Uzbekistan, 1995

A chip card was issued by Netas in 1993 for Uzbekistan, but it was never used in the country. So, a GPT magnetic card with 3UZBA code is the first public issue of this ex-USSR…

Vietnam, 1991

Phonecards appeared in Vietnam in 1991, late comparing to other countries. A trial issue of two cards, both showing the Post & Telecom building, went on experimentally for two years, but then came officially the…

Macau, 1990

The magnetic card telephone system of the GPT was installed in the Chinese autonomous region in April 1990, when it was still a Portuguese colony. For the occasion two sets of 7 cards each were…

Sri Lanka, 1992

At the beginning of the 1990s, two telephone companies shared the market in Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka Telecom and Lanka Pay Phones. Both companies had their own phone cards: first the Lanka Pay Phones, which…

Malaysia, 1990

In the early 1990s, two major telephone companies were operating in Malaysia: Uniphone Telecommunications (under the Uniphonekad brand), which had installed public telephones mainly in urban areas, and Telekom Malaysia (under the Kadfon brand), which…

Saint Helena, 1989

The first cards used in this small island in the south-central Atlantic, known to have been the site of Napoleon's last exile, were a field test conducted by the British GPT. The three cards, with…

GPT – Plessey magnetic cards

Formerly known as Plessey, the magnetic cards produced in Great Britain by GPT (GEC Plessey Telecommunications) are very popular and appreciated by collectors, also for being used in many countries, in particular the Caribbean islands,…

Costa Rica, 1989

A set of 3 magnetic cards with deep notch was issued by GPT: 50 units (15,000 printed), 100 units (7,500), and 800 units (2,500) and they went on trial in 1989. After some years of…

Croatia, 1991

We all know the beautiful Croatian cards with chip, but the first cards, in use from 1991 to 1994, were magnetic cards supplied by GPT. The first one had the Croatian colors on white background,…

Several systems tested in Turkey

Turkey is a state located in western Asia, which includes a limited part of the territory in Europe, corresponding to the eastern part of Thrace. European Turkey and Asiatic Turkey are separated from the Bosphorus,…