's request for comment included a long list of proposed changes
and alternatives and asked for industry comment on the proposals. In
its filing, APPPA urged the Commission to make consumer fairness a
primary concern in the formulation of any solution to USF. APPPA also
pointed out the challenge and cost that USF contributions represent to
the service providers would likely end up in higher end user pricing.
Finally, APPPA strongly rejected the FCC suggestion that international
revenues be included in USF because this would unfairly burden the most
vulnerable consumers with disproportionately higher levels of
contribution.

APPPA will work with the Commission on the formulation of a new USF
policy and will actively advocate for the best interests of the prepaid
phone call industry and its consumers.

About APPPA

The group of industry leaders represents the majority of the prepaid
calling market in the U.S. and created an association to protect the
industry's interests, good name and public trust by providing best
practices, and to speak with one voice for the industry and its
consumers. For information about APPPA, contact Gene Retske, Executive
Director, at (202) 370-7600 or by email, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . You can
visit APPPA on the Internet at http://apppa.us.

The American PrePaid Phonecall Association logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=12043