telephone costs after a new student calling card was introduced yesterday.

Cable & Wireless unveiled the product which is designed to allow students to keep in touch with family and friends while away at school, but limiting them to calling up to only three pre-determined numbers.

Those numbers can be anywhere in the world.

C&W Bermuda is banking on parents or guardians buying the cards for students as a way of controlling at least one factor in the cost of education.

Students can then use the cards from touch-tone phones in Bermuda, the US, Canada, the UK, most of the Caribbean, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and Switzerland.

C&W Bermuda card services manager Maureen Baker said the new product filled a specific demand from customers.

"We've introduced the student calling cards as a result of requests from parents for such a product,'' she said.

"Many parents who have children studying abroad want to be able to receive regular calls from them and are prepared to pay for those calls.

"However, collect calls are expensive and parents don't necessarily want to give their children a calling card over which they have no control.''