Media Releases

CardCall is an enterprising company with many major projects and developments always in the pipeline. As we are also a subsiduary of gotalk, our parent company is constantly growing and acheiving great business achievements across the industry and main stream business network.

Please view below links to see and read some of the exciting events and achievements with CardCall:

30 July 2009 Tata Communications Supports gotalk's Business Expansion Plan Through Voice Outsourcing Partnership

2 April 2008 gotalk acquires World Telecom business - one of Australia's largest phonecard companies

15 October 2007 CardCall has been appointed a distributor for Telstras prepaid products

26 September 2007 CardCall signs exclusive telecommunications deal with Blackhawk

20 August 2007 Globe Share a Load

2 August 2007 prepaid VoIP launches on all CardCall phonecards

23 July 2007 gotalk CEO Steve Picton wins QLD Technology Entreprenuer of the Year Awards

1 June 2007 gotalk/CardCall acquires Say G'day & SuperBuzz

PRESS RELEASE: 30 July 2009

TATA COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORTS GOTALK'S BUSINESS EXPANSION THROUGH VOICE OUTSOURCING PARTNERSHIP

Companies come together to build and launch PoP in Sydney, Australia Mumbai.

Tata Communications, a leading provider of the new world of communications, announced today the company has successfully launched a voice outsourcing partnership and network expansion project with gotalk. gotalk is an Australia-based communications supplier of retail domestic and international voice services. Through this collaboration, Tata Communications will deploy a voice infrastructure in Sydney, Australia to support gotalk manage its retail and wholesale business units with flexibility and innovation over the company’s next generation network (NGN).

gotalk chose to work with Tata Communications to outsource their international gateway to consolidate and integrate gotalk’s multiple international switching platforms, which have been accumulated through a variety of acquisitions, to implement a more efficient traffic management platform. By outsourcing the network Tata Communications will enable gotalk to offer improved routing control, call quality and reporting of its international voice services. This fully hosted reporting, provisioning and traffic monitoring platform will allow gotalk to maintain operational control over its core routing without owning or deploying any new technology, enabling the provider to focus on market expansion while also reducing capital investment.

gotalk has a significant market share in the Australian and New Zealand prepaid phone card market and carries annually approximately 1 billion minutes of international traffic.

“Since our inception in 2000, gotalk has been committed to delivering the highest quality of service for our retail and wholesale customers,” said Steve Picton, Chief Executive Officer of gotalk. “Tata Communications’ experience in large scale, global network integrations as well as its focus on international voice services and superior expertise in IP enables gotalk to continue to offer our valued customers the most efficient and top quality services available. Tata Communications’ flexible voice network and outsourcing solutions makes them the ideal partner for gotalk.”

In support of gotalk’s international services, Tata Communications will also provide its VTS Prime solution, a high quality international voice termination service. To that end, Tata Communications will aggregate traffic for termination by gotalk to Australia and New Zealand. Tata Communications will also co-brand prepaid calling cards using gotalk’s existing card products and distribution channels.

“Communication providers are increasingly turning to Tata Communications in order to focus more effectively on meeting the challenges and opportunities of their core business,” said Michel Guyot, President, Global Voice.

Solutions for Tata Communications. “By outsourcing the international voice business to specialized wholesale providers, such as Tata Communications, gotalk has access to the scale, expertise, and infrastructure they need to sustain and expand their business into new markets. We look forward to our continued work with gotalk and our future expansion throughout Australia.”

PRESS RELEASE: 2 April 2008

GOTALK ACQUIRES WORLD TELECOM BUSINESS

Following the recent acquisition of Telstras international phonecards Say Gday and Super Buzz, gotalk today announced it has now also acquired one of Australias largest phonecard companies World Telecom and its key phonecard brands including Go Bananas, Pay Peanuts, Minute Max and Stealth.

This acquisition adds to our ability to have the right product for any international caller and will certainly improve our phonecards unique sales revenue which currently averages around $100 million a year, says CEO Steve Picton.

gotalk limited is an Australian owned, publicly unlisted, fast growing, full service (VoIP/Broadband/Naked DSL) telecommunications company with sales in excess of $165 million per annum. gotalk handles over a billion international call minutes per year - which equates to 20% of all Australian outbound international telco traffic - through its own state of the art switching centre.

