TracFone Applauds Wireless Prepaid Access Device Enforcement Act

WASHINGTON, May 18  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- TracFone President and CEO FJ Pollak issued the following statement today in response to the introduction of the "Wireless Prepaid Access Device Enforcement Act of 2009" (H.R. 2449), introduced last Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives:

"On behalf of the TracFone and its consumers, I want to thank Representatives Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Daniel Lungren (R-CA) for their leadership, dedication and continued commitment to defending prepaid wireless users across the country from a tremendous threat to their ability to buy affordable wireless phones and service.  This pro-consumer legislation has gained tremendous bipartisan support, and we are pleased to see Congress moving ahead in the right direction to prohibit fraud and related activity in connection with purchases of certain wireless prepaid access devices.

"There is a growing concern of law enforcement and the wireless industry over large, unauthorized bulk purchases of prepaid wireless phones. Organized syndicates have taken advantage of prepaid phone subsidies by buying hundreds, if not thousands, of prepaid phones at retail outlets, modifying or 'hacking' out the software so that the phones will not work as intended on U.S. wireless networks, and reselling the phones overseas at a huge profit over their subsidized cost.  Annual losses for U.S. carriers are estimated to be in excess of $200 million in subsidies that should have benefited the intended U.S. wireless consumers.

"The Wireless Prepaid Access Device Enforcement Act of 2009 would make it a Federal crime to knowingly purchase new prepaid handsets in the U.S. for the purpose of modifying the phones' software which prevents their use as intended on the U.S. carriers' networks for which they were manufactured and sold (unless the manufacturer or the U.S. carrier authorized such practice). The Act would also prohibit a person from knowingly reselling or distributing new prepaid phones outside the U.S.

"TracFone continues to be a critical driver for growth in our nation's economy by providing essential and affordable services that help millions of Americans cut costs and increase productivity and efficiency.  We look forward to working with the sponsors and all Members of Congress to see that this important legislation becomes law."

ABOUT TRACFONE WIRELESS, INC.

TracFone Wireless, Inc. is America's number one prepaid wireless service in the U.S. with 11.8 million cell phone subscribers. TracFone is a subsidiary of America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. ("AMX") (BMV: AMX; NYSE: AMX; Nasdaq: AMOV; LATIBEX: XAMXL), the leading provider of wireless services in Latin America with more than 190 million subscribers. For more information, please visit: http://www.tracfone.com/. 

DATASOURCE: TracFone, Washington, D.C.



CONTACT:  Patrick Mitchell, [phone], ,

for TracFone, Washington, D.C.



Web Site:  http://www.tracfone.com/ 

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