The virtual network says this is one of the longest-standing music sponsorships in the business.

Virgin Mobile will be setting up its portable nightclub the Mobile Red Light Club offering live music and entertainment in an authentic nightclub on site.

A rolling text screen will display festival-goers gags and observations.

Last year the promotion generated more than 30000 messages.

Virgin Mobile has also hired troops of people who will be decked out as Virgin Mobile Angels to help people pitch tents and find their way around.

3 is a small operator. It hasnt done anything to worry us. We refuse to respond. It started as a 3G player and have dropped down to being a pre-pay player so I am not concerned.

Thats the view of T-Mobile managing director Brian McBride.

McBride was hosting a press conference to discuss T-Mobiles financial results which indicate that T-Mobile increased its customer base last year by 10 per cent to more than 13.6 million (including users of Virgin Mobile).

In the fourth quarter we were the fastest-growing network adding some 1.25 million net new customers he revealed.

McBride is now emphasising a programme of integrating wireless LAN and 3G to differentiate T-Mobiles offerings from its rivals.

To emphasise this shift the press conference was being held in a City Starbucks coffee bar which doubles as a WiFi hotspot giving wireless Internet access to laptop users anxious to get on the information superhighway while slurping a latte.

Our 3G strategy revolves around data on the move. We want to offer one seamless multimedia experience with one billing system said McBride.

Our 3G approach is distinctive – were integrating 2G 3G and WiFi networks. We will launch simple and seamless services tariffs and customer service. Our aim is simple: seamless communications.

McBride claimed T-Mobile leads the mobile industry in WiFi. Across the world it has more than 4500 WiFi hotspots across the group with 300 of them in the UK at locations such as Starbucks and Texaco filling stations.

The idea is that people will be able to drive on to any Texaco forecourt where the T-Mobile hotspot service is available park in a special bay and log in to their corporate network or connect to the Internet at broadband speed.

By the end of this year T-Mobile will also sell a 3G data card that can offer broadband speeds anywhere with T-Mobile 3G coverage.

T-Mobiles vision is to develop a variety of convenient locations for business people to access e-mail or time-critical information while on the move he said.

These currently include hotels coffeehouses and service stations but this is only the beginning. T-Mobiles WLAN access in service stations will be invaluable for those three to five million business people on the road.

Although the majority of T-Mobiles base is on pre-pay McBride wants to dramatically increase the networks penetration into the SME sector. One of the measures he has taken is to appoint Dixons Group service provider Genesis as a T-Mobile SP.

We are reaping the rewards of the innovation in services the service improvements and the substantial network investment we have made since we became part of the T-Mobile group at the end of 1999. said McBride.

T-Mobile UK is now a leading UK mobile operator and we intend to build on our momentum.

It wasnt always so. In 2002 T-Mobile was embroiled in its legal challenge to joint-venture partner Virgin Mobile in a case that nearly precipitated T-Mobiles collapse in the UK.

McBrides first task when he joined a year ago was to pour oil on those troubled waters. T-Mobile is now just a wholesaler to Virgin Mobile and the joint-venture has been dissolved.

So is it right for T-Mobile to count Virgin Mobile subscribers as its own? McBride thinks so.

Im a sure O2 counts Tesco Mobile customer as its own. We understand wholesale better than anyone in this market. I want Virgin Mobile to do well and to succeed. The point about wholesaling airtime is that you are not in competition with your wholesale partners.

So said NEC board director and former trade and industry secretary Sir Richard Needham speaking at a press conference to launch NECs latest 3G phone range (see Mobile News March 8).

NEC has not had the exposure or recognition it should have had which is partly its own fault perhaps said Needham.

He went on: We want to put that right and to show what an important and powerful company NEC is.

3 dealers at least seem to have welcomed the two new NEC handsets and they report that sales have been good.

Suddenly 3 is a contender said Bob Sweetlove marketing manager at 3 distributor Hugh Symons.

3 now has a broader handset range and these are the first handsets it has had that stand up. The e616 looks and feels better and the battery life is good he went on.

Wed seen pictures of the e313 and werent so enthusiastic but in the flesh its light and slim and at 99 very nice. Sales have certainly increased.

Ellis Dunning director of 3 dealer Talksense confirmed this:

At one point we were shifting one a month. Last week we sold 16 contracts on 3. So the network has got the right idea with these new price plans. Were predominantly a T-Mobile outlet but since the new 3 price plans have gone into effect and now with the new handsets its an unbeatable deal.

The e616 isnt the smallest of phones but there isnt a lot in it now with say the Ericsson Z600. So most definitely 3 is on to a winner.