Expanding Trans Tasman Telco gotalk limited today announced the formal acquisition of World Telecom and its key phonecard brands including Go Bananas, Pay Peanuts, Minute Max and Stealth.

The acquisition follows the mid 2007 purchase of Telstras international calling cards, Say Gday and Super Buzz which took effect last June. According to CEO Steve Picton, the World Telecom acquisition now makes gotalk the clear phonecard distribution market leader in Australia.

World Telecom is a significant phonecard services company in Australia, and its cards are available on E-Pay, Touch Terminals and shortly on DialTime, and have strong representation in Retail Outlets, Mr. Picton said.

This acquisition adds to gotalks strong performance in the prepaid phonecard space, coming off the recent acquisition of Telstras International phonecards Say GDay and Super Buzz. And will add to the portfolio of cards that cover all the international calling needs of consumers.

Clearly World Telecom has been a strong performer and it is our intention to further invest in its core capabilities to allow its management to take it to a new level. For gotalk it is a significant investment in broadening its Retailer distribution and we are excited at the incremental opportunities it brings Mr. Picton said.

As far as World Telecom customers and retailers are concerned there will be no change as we are also retaining key management and sales staff and World Telecom will continue to operate as an independent group within gotalk, he said.

The acquisition will take gotalk into a clear market leadership position in the prepaid phonecard sector. Already gotalk has broad reach in all retail channels with both electronic and physical presence. gotalk products are in Coles, Woolworths, Australia Post, 7-Eleven, BP, Caltex and a number of other leading retailers.

World Telecom adds further to gotalks ability to have the right product for any international caller. gotalk will also be taking these brands in to the New Zealand market where we are currently experiencing rapid growth, Mr. Picton said.

PRESS RELEASE: 15 October 2007

CardCall has been appointed a distributor for Telstra's prepaid products.

CardCall Australias largest phonecard distributor and one of Australias largest specialist prepaid telco distribution networks with over 30,000 retailers nationally - has been appointed a distributor for Prepaid Partners Telstras newest authorized distributor for prepaid products including Telstras Next G.

The deal which takes effect on Monday October 15 replaces a five and a half years association with Optus prepaid mobile services.

A wholly owned subsidiary of fast growing Gold Coast broadband/VoIP/Mobile telco gotalk, CardCalls distribution deal follows a spate of recent announcements, launches and acquisitions, including the recent purchase of Telstras international phonecards and an exclusive telecommunications supplier deal with North American gift card market leader Blackhawk Network - a subsidiary of the giant US supermarket retailer Safeway. CEO Steve Picton said today the distribution agreement with Prepaid Partners for Telstras range of prepaid products, along with the exclusive agreement with Blackhawk were major strategic steps in the expansion plans of gotalks retail division.

CardCall is core to this strategy and will now be able to offer the full range of prepaid services from the telco market leader in Australia, Mr. Picton said. These include Telstras prepaid mobile (including their recently launched Next G service), prepaid Home and their two remaining phonecards after our recent acquisition of the Say GDay and Super Buzz Phonecards.

Mr. Picton also flagged the growing importance of electronic terminals to distribute phonecards in Australia and said his company would have an announcement of some significance in coming weeks.

Electronic terminals are already responsible for more than $2 million in phonecard sales every month, and the volume is rising rapidly he said. We have identified that this particular retail footprint is strategically critical for us and we will be making a major announcement very soon. Its practical and strategic importance cannot be overstated and we have many initiatives utilising electronic terminals planned over the coming months, he said.

The deal with Prepaid Partners will allow gotalk/CardCall to offer a one stop shop for all prepaid telecommunications needs, including Telstras prepaid mobile and the new Next G service, prepaid Home and Telstras Phonecard and Phoneaway calling cards, Mr. Picton said.

Telstras new Next G (850Mhz) network is more than 100 times larger than any other 3G network in Australia, and covers more than 98% of the Australian population. It brings to all those within its coverage area, access to an exciting and growing range of 3G products and services that will give Australians more ways to do more things - at faster speeds and in far more places than ever before. The Next G network provides coverage to more Australians than any other mobile network.

