July 9, 2002 Tuesday Final Edition SECTION: Arts & Style; Pg. B9 LENGTH: 277 words HEADLINE: Dial up Britney, for a fee: Wireless fan club includes voice mail and text messages SOURCE: The Hartford Courant BODY: You've probably accepted by now that Britney Spears is never going to call, even if she actually had your number. That doesn't mean, however, that she won't leave you voice mail -- for a price. For $19.99 US, you can purchase a three-month subscription to Britney's wireless fan club, which entitles you to "surprise" voice and text messages delivered right to a mailbox you can access from your cellphone. It's the latest in the marketing of Brand Britney (didn't she used to be a singer?), this time under the guidance of WFX, a New York wireless network working to marry the latest technology and entertainment fads. "A celebrity's voice is a very powerful thing, intimate information about a celebrity is a very powerful thing and a cellphone is a powerful thing that everyone has with them," says Jed Alpert, president of WFX. Available for the past two months exclusively at Best Buy stores in the United States, other retailers will soon stock Britney WFX, Alpert says. No word on when it will be available in Canada, but since Best Buy is part of the same family as Future Shop, it will inevitably be soon. Fans who buy the Britney kit get kitschy goodies, including a replica all-access backstage laminate and a static cling decal. They also get a phone-card-size piece of plastic with a sultry picture of Britney on the front and an access code on the back that allows them to receive pre-recorded voice and text messages from the pre-packaged singer and her retinue. Alpert and WFX aren't stopping with Britney. He says the company has plans to create wireless fan clubs for other entertainers and expand into the sports world, too. GRAPHIC: Photo: Herald Archive, Associated Press; Britney Spears goes wireless. LOAD-DATE: July 9, 2002