mobile prepaid devices (also commonly referred to as pay-when-you-go ( PAYG/b>), pay-as-you-talk , pay and go , go-phone or prepay ) are mobile devices like phones with credit purchased prior to use of the service. Loans purchased are used to pay for telecommunication services at access points or consumed services. If there is no credit, then access is denied by the mobile network. Users can recharge their credit anytime using various payment mechanisms. The alternative billing method (and often referred to as a mobile contract) is a postpaid mobile phone, in which users enter into long-term (hold 12, 18 or 24 months) or short-term (also commonly referred to as contract contract scrolling or 30 day contract ) with your mobile network operator or carrier service provider (CSP). "Pay-as-you-go", "Payg", and similar terms are also used for other non-telecommunication services paid in the same manner.
Video Prepay mobile phone
Prepaid service overview
Prepaid phones provide most of the services offered by mobile phone operators. The big difference is that with prepaid phones, payments for services are made before use. When calls and text are made, and when data is used, deductions are made against prepaid balance amounts until no funds are left (at that time, the service is no longer available). Users can avoid pauses in the service by making a payment to increase the remaining balance.
Payment method:
- Credit card or debit card or online payment processor such as PayPal or SafetyPay.
- Drag directly from bank account using ATM
- Purchase retail stores with "refill" or "refill" cards in retail. These cards are stamped with a unique code (often under the scratch-resistant panel) that must be put into the phone to add credit to the balance.
- Purchase a retail store using a swipe card where the balance is automatically credited to the phone once the reseller receives the payment.
- Retail store or online purchase: one can add prepaid phones in other countries by requesting "international top-up". Often, migrant workers will post international prepaid top-ups as a form of support.
- Other phones in certain networks that provide international top-up services, where top-up originators are often migrant workers who want to add minutes to prepaid mobile phones from family members at home.
- Right from multiple open prepaid cards featuring mobile reload services.
- Through an electronic reload where a specially designed SIM card (the reseller SIM card used to determine in the Philippines and India) is used to reload the phone by entering a mobile number and selecting the amount to be loaded. This process is widely applied in the Philippines and India so anyone can become a pre-paid load retailer, creating the availability of national reload stations, even in remote areas.
Credits purchased for prepaid phones may have a time limit - for example, 120 days from the date the credit was last added. In this case, customers who did not add more credit before the expiration date, their remaining balance expired through the credit expiration.
There is no compulsion on prepaid mobile users to increase their balance. To maintain revenue, some operators have designed reward schemes designed to drive frequent top-ups. For example, an operator may offer some free SMS for next month's use if a user culminates with a certain amount this month.
Unlike postpaid phones, where customers have to terminate their contracts, it is not easy for operators to know when prepaid subscribers leave the network. To free up network resources for new customers, operators will periodically delete their unused prepaid SIM cards for some time, at that time, their services (and their associated phone numbers) are not resumed. The rules for this takedown occur varies from carrier to carrier, but can usually happen after six months to a year is not used.
In 2003, the number of prepaid accounts grew past contract accounts, and in 2007, two-thirds of all mobile accounts worldwide were prepaid accounts.
Maps Prepay mobile phone
History
The history of prepaid cell phones began in the 1990s, when larger markets were being sought by mobile phone operators. Prior to this date, all cell phone services are offered on a postpaid basis, which does not include people with poor credit ratings.
The first prepaid card was called "Mimo" and was launched by TMN, a cellular operator from Portugal Telecom, in September 1995. In 2006 Swisscom celebrated ten years with its "NATEL (R) easy" product and service "which also holds the patent on the topic" prepaid cellular subscribers and applied methods thus ".
Prepaid versus postpay mobile service
Prepaid benefits
Prepaid packages may have lower costs (often for low usage patterns such as telephones for emergency use) and make it easier to control spending by limiting debt use and control. They often have fewer contractual obligations - no early termination fees, the freedom to change providers, plans, can be used by those who can not take a contract (ie under the majority age). Depending on local laws, the law may be available to people who do not have a permanent address, phone number or credit card. This makes them popular among tourists and students who are far from their home town. In addition, they are popular with parents who want to have a way to stay connected with their college-age students and have control over costs.
Lack of prepay
Sometimes, pay-as-you-go customers pay more for their calls and SMS messages, and in some cases they are limited in what they can do with their phone - calls to international or premium rate numbers can be blocked, and they may can not hang around. This limitation is usually the result of deficiencies in prepaid systems used by wireless carriers because the technology has evolved to the point where all of these are easily managed by triggers or APIs to third-party solution providers (data, international LD, content, roaming). Current models deployed by wireless carriers are now able to set price points for all services individually (through packages) so that higher prices are marketing decisions. The days of higher prices because of the cost of more expensive networks are lost.
