So says telecoms analysts group Ovum which is predicting a rebirth of the global telecoms business as it moves from the current situation where bandwidth is scarce and expensive to one where bandwidth is plentiful and extremely cheap.

Ovum says the big change will come when networks change to Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure rather than traditional circuit switched systems.

This will mean that data and voice networks will merge and voice traffic will just be treated as packets of data.

The technology will exist for networks to offer unlimited bandwidth at a fixed price with distance and geography becoming irrelevant in terms of cost.

The transport of traffic will become the least expensive component of transmitting services.

This will make bandwidth a commodity and the emphasis will move to the pricing packaging and management of services says Ovum analyst Stephen Young.

Ovum predicts all these changes will turn current telecom pricing on its head and will create new market structures with new types of players as well as transforming the way current network operators are run.

In highly competitive markets not everyone succeeds. We anticipate a degree of consolidation as some players who have overstretched their finances fail to meet thier targets Young warns.

The Phone People will sponsor the traffic and travel news as well as running a heavyweight ad campaign on the Galaxy stations.

Galaxy represented a great opportunity for us to target a younger audience in the areas that cover all of our stores said The Phone Peoples sales and marketing director Paul Diffin.

Cosmodus Bullicks new venture has become a licensee and partner of Montreal firm Future Strategy which claims to be world leaders in providing software-based management solutions.

Cosmodus says it will also provide sales and presentation training as well as undertaking market analysis for telecoms companies.

Bullick worked at Proctor & Gamble in a range of sales and marketing roles before joining Motorola eight years ago.

Customers dial 9747 (geddit?) to request an account balance which is sent as a short message.

The service is part of a 1.2 million investment by Air Miles to improve access to customers to a range of travel services over the internet and mobile media. The network will also flash messages about special Air Miles to phones.

Currently internet users and GSM users are growing at almost parallel exponential rates but content providers have not yet seen the business potential of mobile internet services Reinisch believes.

It is proper mobile internet content that will help the introduction of higher data transmission speeds in the mobile market.

GSM is already prepared to handle future radio access systems for UMTS and is ideally positioned to support the higher data rates and multimedia services that will be in demand from mobile users

To ensure UMTS is successful a phased introduction is needed. GSM is already moving towards non-voice services such as the short message service (SMS).

In some countries SMS is the fastest growing service. The introduction of higher speed data services for GSM later this year will be the key step in preparing operators for UMTS operations.

This phased approach will mean operators move up the technology chain to become familiar with non-voice applications as more and more services go wireless.

Applications will be the key to unlocking the potential of wireless non-voice services. There is no single killer application that will do this.

Success will depend on the culture of the country and the willingness of users to pay for value-added services said Reinisch.

The award which started in 1980 is given to companies that can show achievement in wealth creation employment generation and enterprise in design manufacture and marketing of products and services.

Orange chief executive Hans Snook was presented with the Award by trade and Industry secretary Stephen Byers at an awards lunch at the Savoy Hotel.

Polythium batteries are thinner (3.5 mm) lighter (19 grams) and more flexible than usual lithium batteries and so more adaptable to different formats.

Saft will be manufacturing 5000 cells per day by September with a ramp up to more than six million cells annually by the end of 2000.

Mobile phones are the immediate target for Polythium batteries but they are also suited to other portable markets such as palm tops notebooks and even smart cards. It is possible to make batteries as thin as 1mm.

Revenues increase 400 per cent to 12.1 million compared with 2.8 million in 1998.

Minutes sold increased from 12 million to 48 million and are now now running at 80 million a year.

Earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation of goodwill reached 633k. The customer base more than doubled to 66000 connected numbers up from 28000 a year ago.

The Company is now a virtual network able to market a range of telecoms products and services at favourable margins without the encumbrance of a capital-intensive switch-based network said The Personal Number Company CEO Geremy Thomas.

NEC has sponsored Harlequins for the last three years.

Our relationship with NEC harlequins has made a valuable contribution to the profile of NEC since the sponsorship began said NEC Mobile Phones commercial manager Andy Press.

NEC last month launched its first phones for the One 2 One network. The DB500 and DB2000 phones were adapted to support One 2 One customer service features.

The two organisations marked their alliance by releasing 10000 balloons. The finder of the balloon which travelled furthest in the country from its launch site at Borehamwood won a new NEC One 2 One phone and 50 of free calls.

Part of the change to the stores is an extension of the communications centres to provide more space for selling phones from all four networks. Tandy was acquired by The Carphone Warehouse earlier this year.

This is part of our plan to drive business forward as we reposition ourselves said Tandy marketing controller Harminder Sidhu.

We have changed our in-store layout to provide customers with a more user-friendly experience and greater choice.