We are delighted to have formalised our relationship with what is obviously the future of retail telecommunications in Australia. We are positive of the benefits this relationship will bring to our retailers, as they can now order an extensive range of prepaid services with CardCall, including Australias only Next G Service. Retailers will also enjoy our revised product commissions and an extensive range of high quality point of sale material for their stores.

In line with CardCalls regular distribution offers, retailers will be able to take advantage of several order discounts and bonus structures. To support the launch, CardCall will be presenting the market with a range of promotional launch offers that include the range of popular Telstra products.

PRESS RELEASE: 26 September 2007

AUSTRALIAS LARGEST PHONECARD COMPANY CARDCALL SIGNS EXCLUSIVE TELECOMMUNICATION SUPPLIER DEAL WITH NORTH AMERICAN MARKET LEADER BLACKHAWK NETWORK AS IT PLANS ITS FIRST ENTRY INTO THE FAST GROWING $200 MILLION AUSTRALIAN RETAIL GIFT CARD MARKET

CardCall Australias largest phonecard company and wholly owned subsidiary of rapidly expanding telco gotalk limited today announced an exclusive telecommunications supplier contract with U.S. gift card market leader Blackhawk Network, which is entering the $200 million plus Australian gift card market for the first time later this year. CardCall will also act as one of only two distribution partners for Blackhawk in Australia.

Blackhawk, a subsidiary of US supermarket chain Safeway Inc, plans to launch their award winning Gift Card Store concept in hundreds of retail outlets around Australia later this year.

The Blackhawk/CardCall deal follows the rapidly expanding telco gotalks purchase of Telstras international physical, electronic voucher and online calling cards last June, and the August 6 launch of prepaid VoIP phonecards as a direct challenge to Skype. CardCall has a 30,000 strong retailer network in Australia and New Zealand. The parent gotalk is headquartered in Sydney with its operations centre located at Varsity Lakes on Queenslands Gold Coast. The telco has established strong corporate partnerships with Harvey Norman, BP, Caltex, Woolworths, Coles, Domayne, Dick Smith, Tandy, Harris Technology and Australia Post.

According to recent US business/finance and retail trade press such as The Financial Times, Blackhawks prepaid Gift Card Stores have created an entirely new multi million dollar category segment in US retail. Blackhawk now sells cards to more than 165 million customers a week through its up front distinctive display stands in grocery chains, mass market retailers, convenience stores, drugstores and specialty retailers. Blackhawk has stands in more than 73,000 locations including supermarkets and drug stores.

gotalk/CardCall CEO Steve Picton said the deal with the Blackhawk Network offered amazing growth possibilities on two fronts for his company. The first is obviously the expanded opportunities for new telco customers to purchase our extensive phonecards range in many new retail locations with even more possibilities for impulse buying. The second is an entirely new revenue stream for CardCall as it becomes one of only two Blackhawk agent/distributors, responsible for selling in and maintaining the Blackhawk gift card solution into the Australian retail trade market, he said.

CardCall will join an impressive list of major brand name partners who will offer prepaid gift cards on Blackhawk gift card stores in time for Christmas. Steve Picton said the CardCall phonecard range on offer would include Daybreak, Say G'day, Oasis, Super Buzz, OZcall, gotalk, Hot, Happy Calling, SUPERSAVER, Call Mama, Shout, Talk Tomato, Ratesaver, and It's Green a range which currently sells in excess of $8 million unique cards a month in Australia and New Zealand.

For the first time, prepaid calling cards can be safely displayed front of house, greatly increasing the visibility.

According to Blackhawk Managing Director Stewart Rigby, while many retailers and other organisations have been selling their own gift cards for years, the unique Blackhawk aggregated solution opens them up with a completely new channel opportunity, in which hundreds of retail outlets across Australia will sell their gift cards.

Major retailers will have their products and services available via Gift Cards Stores in thousands of retail sites across Australia. Customers may now buy retailers gift cards in a grocery store; or local newsagency without the retailer having to carry stock or even give up floor space to display product they never envisaged they would ever sell, Mr.Rigby said.