Churn
As described above, prepay accounts require customers to have funds in their account to make outbound calls (except emergency calls, which are always allowed). In the U.S., incoming calls are also prohibited, while in some other countries, prepaid phones with zero balance can still receive calls and SMS.
This results in "on/off" or "all or none" propositions for prepaid service providers and their clients (ie, those accounts have enough credit to use the phone, or not). Some operators (eg Orange) allow their prepaid subscribers to have a small negative balance to allow short or text calls when customer credit has been fully used. This is then subtracted when the customer next adds more credit.
The most likely time for prepaid customers to switch to a different service provider is when a prepay account reaches a "zero credit balance". Like other service providers, mobile service providers lose their mobile account calling it "churn".
Prepaid and roaming phones
In the early years, prepaid cell phones can only be used within the network of operators where customers buy phones. It is not possible to venture into another GSM network when using a telephone abroad. This is because the operator has no way to call the call in real time from another network.
However, most prepaid phones now offer roaming using one of the following methods:
- Prepaid mobile phone users call "trigger" numbers from unfamiliar locations using USSD messages that are free of charge when roaming. Upon receipt of USSD, the subscriber operator will then reply to the call. When the service calls back, the user is being billed for service charges from the credit available on the home network. The service will then prompt the user to enter the called number of the party to be called. The disadvantage of this roaming method is that the user will not be able to dial the number directly from the handset. The advantage is that it works in almost all locations around the world since USSD is everywhere and is free.
- Users can make direct calls from their handsets if the networks they are roaming support CAMEL (Custom Application for Mobile Networks, Enhanced Logic). This allows real time billing by home operators without having to call back customers. The advantage is more natural and working smoothly. The disadvantage is that not all networks support CAMEL so that the list of countries where prepaid subscribers can use their phones abroad is smaller than for postpaid phones.
Pre-paid privacy and phone privileges
As of July 2013, at least 80 countries globally (including 37 in the African continent) have been mandated, or actively considering mandates, prepaid SIM user registration.
The reason is the concern of police and security agencies that the anonymous use of prepaid cellular services facilitates criminal or terrorist activities.
Prepaid phone users can be anonymous for two reasons:
- In certain countries, prepaid SIM cards can be sold in stores like other items. There is no need to register them at the point of sale, unlike postpaid phones that have to check user credit before allowing them to buy and enter into the contract.
- Prepaid services can often be refilled using cash and vouchers, there is no way to track payments and therefore determine the identity of prepaid phone users from payment records.
While there is no doubt that criminals and terrorists use prepaid SIM cards to help keep them anonymous and avoid easy detection, there is currently no empirical evidence to show that:
- Mandatory registration of prepaid SIM users leads to a reduction in criminal activity; and
- Lack of prepaid SIM user registration is associated with a greater risk of criminal or terrorist activity.
In fact, Mexico's publicly available policy report indicates that mandatory registration of the driver's license introduced there in 2009 has failed to assist in the prevention, investigation and/or prosecution of related crimes. As a result, policymakers decided to revoke the law three years later.
Prepaid phones that are specifically purchased for short use and then replaced are known as burner or burner phones. Los Angeles technology company currently offers a mobile app with the same name that replicates this functionality for smartphones.
US Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a law requiring consumers to produce identification before purchasing a prepaid phone in 2010, which is not legalized. In March 2016, congressman Jackie Speier (D-CA) introduced Closing the Prepaid Mobile Device Failure Act (H.R. 4886) to require buyers of prepaid mobile devices or SIM cards to provide identification.
Prepaid international prepaid branding
In an effort to differentiate prepay from postpaid services for their customers, CSP has a different branded prepaid service than postpaid services. Variants of postpaid services have emerged in recent years that are closer to prepaid services, by offering "pay monthly" contracts.
Prepaid phones and SIM in the UK are known as "Pay as you go".
Usage
The use of prepaid phone service is common in most parts of the world. About 70% of Western Europe and China customers use prepaid phones with rates up more than 90% for customers in India and Africa. 23% of mobile phone users in the United States are using prepaid services in 2011, a share expected to rise to 29% by 2016. Prepaid SIM cards are also a variation of traditional prepaid mobile phone packages. Rather than need to buy an entirely new phone, existing phones can be used simply by replacing the SIM card inside the device.
See also
- Postpaid phone
- Gift certificate
- Smartphone
- Handy-phone Personal System
- SIM card
- Mobile broadband
- International remittance
- Burner (mobile app)
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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