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It was a major undertaking when the little alien in the 1982 blockbuster film E T the Extra-Terrestrial wanted to ring his parents back home and tell them he might be a little late for dinner.

  Much has changed since then, particularly with the introduction of mobile phones. To phone home is not what it used to be.

  Hongkong Telecom's CSL service is looking to get more customers and is now offering stored-value SIM cards.

  The cards come in values of $200, $500 and $1,000, but will cost $200, $450 and $800.

  The cards can be popped into any phone that can use them, including Motorola M8200, M8400, M8500, GC87 (M81), GC87C (M81C) handsets, Nokia N2i and N3, Siemens S4 and Sony CD-DX1000 (S88).

   According to Hongkong Telecom, the Motorola M8200 and M31 can be used if the software is upgraded.

   The upgrade is free, the company said.

  The tariff for a call is $4 per minute and remaining credits are displayed on the handset.

   The service only provides for incoming and outgoing calls.

  The advantage of the stored value SIM card is that users can try out the service before committing.

  CSL sees this as a way to grab new accounts from people who already have a phone but would like to know if the CSL's coverage is any different from that of others.

   It is also seen as a system for visitors, although exactly where they would get hold of a handset is not certain.

   Hongkong Telecom would charge less for calls on the new system, but more for the handsets.

            Virtually free elsewhere, handsets are still comparatively expensive in Hong Kong.

  CSL said it had 350,000 customers for both analog and digital networks.

   It has also invested more than $2 billion in establishing the network.

  CSL is using the phrase 'plug-and-call' to promote the system, meaning that the user plugs the card into a handset and pushes the buttons to make it work. Considering that things are much easier to control in a telephone than in computer hardware that promotes itself as 'plug-and-play', it would seem that 'plug-and-call' should work.

  I was able to test a $200 card on a Nokia telephone and it worked quite well.

   My own telephone, a Motorola M31, was less than happy to comply.

   The M31, it turns out, is one of the models that needs to be updated.

   The new software can be 'downloaded' - put into the handset - at any CSL shop.

  The system could be popular with those wanting to test CSL's claim that its coverage is better than the competition has on offer.

   Alien visitors would still not be able to phone home with the new system, however: there is no IDD service for the cards.



Stored-value cards arrive for mobiles