Headquartered in Pleasanton California, Blackhawk Network www.blackhawknetwork.com developed the Gift Card Mall Destination Concept which usually involves one permanent, distinctive, front of house in-store display stand, large enough to carry hundreds of major third party branded cards in all the categories consumers want gift, sports, telecom, open loop gift (cards that can be used at thousands of locations), theatre, movie, sporting, and event tickets and other reloadable products.

Described officially as a prepaid and payments network, a market leader in card-based financial solutions Blackhawk launched in the UK earlier this year and now plan to repeat their award winning concept in Australia.

Prepaid gift card malls are all about offering consumers convenience and enhancing value to the one-stop shop," Mr. Rigby said. "It's rare these days that retailers can create an entirely new category segment in their stores let alone one that generates some excitement, but prepaid gift cards are doing that. Penetration is growing and we are anticipating tremendous growth in this area."

PRESS RELEASE: 20 August 2007

GOTALK/CARDCALL EXPANDS ETHNIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS MARKET PENETRATION

In a telco market first, an exclusive deal with Asia Pacifics Globe Telecom announced today will allow thousands of Filipinos living, working and studying in Australia to transfer small amounts of prepaid airtime phone credits for use by family and friends back home.

Fast growing Australian and New Zealand telco gotalk limited has announced it has signed an exclusive deal with Globe Telecom, the second largest mobile phone company in the Philippines with more than 16.9 million mobile and 3G subscribers.

In what is claimed to be a telco market first the gotalk/Globe Telecom deal will allow thousands of Filipino workers and migrants living and working in Australia to transfer regular small - $Au5 to $Au50 - amounts of airtime easily and instantly to family and friends in the Philippines as well as to make the cheapest available pre paid IDD (International Direct Dial) calls to their huge customer base. Globe is the first mobile operator to make 3G services available in the Philippines and also the first operator in Asia Pacific to introduce 3G with high speed mobile broadband, High Speed Downlink Packet Access to the general public.

Gold Coast based gotalk is already a major player in the outbound telecommunications call market, currently handling over a billion international minutes per year which equates to 20% of all Australian outbound international call traffic through its own state of the art exchange switching centre in Sydney's Castlereagh Street.

The gotalk agreement with Globe Telecom follows their June 1 announcement of an agreement to purchase Telstras pre paid international calling cards, Say Gday and Super Buzz which service a customer base of 110,000 international phone card users in nine ethnic languages - English, French Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Indonesian, Japanese Korean and Thai.

CEO Steve Picton said today the Globe deal was another strategic move by gotalk to consolidate its leading position in the multi million dollar ethnic telco market in Australia and New Zealand.

According to the latest statistics, over 22 percent of the Australian population of 21 million was born overseas; and almost 14 percent of the population was born in a non-English speaking country. According to the census, 18 per cent of the population was born in Australia but had at least one parent who was born overseas. In 2006, almost 16 percent of the population spoke a language other than English at home, Mr. Picton said.

This means there are several million people in Australia who need to make frequent and regular international phone calls to friends and family overseas and this is a growth market in which gotalk has particular expertise.

The deal with Globe specifically involves the Sariling Atin and Its Green phonecards in Australia and Happy Calling and Ratesaver in New Zealand, Mr. Picton said today.

Our exclusive facility to transfer credit called Share-a-Load through Globe, will be very popular with Filipinos as it will simplify the transfer of airtime credits from $5 to $50 which may not seem that much by Australian standards, but will mean a great deal to family members in the Philippines, he said.

PRESS RELEASE: 2 August 2007

gotalk launches Skype attack in Australia and New Zealand

PhoneChoice survey shows gotalks prepaid VoIP cheaper overall than Skype Pro, based on typical usage.

In an industry first, fast growing telco gotalk limited today announced that they have this month added prepaid VoIP to its entire range of Australian and New Zealand CardCall phonecards making its service directly competitive with Skype the worlds most popular VoIP service.

(NOTE: Skype, a unit of eBay, has 196 million registered users internationally including Australia.)

CardCall, a fully owned gotalk subsidiary, is the major phonecard distributor in Australia and New Zealand recently adding Telstras Say Gday and Super Buzz international calling cards to their extensive stable (see attached 1).

gotalk CEO Steve Picton said today that gotalk prepaid VoIP will enable phonecard users to make huge savings by sending their calls over the internet, instead of using the regular telephone network. The only requirements are a broadband internet connection, a PC and a microphone/headset.