Dunning went on: The NEC menu system is very different from the other stuff. Usability is spot on and the customer has it sussed within half an hour.

Kamil Sayed director at 3 dealer Findaphone was more cautious however. He commented:

It was ambitious to try and get to a million customers so quickly but maybe if 3 had had the e616 from the beginning it would be closer to its target. 3 needs to have attractive phones and to be brutally honest Im not 100 per cent convinced by these new ones.

Sayed went on: 3 hasnt shifted a massive amount – although I dont think everyone actually knows the e616 is out yet. It wont happen overnight but this one is definitely the best handset it has offered.

Size it seems remains an issue for 3. The new handsets represent a leap forward but there remains a customer base that is frustrated that they still cant compete with 2.5G handsets.

The thing is most users are quite vain and want something portable so size is an issue and its been 3s problem from the start said Adrian Foot of The Phone Shop.

Coverage has been a bit patchy in areas but thats to be expected with a new network – and you cant fault the new tariff or the way the product has been marketed.

However Foot appreciated the progress 3 has made.

Overall Im impressed with the e616 he said. It has a big colour screen and lots of functionality and in terms of standby time I get three or four days from it. With the old 606 you were lucky to get 24 hours.

Darren Crookes (25) is charged with stealing the Nokia from Armir Mateen at the Hyde Park Hotel on November 6 last year.

His address was given to the court as Brixton Prison where he was being held on another charge.

He is also charged with having an imitation firearm capable of firing blanks at the time of the offence.

Crookes was remanded in custody for a preliminary hearing at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court.

Nokia is continuing its assault on the games console market with the launch of the N-Gage QD last week.

Nokia UK director of communications Mark Squires told Mobile News that Nokia has learned from mistakes it made with the release of the first N-Gage.

This time round Nokia has created a product aimed at hardcore gamers. We are very proud of the N-Gage QD – we are fulfilling our promise to provide multi-player wireless anytime gaming and we have high hopes for its success he said.

The QD is aimed at 18- to 35-year-old hardcore gamers and sits alongside the N-Gage. It is not a replacement rather an expansion of our existing games portfolio.

The N-Gage QD has many of the features of the original N-Gage but the radio and MP3 player have been taken out to make the product sleeker and lighter.

The N-Gage is a gaming and a multimedia entertainment centre whereas the QD is specifically for hardcore gamers said Squires.

Its a compact device with a brighter screen longer battery life improved gaming controls powerful smartphone features and the new N-Gage Arena launcher application.

Owners of the first generation N-Gage criticised it for being unergonomic when they used it as a phone.

To make a call without using a headset the N-Gage had to be held sideways at an awkward angle. This trait led to parody websites including sidetalking.com.

We made a decision to be innovative with the last model in terms of side-talking but we know we went wrong admitted Squires. We have listened to the public. There is no side-talking on the QD.

The first N-Gage was also criticised because the battery had to be removed to change the game. The QD has a hot-swappable multimedia (MMC) slot for instant gaming. Users can change games without touching the battery.

N-Gage sales were also restricted by a price that was high relative to conventional mobiles. Nokia has responded by pricing the QD at e99 ( 66) on contract or e199 ( 133) on pre-pay.

The new N-Gage QD supports popular existing N-Gage games such as The Sims: Bustin Out Crash Nitro Kart and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2004 as well as forthcoming titles such as Ashen Pathway to Glory and Pocket Kingdom: Own The World that are exclusive to the QD.

Eric White marketing manager of Nokia distributor Data Select said that having exclusive titles will be key to how well the N-Gage QD does.

The fact that Nokia has launched the N-Gage QD shows how serious it is about making an impact in the console market he said.Nokia has looked at what the market wants and has refined the product.

He believed the defining factor for success in a games console was the variety of games available.

Nokia needs to develop an exclusive killer game for the N-Gage which can do for it what Super Mario Brothers did for Nintendo or Sonic the Hedgehog did for Sega he said.

In a statement N-Gage QD distributor 20:20 added:

One of the N-Gages greatest strengths is its multiplayer features which have also been enhanced with pre-loaded N-Gage Arena software.

It went on: The N-Gage QD confirms Nokias commitment to mobile gaming and well continue to give the product the support it deserves in both mobile and games sales channels.

See Comment P16

The network will offer the wholesale MMS product to selected partners including MX Telecom WIN Mobileway Dialogue and Netsize.

Max Grender-Jones technical director of MMS at MX Telecom which is one of O2s partners explained:

Wholesale MMS will mean that those images or ringtones can be sent through us as an intermediary to however many people a client requests.

It also works for inbound MMS. If we had a client running a competition where it wanted people to send funny pictures in using MMS all the pictures are sent directly to us. We bundle them all together and send them to the client.

