O2 will offer marketing companies the opportunity to send bulk MMS messages for the first time through its partnership with mobile solutions provider Netsize.

Picture messaging has presented limited opportunities for brand marketing because it has been restricted to person-to-person messaging.

O2s partnership with Netsize makes it possible for companies to send bulk messages combining image sound and text so that marketing agencies can connect to Netsize and send bulk MMS messages to end users.

The new service claims it will not encourage spam because UK safeguards protect users and it is an opt-in service. Netsize runs the risk of being fined and cut off if it makes the service available to spammers.

UK mobile software company Anthropics Technology has made its animated picture-messaging service compatible with mobile phones in the Americas and the Far East.

Anthropics FaceWave Messaging allows users to send picture messages that move in time with their own recorded voice message. Consumers can download the FaceWave application from the web for 6 and choose face bundles to illustrate their recorded message.

The FaceWave application has been available in Europe on UIQ-enabled Sony Ericsson handsets and Symbian-enabled Nokias since December 2003. Anthropics has now made FaceWave available to mobile phone users in the Americas and the Far East on the BREW platform.

Motorola veteran Richard Evans has left after eight years to take a position with recruitment specialists Wickland Westcott where he will be setting up a telecoms and technology division.

I wanted to pursue a different career and do something different where I could create some business value and get into something more entrepreneurial he said.

To stay at Motorola long-term you have to be dogged and tough. You reach a point when you get to your early 40s and decide whether or not you want to be a corporate citizen or do something different and develop some new skills.

Evans joined Motorola from now-defunct service provider Talkland where he was purchasing director.

At Motorola he was a national sales manager account director and business development director.

Most recently he had been leading various mobile applications businesses in Europe covering areas such as telematics and location-based services.

With all my years in the mobile industry Ive built up a big network of contacts and done a lot of public speaking he said.

With the industry knowledge I have and having done the jobs myself Im able to help people find the right positions.

3 has partnered with Sky Sports to offer two-minute video clips of sports bulletins and highlights through its 3G portal Today on 3.

The Sky Sports service already available on the portal adds to the 2003/4 season Premier League highlights already offered by 3 and Barclaycard. Content is edited specifically for 3s 3G videophone technology and can be viewed as it downloads to the handset through 3s QuickPlay video player.

3s football coverage will include game previews and highlights as well as archive footage. The Sky Sports service also offers text information on English and Scottish club sides.

An unemployed woman has been charged with dishonestly handing a stolen Samsung phone for the benefit of another.

Frances Ntansah (21) of Maida Vale London was remanded on unconditional bail at Horseferry Road Court until today (June 14).

Vodafone will open 10 new Vodafone Experience Stores this financial year and refurbish existing ones.

Vodafone Experience stores include interactive demonstration areas and plasma-screen TVs to let customers trial services.

The first of the new Experience stores opened in Basingstoke last week. Among the new features is a business lounge to showcase the networks 3G data card and other business solutions.

Staff at these flagship stores undergo four weeks of training which focus on business as well as consumer solutions.

The layout of the shops has been redesigned as well said a Vodafone spokesman.

The Basingstoke store features curved areas and softer lines instead of the angular look of old. The design of the store is to ensure that the customer environment is the best possible experience.

Prime locations across the country will be chosen for the roll-out of new stores.

Basingstoke was chosen because of the high footfall and its proximity to the M4 corridor.

As well as opening 10 new

Experience stores Vodafone will start a refurbishment programme of existing stores starting with its premier site on Londons Oxford Street.

UK Broadband a subsidiary of Hong Kong telecoms provider PCCW has bought the network sites belonging to the failed company for an undisclosed fee.

We have made a purchase of Dolphins sites said a UK Broadband spokesman. A pilot project is under way in the Thames Valley. We are going to see how that goes and we will make an announcement at the end of the summer.

Administrator KPMG had put Dolphins assets up for sale after it failed to find a buyer for the company. London Buses could take on part of Dolphins network and KPMG said it was close to finding a buyer for the rest of Dolphins infrastructure assets.

Dolphin went into administration on March 26 and we brought about a significant sale on June 18 said Richard Heis administrator and partner at KPMG.

Initially we did try to sell it as an all-in-one solution. We came pretty close but some of the interested parties had difficulties with the money while others saw problems elsewhere.

He went on: It is by no means a dead option and there are still various things we can do with the Tatra equipment. We are hopeful that a deal will still be done and we are in close discussions with one party.

Dolphin distributors remain confident they can switch Dolphin customers to other wireless services.

They have been delighted with the service said Tom Quigley managing director of Dolphin distributor Airsys. Sadly there werent enough customers to make it a viable business.

He went on: The market shows that there is a need for Dolphin but not enough of a need to justify the level of investment. For us its just one of those things.

We will provide Dolphin customers with other solutions and enjoy the profits from the alternatives. There are cellular and private radio networks. Solutions will be found on a case-by-case basis. Were talking to Dolphins customers who remain philosophical said Quigley.