The customer benefits of prepaid VoIP are considerable, including:

Free registration Free quality softphone Free additional local telephone number Free VoIP to VoIP calls within Australia and within New Zealand (not between) Free connection fee option on all calls Free Voicemail No Contracts No monthly account fee Extensive Australia and NZ coverage Untimed local and national calls at a low 10c Low cost rates to mobiles (24c timed) Low cost calling card rates to all destinations Quality 24 hour Customer Care helpline Mr. Picton, who last week became Queenslands Technology and Telecommunications Entrepreneur of the Year, said he was delighted to announce the addition of prepaid VoIP to gotalks extensive range of prepaid Telco products.

A recent research project undertaken by PhoneChoice, Home Phone and Internet Provider Comparison (July 2007) specifically compared gotalk prepaid VoIP with Skype Pro. Based on typical usage, the PhoneChoice survey clearly showed gotalks prepaid VoIP was cheaper overall than Skypes Pro, Mr. Picton said.

When you add in the fact that gotalk is an Australian owned company, a full service telco business offering 24/7 locally available customer service (as opposed to Skype who can only be contacted by email) I believe gotalk can be seen to be a more than competitive alternative to Skype, Mr. Picton said.

The same survey showed gotalks international phone call charges were between 57% and 77% cheaper than all of its Australian competitors Telstra, Optus, AAPT, Primus and Dodo so there are a number of reasons for customers to change to gotalk for all their telco services.

The new gotalk prepaid VoIP service will enable customers to access the phonecards super cheap rates either from their PC (VoIP access) or conveniently from any telephone they choose (phonecard access), he said.

gotalk prepaid VoIP offers users a first class VoIP service with the best of both worlds - CardCalls great phonecard rates and the flexibility and control of prepay. gotalk prepaid VoIP is simple to download and easy to use, with so many benefits that it is an ideal option for new VoIP users - and a very attractive alternative for anyone currently using or considering Skype.

Users of existing phonecards simply need to visit http://www.gotalk.com.au/prepaidvoip/ select 'Get Prepaid VoIP' and enter their existing PIN number and contact email address. Customers will then receive a softphone download via email and off they go to make phonecalls through VoIP - it is THAT easy, Mr. Picton said.

Retailers benefit from our gotalk prepaid VoIP service because it results in: An increase in the number of customers that make purchases (including customers that have moved away from phonecards to use other VoIP services such as Skype) An increase in traffic to retail sites, allowing retailers to cross sell other products (example Internet cafe user now purchasing a phonecard in store and using the credit on the Internet Cafe PC, plus purchasing snacks / drinks while using the service) The ability to offer customers this great new product feature without the need to stock anything other than the great range of CardCall phonecards or CardCall vouchers.

PRESS RELEASE: 23 July 2008

GOTALK CEO STEVE PICTON WINS QUEENSLAND TECHNOLOGY, COMMUNICATIONS AND E-COMMERCE ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR AWARD

The prestigious annual award, presented at a gala dinner in Brisbane last Thursday, is supported by Austrade, AusIndustry and is sponsored by the Westpac Business Bank and Qantas.

Founded and produced internationally by Ernst & Young, and launched in Australia in 2001, the award puts Mr. Picton in line to win the title of Australian Entrepreneur Of The Year in the national finals to be held in Melbourne on November 29 - the winner of which will represent his country at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year held annually in June in Monte Carlo. Previous International Entrepreneur Of The Year winners have included Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems (1987), Michael Dell, Dell Computer (1989); Howard Schultz, Starbucks (1991); Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com (1997); Eddie Jordan, Jordan Grand Prix (2000); and Narayana Murthy, Infosys Technologies (2003).

Last year Steve Pictons fast growing prepaid mobile, internet, broadband voice (VoIP) and phone card telco gotalk limited debuted at No.262 in the prestigious BRW fastest growing Top 500 private company list with an annual turnover of $154 million and 264 staff in Australia and New Zealand.

Prior to forming gotalk (formerly Telecorp Limited) in March 2000 with high profile Trevor Rowe, ASX Director, Chancellor of Bond University and Chairman, Investment Banking, NM Rothschild & Sons, Australia, Steve Picton, was Group Director, Strategic Development, AAPT.

