| When I was growing up in a small town in Washington | | | | download songs, etc. |
| State, I thought there were only around 5 or 6 | | | | Since the mobile phone company executives must be |
| nationalities of people who had major populations in the | | | | much smarter than I, it surprises me that none of the |
| United States. | | | | major carriers really offer international calling. Yes, they |
| After moving to the New York City area after college, | | | | may claim they have direct dial international calls |
| I found out I was very wrong. There were people | | | | available, but people are not going to spend $1 per |
| from Australia, Albania, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, | | | | minute to call the U.K., when they can call with a |
| Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, France, | | | | prepaid phone card for under .05 per minute. |
| Germany, Greece, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, | | | | There is only one cellular company that offers direct |
| Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, | | | | dial international calls at competitive rates. That |
| Philippines, Peru, Poland, Russia, Thailand, UK, Vietnam | | | | company is STi Mobile. STi Mobiles parent company |
| and many more. | | | | STi sells about 200 million dollars a year in prepaid |
| A few years later I started selling prepaid phone cards | | | | calling cards used mostly for international calls. That is |
| and I discovered that people living in the USA were | | | | why STi Mobile understands the potential of combining |
| calling family overseas. People were calling to | | | | cheap international rates with cell phone services. |
| hundreds of countries worldwide. You name the | | | | However, STi Mobile has limited offerings for phones, |
| country, and calls were being made to that country in | | | | downloads and media. I would love to see a company |
| mass amounts. Calls were being made to Cambodia, | | | | put it all together. Great rates, competitive direct dial |
| Chile, Ethiopia, Laos, Kenya, Turkey and worldwide. | | | | international calls, great phones, and great add-ons. |
| You know what? People living in the US are still | | | | That would be cool. |
| making billions of dollars worth of international calls and | | | | By the way, I am of Dutch descent. My dad was born |
| most mobile network providers dont realize that. | | | | in Holland, but all his relatives are here now. I now live in |
| People living in the United States with ethnic | | | | North Carolina and was visiting New Jersey for |
| backgrounds spend money. They spend a lot of | | | | Christmas. My family and I visited Ellis Island last week |
| money on telecommunications in particular. They like | | | | and found it very interesting. Did you know the word |
| the latest phone. They like to talk, text message, | | | | Hoodlum is Dutch? Have a Happy New Year. |