[Hop-on to begin selling recyclable handsets to the tune of $40 dollars for phone and 60 minutes of call time through as yet unnamed US CDMA carrier.]

by Eric Auchard , New York -- "Throwaway cellphones are set to make their debut on U.S. convenience store shelves, down the aisle from plastic razors, beef jerky and disposable cameras they seek to emulate as spur-of-the-moment consumer purchases.

Hop-On, a small company based in Garden Grove, California, said this week it had won U.S. regulatory approval to sell its first phones, clearing the way for a nationwide introduction of a no-frills recyclable phone for prepaid mobile calling.

In an interview, Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Michaels said approval of the phones will allow Hop-On shortly to sell its stripped-down mobile phone and 60 minutes of initial service for a $40 flat fee, through an unnamed "major CDMA" carrier.

"We are going to launch pretty much immediately," starting first in Southern California and then rolling out across the United States over the next three months, Michaels said."

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