Project Android, a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies including Google will enable innovation around mobile handsets and applications which will change mobile behavior and device pricing for citizens around the world. Companies like Google are about to increase their distribution and mobile prepaid consumers will possibly receive subsidized calls, text messages and data through advertising funded revenues.

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - 14 January 2008 – Through Project Android, Google and 30 other technology companies will offer the first complete, open, and free mobile platform aimed at accelerating innovation in mobile. It is aimed at offering consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience, and will change prepaid mobile billing and the way it operates. The prepaid mobile billing mechanism currently accounts for the charging and revenue collection of no less than 45% of all mobile phone calls around the world. In Q4 2008, citizens of the earth will be able to access $50 USD mobile handsets through this open source development which will result in a greater uptake of mobile hardware devices. The increase in mobile handsets will lead to a larger mobile and Internet audience on planet earth which in turn will allow Google to enhance its reputation and revenues as the biggest advertising and content distribution platform in the world. Google will deliver paid advertising to mobile devices globally. Google will in turn provide Android users with subsidized prepaid recharge credits.

Bill Gates, who recently spoke at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, told the American audience what they should have already known: - 40% of the earth's population now has a mobile phone. In addition, the world population currently has over 1 billion PCs and broadband usage has grown to over 250 million users. Prepaid Earth would like to point out that at least 20% of the earth's population understands and use prepaid mobile services. This is a mind blowing figure, considering it was only introduced less than 15 years ago and has received relatively little hype for such a revolutionary billing and revenue collection mechanism referred to as prepaid or pay as you go.

The world is connected to computers and mobile networks. Prepaid Earth believes there is going to be a mobile phone based on open source technology using prepaid billing as the payment mechanism.

Handset vendors such as Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, LG and others have traditionally created their own hardware and paid a mandatory license fee for an operating system. This is a pattern that was followed by the computer vendors such as Apple and IBM in the early eighties. What changed computers and revolutionized the costs of the devices we use every day of the week is the ability for unlimited hardware manufacturers to sell machines which can all work and support the same operating system. This is what we call the Microsoft approach. Microsoft Windows works on many different manufacturers’ hardware. The downfall for Windows however is that the operating system is costly and the software code is locked down to its own owners and creators.

Linux was introduced to the computer world by Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, which he started to develop as a student at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The great differentiator for Linux was that it worked on all IBM compatible computers. In addition, it was stable, the code was free and open to everyone! The ongoing development was ultimately community based. Once Linux was largely adopted, the momentum it achieved was truly amazing. Today large companies such as Google, Amazon, US Postal, Cisco, Toyota and more have adopted this brilliant, dynamic and low cost technology.

Stephen O'Sullivan, the Operations Manager for prepaidearth.com , a company who focuses on prepaid products and recharge for the US,UK, Australian, Canadian and South African markets believes that Android™ will empower the developing communities of the world. They will be able to afford mobile handsets with excellent software applications and reliability at affordable prices.

O'Sullivan went on to say "for the first time locals in Africa, Asia and South America will have a device which they can use for a range of purposes. The communication channels for this new open mobile platform will be the traditional network used to carry Voice and Internet Data. In order to take advantage of the voice and data networks around the world most of the target audience will require prepaid airtime or credit. Most of the poorer countries population will not qualify for a typical post-paid account-based billing mechanism. In more developed world countries, citizens are familiar with receiving a bill and paying the account monthly. For developing communities however, prepaid or pay-as-you-go billing allows the masses capabilities to have access to all these leading edge technologies. According to the GSM world forum, 7 out of 8 countries in Africa - translating to 95% of all consumers billing- is performed using the prepaid methodology.”

Google, the company that now controls information in almost every country, is a major participant in Android or what some might call the G phone. It might seem strange to some as to the reason Google is participating in project Android. Prepaid Earth attempted to contact the Google Press representative on a number of occasions however Google seems to be keeping their next move very close to their chest. O'Sullivan says" if you look at Google they are a good bunch of people, they come from a background where people, communities and information are key drivers in everything they do. Google will play two major roles with Android, firstly they will incentive the developer community to produce great functional software for the new open source platform. This is what they have told the world to date. The other reason according to our beliefs at Prepaid Earth, will be for Google to grow the mobile handset market so that it will naturally have a larger captive audience for Google to serve its applications such as Adwords, Maps and Mail ".

The simple truth translates to this equation:- The more screens, terminals, handsets and IP-network enabled devices that Google has operational, the more Adwords and applications it can sell ,the more powerful Google will become. Over the past 8 years Google has invested, matured and now owns all its back-end technology. Additionally, Google already offers local services in more than 150 countries. Can you imagine the magnitude to which Google's advertising and applications platforms will expand when the cheaper, more accessible internet-enabled mobile phone is widely adopted by the majority of the earth's population? The real challenge is for the developing countries to be able to afford mobile and Internet services even if they rely on prepaid billing. Google has the solution. The future might look something like this – Google will fund free incoming and outgoing calls, text messages and data packets through advertising! This will be offered to each Prepaid Android user in stead of them buying prepaid recharge or top up to enable network connectivity. Prepaid Earth believes that John Doe in the Ivory Coast would be satisfied to accept free calls, whilst at the same time receive a Coca-Cola commercial or banner on his Android handset. The model is neat, and clear cut. Through advertising, Google will provide Android users with subsidized prepaid recharge credits.

According to Google, The Gphone is not going to be launched. Instead, the mobile open source will ensure that more people use mobile, wireless Internet and prepaid billing. Prepaid billing will need to adapt to cater to this revolutionary traffic and advertising funded mechanism. Yesterday prepaid methodology enabled users to buy credits and make calls, tomorrow prepaid and open source will provide users with funded network traffic and cheaper handsets. Just the tonic that this earth needs!

About Prepaid Earth

Prepaid Earth (www.prepaidearth.com ) is one of the world's premier information portals covering prepaid, pay as you go for Mobile, Wireless, Cell Phone, Calling Card, Entertainment, Gift Card Products and Services. Prepaid Earth covers many countries including Australia, UK, Canada, USA and South Africa. Our core focus is online recharge, refill and top up. For more information about Prepaid and project Android please contact Stephen O' Sullivan at +61290070874