But the pending deals would turn the company into a nationwide long distance carrier and provider of high-speed Internet services to business customers.
The deal will make Boku the country's largest carrier billing provider.
We have heard on the grapevine that Apple had been talking with Bango, a carrier billing provider, to roll out carrier billing functionality on iTunes.
Another source says that it's not Bango working on this deal, pointing out that O2 also has a relationship with Boku, another carrier billing provider that O2 has backed financially.
For digital good providers, carrier billing provides the highest conversions and Zong helps PayPal shore up this category.
Nicole is the Founder and CEO of Listing Central, LLC (www.listingcentralllc.com), based outside of Washington, DC, a leading Directory Listing service to telephone and cable companies, VOIP carriers and network provider carriers throughout the US and Canada.
To prevent customers from switching carriers, the provider redesigned their computer systems to leverage customer data so they could automatically send special targeted deals, via text messages, to users whose balance is running low.
It is, however, questionable whether commercial (preconceptional) carrier test providers can continue to exist using this business model as long as such genetic carrier tests are not integrated in larger, more comprehensive prenatal, or preferably in preconceptional, care settings (which are, admittedly, not really established in general healthcare yet).
It is true that much of the telecommunications sector is in the dumps these days; the stocks of many long-distance carriers, wireless providers and new local phone companies are languishing as investors worry that too many companies are chasing too few customers.
The businesses most interested in this debate -- telephone and cable carriers, software providers and equipment makers -- have begun to position themselves for what promises to be one of the most important political battles of the next Congressional session, beginning in January.