The BBC uses inbound MMS on BBC3s nightly show Live at Johnnys to support its Theme of the Day section. Viewers send in MMS photos of lookalike celebrities.

MX Telecom is currently in negotiation to provide a similar service to a radio station which will enable listeners to send MMS messages to radio shows to win prizes.

Mike Short chairman of the Mobile Data Association said:

Wholesale SMS propositions have been enormously successful in the UK and we are very excited to see the first innovations around wholesale MMS with television.

This latest development is a great step forward for the industry as it will provide consumers with a new way to interact with brands and gives broadcasters an additional content feed for programming.

Siemens will have a BlackBerry-type handset by Q4.

Neither company would confirm the model of the intended Siemens handset to offer BlackBerry-style connectivity nor the services that will be made available.

Nokia Samsung and Sony Ericsson already have BlackBerry services available on their handsets.

Our handset will be targeted primarily at the business user the market most associated with BlackBerry said a Siemens spokesman.

The always-on aspect will attract users and mean theyre never out of touch. The handset design is also important. Siemens will make it more than just an e-mail device.

Gary Bridger of Somerset dealership Airwaves Communications was to supply 50 handsets on two Orange Business plans to a business client. But before Orange would connect the phones the network told him he had to get the client to vouch for him in writing.

Now Bridger is threatening to switch the client to Vodafone.

Orange requires that contracts of more than 49 handsets must be dealt with directly unless the client affirms the dealer is authorised to manage the contract.

Orange Business customer relations said we were not on account and could not connect any new phones said Bridger.

They told me to ask the client for a letter of approval and trust. I can see this policy prevents fraud but Orange has our dealer code. It knows us. We have a five-year history with this client who we brought to Orange and who is worth 35000 a year to the network. Orange has not shown us any loyalty. I have now proposed to the client that it switches to Vodafone. The client has agreed if it saves money.

Orange said the problem could be resolved if Bridger went through the correct procedure.

Orange sales director Stuart Henry promised to investigate the matter.

I can assure all dealers of my complete support over any unnecessary obstacles that may be put in their way when trying to do business with Orange he said.

The dealers stand to win a trip by signing customers up to Orange contracts on Nokia phones.

Nokia was keen to make a noise in the market said Bob Sweetlove business manager at Hugh Symons Communications which is managing the dealer promotion. It wanted to be more visible in the dealer channel because the other handset manufacturers are making good progress.

Sweetlove says the stakes were raised last year with Data Selects Who Wants To Be A Millionaire promotion which increased Data Selects sales of Nokia products by 850 per cent.

Hit The Strip is similar to Avenirs current Orange promotion which rewards 14 top dealers with tickets to the European Cup final in Portugal.

Entrants to the Hugh Symons promotion are divided into three leagues according to their performance record with Orange contracts over the previous three months.

The leagues are determined by a points system with more points awarded for signing or upgrading customers to higher Orange tariffs and better quality Nokia handsets.

Of the 14 eventual winners eight come from the premier league of Orange dealers. Just one winnercomes from the lowest division made up of smaller Orange dealers with the rest from the mid-range of dealers.

The small dealers like it because they can enter and have the chance to win said Sweetlove. But it is weighted towards the bigger Orange dealers as they are the main source of connections.

Another Vegas trip will be awarded to the best new Hugh Symons dealer. Sweetlove said the best new dealer also is likely to come from the higher divisions.

The Hit The Strip promotion is one of a number of new Hugh Symons incentives for April.

The distributor is also offering a 60 bonus on Orange Talk Plan contracts and a free Java game worth 6.99 with every order of a Nokia handset.

Among forthcoming Hugh Symons dealer incentives this quarter 12 O2 dealers will have the chance to race performance cars at a Jonathon Palmer race day and T-Mobile dealers will be able to win Red Letter Day outdoor activities. Details have yet to be confirmed.

Ashley Simon 25 of Playfield Crescent East Dulwich raided the shop with an accomplice on January 16. Simon who had pleaded guilty was also placed on probation for 18 months.

The prosecutor told the court that two men wearing balaclavas went into the Orange shop just after 5pm and each snatched one of two phones being shown to a customer.

They ran out chased by an Orange shop employee. A passing police officer caught Simon but not the other raider.

Simon told police he had not wanted to commit the offence but that the other man had put him up to it because he owed him money.

Simons defence lawyer claimed he was not wearing a balaclavaalthough he did have a woolly hat on that was a meant as a disguise.

The barrister said Simon had committed the offence to pay off a drugs debt.

He was sentenced after the defence told the court his drug use was cannabis only not Class A substances.