Wireless Company Rewards Users for Recycling

Xero Mobile, a Los Angeles-based mobile virtual network operator and media sales organization has announced that it will provide its users with airtime in return for recycling their old handsets as part of its partnership with The Wireless Alliance, a cell phone recycler based in Boulder.

Xero Mobile users who return their mobile phones for recycling will receive airtime credits based on the value of their handsets, Xero Mobile CEO Peter Lilley says.

The Wireless Alliance works with manufacturers, wireless carriers, recyclers and non-profit organizations to collect, reuse and recycle cellular equipment. Since 2001, The Wireless Alliance says it has reclaimed more than 300 tons of wireless equipment from landfills.

Commenting on the partnership, The Wireless Alliance Vice President Jon Newman says, "With 1 million people purchasing a cell phone every week in the U.S. alone, there is a phenomenal amount of waste generated by the industry. The Wireless Alliance is striving to minimize the impact that this has on the environment.”

Xero Mobile will target the college market, providing handsets without contract at what it calls “notably competitive prices.” In return, students will agree to accept a number of relevant video ads on their handsets each day, which provides the students with free mobile airtime. Xero Mobile will launch in the fall of 2006 in more than 350

U.S. markets.