Dolphin launched in August 1999 on the promise of cheap push-to-talk services and mobile telephony in one handset.

It went into administration two years later after accumulating debts of $1.2 billion. The firm came back out of administration when specialist wireless operator Inquam eventually bought the business and its assets for 25 million.

The UK operation that Inquam acquired then included a 45000 customer base a number of offices including the headquarters in Basingstoke a network that covered 93 per cent of the UK population and more than 1000 base stations.

By April this year however the customer base was down to 24000 and base station numbers to 980.

Inquam Telecom too went into administration earlier this year as it had been unable to develop the business as it wished.

Unique Games the content arm of Unique Distribution has signed a content deal with North American mobile games publisher and developer Sorrent which distributes games from Atari Fox Sports and others.

The deal gives Unique the chance to distribute the anticipated Atari game Driv3r. More than 12 million units of Driver and Driver 2 have been sold worldwide.

Unique Games technical director Mark Watts said:

Titles such as Driv3r highlight Uniques commitment to providing consumers with quality titled games for mobile gaming. The agreement with Sorrent ensures we are at the forefront of the mobile games industry.

Genesis currently has around 60000 Vodafone customers on its base. Vodafone is believed to be apprehensive about the close ties between Genesis and O2 and the revised contract is believed to have closed loopholes that might have let the SP move users to O2.

Dixons head of press and PR Hamish Thompson commented:

There is no change to either the level or the extent of the service that we provide to customers. From a customer level absolutely nothing has changed.

Thompson would not discuss the specific detail of the contract as it was commercially sensitive saying only: I am not in a position to discuss contractual negotiations. The long-term contractual agreement remains the same.

Vodafone declined to comment on the new relationship between the two organisations.

There has been much industry speculation on the relationship between Genesis and Vodafone with rumours that Vodafone was on the brink of buying Genesis.

Another rumour was that Genesis was running up to 9000 GSM gateways without authorisation from Vodafone.

Gateway devices are becoming popular in the SME and corporate marketplace. They convert a fixed-to-mobile call into a mobile-to-mobile termination allowing fixed-line phones to connect to the mobile network at prices lower than normally charged by networks.

Dealers report that 40 per cent of their connections are on 3 up from 10 per cent three months ago reports James Blackman.

But the growth driver is not advanced 3G video services but voice calls – largely at the expense of Orange.

Consumers are still not persuaded by 3s 3G offering despite massive increases in 3 connections dealers indicate.

The vast majority of customers are coming to 3 for the handset and the cheap voice package said Mark Whitaker of Findaphone in Accrington.

Customers arent that impressed by 3s services yet. It will take them a long time before they switch to 3 because of its multimedia services.

He added that 3 was now up to around 40 per cent of his total business and it was growing fast.

On Saturday alone we did seven upgrades on 3 and over the past week weve done almost 30 connections with most switched from Orange said Whittaker.

The spike in 3 connections has coincided with the launch of the LG u8110 on 3 in May.

Dealers say that for the first time they have been able to promote a 3 handset that compares well to a GSM phone.

The 3G services arent a huge factor admitted Bob Sweetlove business manager at 3 distributor Hugh Symons. The consumer wants a cameraphone but not 3G services. The LG competes with any 2.5G kit that is available.

Gary Bridger of Airwaves Communications in Yeovil said:

Customers are coming to 3 because of the cheap tariffs. It will take 18 months before customers take on 3 because of its 3G services. They switch to 3 because its value for money.

Matt Chambers of The Phone Shop in Welling said:

3 made up 10 per cent of our business six months ago. Its now up to around 40 per cent. The tariff packages get people interested. Anyone with a year-old phone wont think twice about switching to the LG.

Surrey-based dealership ETC Communications reports steady 3 growth at the expense of Orange.

In March ETC connected 100 customers to 3 compared with 1235 for Orange. That month total 3 connections for March were 8.1 per cent the total number of

Orange connections.

But in May ETC connected 170 customers to 3 and 737 customers to Orange. The first week in June showed total 3 connections of 109 compared with 384 Orange connections – showing its share had risen to 28.4 per cent.

There has been a significant shift in business from 3 to Orange in the past month-and-a-half said ETC sales manager Andy Harding. There are many reasons for it.

These include good commissions which since the LG u8110 superseded 3s old handset portfolio include upgrade commissions.

We are very positive about the way that 3 is behaving. All dealers should be looking to push 3. They are supporting us on 3s upgrade policy. This is the way Orange started. Youd be a fool to write 3 off.

3 accepted that the deciding factor for the consumer when switching to 3 is not its 3G services yet but interest in 3G will grow following awareness of the technologys benefits.

The thing that drives consumers to switch is what they already understand which means pricing and the form factor of handsets said a 3 spokesperson. It doesnt mean that services are incidental to those factors.