As a relatively small player in a large market dominated by the likes of Telstra and Optus, I am extremely proud of the fact that although gotalk is a small fish in a big pond, it owns 20 percent market share of all international traffic originating from Australia made through our switching center in Sydneys Castlereagh Street. In the prepaid phone card market, gotalk is the market leader with approximately 40 percent of that segment, having recently purchased Telstras international calling cards, Say Gday and Super Buzz, Picton said.

Last year provided a major turning point for the business with gotalk becoming the first company worldwide to launch a combined prepaid VoIP, mobile and calling card in one, plus a prepaid wireless broadband service and a portable VoIP device which allows connection to VoIP service wherever the user is.

The telco continues to develop and deliver innovative products across a range of prepaid mobile, internet, broadband voice (VoIP) and phone card services all from the one account. gotalk provides a range of wholesale and retail telecommunication services through its own state of the art exchange switching centre in Sydney's Castlereagh Street which today handles over a billion international minutes per year which in turn equates to 20% of all Australian outbound international call traffic. gotalk also provides a range of post-paid products, including fixed line voice, mobile, broadband and dial up internet, broadband voice (VoIP). One of the main strengths of gotalk is its ability to distribute product through its CardCall subsidiary, which has a 30,000 strong retailer and reseller network in Australia and New Zealand. gotalk has a large operations centre located at Robina on Queenslands Gold Coast. The telco has established strong corporate partnerships with Harvey Norman, BP, Caltex, Woolworths, Coles, Domayne, Dick Smith, Tandy, Harris Technology and Australia Post. With the acquisition of Green Communications, XL Telecom, FLOW and Alpha in 2003, this allowed gotalk to offer additional services and technologies as well as a number of existing commercial agreements with Telstra.

It has been an interesting journey over the last 7 years with many challenges however we continue to both succeed in an extremely competitive environment and do so within a culture where entrepreneurs are recognised and supported. I am sure we will share many more years of success and I am sure further recognition of our achievements will follow, Picton said.

PRESS RELEASE: 1 June 2007

gotalk buys Telstras Say GDay and Super Buzz International Calling Cards

Fast growing telecommunications company, gotalk limited, today announced it had signed an agreement to purchase Telstras international calling cards, Say Gday and Super Buzz that will take effect late June.

The transaction will involve gotalks acquisition of a solid and growing customer base of around 110,000 international phonecard users and the opportunity to access the existing distribution network of electronic terminal and Australia Post outlets.

Telstra will continue to provide its Telstra PhoneAway and Telstra Phonecard that provides people with pre-paid calling cards to make local and international calls.

gotalk provides a wide range of consumer and wholesale telecommunication services through its own switching centre in Sydney, which handles over a billion international minutes per year which in turn equates to an estimated 20% of all Australian outbound international call traffic. gotalk operates an extensive and highly successful Retail business both in Australia and New Zealand focused on the prepaid services and VoIP/Broadband markets.

According to gotalk CEO Steve Picton, the acquisition of Telstras Say GDay and Super Buzz international phone cards is part of gotalks customer growth strategy, through both acquisitions and new service launches.

The addition of two such well known and recognised cards to our own extensive phone card stable will consolidate our position as the market leader in the phone card market and provide an enlarged customer base to service with our extensive range of pre-paid and post-paid telecommunications services Mr. Picton said.

gotalks recently launched prepaid services include Australias first prepaid wide-area broadband wireless service (powered by iBurst), a prepaid mobile service which incorporates highly competitive international calling and an exclusive prepaid ringtone/music download service in combination with the worlds biggest music company Universal Music.

The phonecard market in Australia is highly competitive and is one whose scale delivers significant commercial advantage. Currently it is estimated that there are around 80 different competing phone cards on offer from at least 8 suppliers.

Say GDay and Super Buzz are pre-paid calling cards, available in nine language options (English, French Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Indonesian, Japanese Korean and Thai). The calling cards are available in three formats physical card, electronic voucher and online.

The cards can be used for local, long distance, mobile including calls to and from global satellite services, international calls in Australia and calls from most touchtone phones.

Customers with existing Say GDay and Super Buzz calling cards can continue to use these cards until they expire.