The area affected by the eclipse has been boosted by coverage from 16 temporary transmitters to handle the expected surge in calls.

We have committed a significant amount of money and resources to ensure our network is operating to its full potential said BTCellnet technology director Mike Tiplady.

The last total eclipse visible in the UK was in 1927 when three million people travelled by public transport into northern England Tiplady added.

BTCellnet says surveys indicate that up to two million visitors may visit the South West in the eclipse week. Extra traffic from as far north as Birmingham is expected to clog the roads in the area of totality in Cornwall and Devon.

As well as the deployment of temporary transmitters BTCellnet has also increased network capacity and completed new permanent transmitters in the area.

The Ultimate Fone box was launched in the UK at the beginning of this years Grand Prix season in partnership with BTCellnet and F1 Racing magazine.

The same package will now be replicated in Ireland but will be based on Eircells Ready-to-Go pre-pay tariff and instead of a Philips Diga will comprise a Siemens C10 handset and 30 of call-time credit along with a range of Formula One merchandise.

This includes a free Grand Prix video Grid 99 a limited edition key-ring and discounted subscription to F1 Racing.

With the Football Phone KIT and The Ultimate Fone we have two strong pre-pay propositions said European Telecom business development director Peter Cox.

This partnership (with Eircell) demonstrates our ability to bring these products to the wider markets and is an initiative we are seeking to emulate throughout Europe the Middle East and Africa.

Formula One is popular in Ireland. For the last three years Eircell has sponsored RTEs F1 television coverage.

The Ultimate Fone package is now in stores in Ireland retailing at IR 89. Eircell is spending IR 70000 on an ad campaign on television and in the national press and will receive further coverage from its sponsorship of television coverage of the F1 Championship.

The tests are designed to further establishing WAP as a global standard for mobile data communication. The tests will ascertain how Ericsson and Nokia WAP phones can exchange information. Nokia and Ericsson are two of the four co-founders of the WAP Forum and have introduced WAP services for wireless digital markets.

The batteries are made by Electric Fuel Company. Banner expects to sell a million of them by its third year of distribution.

Fone Range a few months ago announced it had the exclusive agreement to distribute the foil-wrapped batteries. A Fone Range spokesperson said:

After futher testing the product did not meet all of our requirements. Also the range of models available was insufficient and inconsistent with the companys policy of offering acessories for as many of the handsets available in the UK as possible. Fone Range was only offered a limited range.

Banner Telecom says it will provide the batteries initially for the Nokia 5100 6100 and 7100 series as well as the Ericsson 800 and 100 and Motorola MicroTAC series.

Intec was formed five years ago and now claims to be South of Englands largest service centre processing more than 20000 phones a month with a guaranteed turnaround time of 48 hours. The company says this will double in a year.

The organisation says it is accredited by more than 14 manufacturers.

A statement from the company said:

Lesley has made a valuable contribution to the company. This was an amicable and mutual agreement reached at the end of an initial three-month contract.

Angus joined the company from Virgin Group and had also previously worked for the Disney organisation.

There are no plans to immediately replace Angus.

The nights will consist of monthly evenings bringing together established DJs from around Europe.

This sector of the market is growing faster than any other so NEC brand recognition is vital.

That means being part of the territory and lifestyle which drives the audience said NEC commercial manager Andy Press.

Generally we pay little attention to the supermarket prices and sell on our knowledge and after-sales services. I lost patience when I realised Tesco was selling the C12 for 49.99 when we pay between 42 and 51 from 20:20 said Phone Shop manager John Miller.

The Phone Shops advertisement appeared on the front page of the local newspaper and by 9.30am that morning three journalists had contacted the dealership. Press photographers also visited the shop.

The manager of the local Tesco store arrived around 9.45am looking particularly stern Miller said.

The story reached The Sun The Times and the front page of the Yorkshire Evening Post. It even featured in the Posts Comment page.

Tesco responded such competition was good for the consumer and mentioned a no-quibble guarantee on the phones it sold.

But Miller claims he gets a disillusioned Tesco phone customer in his shop at least once a day.

I challenged a member of Cellnets sales and marketing team to justify their policy. The response was an unbelievable we didnt know Tesco was going to sell the C12s just the Diga.

What did Cellnet think Tesco was going to do with the C12s. Stack them in a warehouse?

I worked for Cellnet for more than seven years helping to develop and nurture the dealer channel under the guidance of David Reavley and Mark Riley.

I have been loyal to Cellnet. In the last year though I find myself extolling the virtues of Orange as we know at least they wont be offering our customers cut-price upgrades and additional handsets.

We now see the networks happy to see the multiples selling goods at lower prices than independent dealers can purchase them.

The day has arrived when Cellnet and Vodafone in particular (the others to a lesser extent) have killed much of the retail business of the small independent by allowing others to give the impression we overcharge Miller added.

Vodafone came in at number two with One 2 One ranked fourth. Orange came in at number five and BTCellnet followed up in ninth place.

Deutsche Telekom and Telecom Italia were least talked about probably because of their falling out of the One 2 One auction.