A report that the service is being delayed appeared in The Guardian (see Prime Cuts this page).

We have always maintained that we would launch in the second half of the year a H3G spokesperson told Mobile News.

All we have said is that we will launch in Q4. We never stated that we would launch in September.

The spokesman agreed sources within Hutchison 3Gs largest shareholder Hutchison Whampoa had mentioned September as a possible launch date but maintains that Hutchison 3G has never taken this position.

Meanwhile former One 2 One sales director John Barton officially took up his position as Hutchison 3G director of sales and distribution last week after an extended period of gardening leave following his departure from One 2 One in

January.

Barton who has held senior positions at Phones 4U Talkland and Cellnet will be responsible for developing Hutchison 3G sales channels with distributors dealers and H3Gs own flagship stores.

The used line starts at 5 for handsets including the Motorola Flare Graphite and Memphis and rises to include the Motorola V66 which Intec offers for 159 new 150 14-day and 125 quality used and the Nokia 8850 which is offered at 208 new 195 14-day and 170 quality used.

The range consists of handsets between three and 12 months old. The line runs alongside Intecs existing 14-day new phone range.

Charlo Carabott business development director says:

We had been exporting these sorts of phones for months. Then we noticed more dealers saying they needed cheaper handsets.

Dealers are finding more and more pre-pay customers whose handsets have started to fall apart. They bought their phones cheaply when handsets were heavily subsidised and they already have a Sim card. They dont want to pay 99 for a new handset. They dont want an expensive phone they are just looking for a handset that gets them connected.

Carabott says dealers also want cheap phones for replacement handsets during repairs.

He says the new line will not affect sales of existing 14-day stock:

Consumers who buy 14-day stock are generally new connectors. They want 14-day handsets for 20 cheaper and prefer to save the money. This customer isnt going to buy a quality used. It is a different market.

By introducing a used line we are allowing traders to satisfy a new market. The customer gets his cheap phone. The dealer makes the sale and we get a bit of money too.

Carabott also says that in many cases it would cost Intec more to return substandard 14-day phones than it does to sell them on as quality used. Demand is such that where Intec would have exported over 90 per cent of its quality used that figure is now down to 60 per cent.

All used handsets are checked by a qualified engineer.

The memory is cleared and reset to factory settings. The units come complete with battery charger and a three-month guarantee.

Meanwhile Intec has been appointed by Vodafone as a

Preferred Service Supplier to provide the networks retail aftersales programme with full handset repair and servicing support.

Intec has appointed a dedicated management team to handle all reporting procedures on Vodafone customer repairs in process.

Intec which repairs over 30000 handsets a month in its North

London service centre calculates that the Vodafone deal will mean a workload of at least an extra 6000 handsets a month.

Says Intec managing director Harry Ramis:

We impressed upon Vodafone not only our accreditation by all leading handset manufacturers but our ability to deliver a 24-hour turnaround on most repairs.

Intec says it will recruit at least another 150 engineers and support staff during the next few months.

Unemployed Mark Njimogu (20) has been charged with using criminal deception to obtain a Nokia 3310 from Comet Direct by using someone elses credit card.

He was remanded on bail until July 22. He is similarly charged with obtaining a TV set from Comet.

Imark will co-locate the show alongside its three other IT and telecoms exhibitions (Comms

Channel Expo Computer Trade Show and Computer Retail Show to be held next April at the NEC in Birmingham). Mobilexpo was due to take place last month but was cancelled due to lack of exhibitors.

This was blamed by Reed on the general telecoms downturn.

Mobile Future developed a sub 10-second WAP connectivity service used by customers of the Woolwich Open Plan WAP banking service.

Last month it launched a colour WAP football service called People on the Pitch with Sony Ericsson which allowed T68i handset owners to view World Cup information over WAP in full colour.

A lack of demand for the companys products and services is being blamed on the companys collapse. The first signs of trouble came early last week when the company sent out a statement saying:

Demand for the companys products and services has not materialised to the extent originally anticipated. As a result of this situation the board recognises that the companys funding position may become untenable and that the company will not have sufficient working capital for its requirements.

Mobile Future is currently exploring all its strategic options. In the event that this process does not reach a successful conclusion the directors believe that it is unlikely that the company will be able to secure sufficient new funding to meet its commitments as they fall due. Consequently the directors would be obliged to instigate insolvency proceedings.

As of last week the company had not found any buyers and had ceased trading.

Cityphone marketing manager Julian Parven says the move is to allow Cityphone to concentrate on distribution:

Retail isnt our focus. The history and background of Cityphone is distribution. We only ended up with a chain of stores as many businesses went into trouble. We needed the stores to maintain our distribution said Parven.

Franchisees will be offered competitive commission on handsets and airtime. Cityphone will pay rent subsidies to the stores based on the amount of new contracts connected each month. The stores will come complete with an EPOS system that links into Cityphones distribution centre.

Franchisees will be also able to obtain licences to open stores in new locations using The WAP Store or Talk4All branding.

Cityphones Talk4All shops are based in the North East North West West Midlands and South London. The 30 WAP stores purchased in January this year are based in East Anglia Kent and Sussex. Parven claims that the franchise opportunity will offer dealers a better package than if they were to work directly with the networks.

Dealers wont get a better deal from the networks he said.

A letter was sent to Telecom South creditors last week by Woking based insolvency firm BTA Associates.

BTA consultant Michael Bowell declined to say whether the company was being wound up. However creditors have been asked to send details of any monies owed to them by Telecom South.

Telecom South is believed to owe hundreds of thousands of pounds to creditors. Dorset service provider Anglo Communications could be owed at least 200000 for airtime used by Telecom South customers.

Anglo business development director Alan Barry told Mobile News:

Telecom South had paid off around 50000 of a 250000 debt. We are not sure whether this will increase due to possible clawbacks.

Telecom South managing director Clive Thomas was unavailable for comment.

Unemployed Mark Geddis 27 of London had his bail plea rejected by District Judge Roger Davies who ordered him to appear at the Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.

He is charged with robbing Ryan Maher of 100 at Paddington train station at 4am on January 2.

In a similar case a Colombian chef charged with stealing credit cards and a mobile phone from a tourist has been jailed for four months while his wife who received the phone was given a hundred hours of community service.

Andreas Martinez and Ana Gutierrez of Camden London appeared at Horseferry Road Magistrates Court two days before Christmas.

Martinez had been found guilty of stealing credit cards from a tourists handbag at Ronnie Scotts nightclub in Soho London in February 2002 at a previous hearing. His wife was found guilty of dishonestly receiving a stolen Nokia phone.

Handsets have to be tailored so that they take into account the customers desires and the networks requirements. We have video on demand but there is no point in launching it if the networks arent ready said Samsung UK general manager Mark Mitchinson.

Samsung will only launch one phone this year. This will be the tri-band S100 which comes with GPRS Java colour screen and polyphonic sound. It will not be a camera phone to match those from Nokia Sharp and Sony Ericsson while MMS-capable phones will be launched next year.

Having created a wow effect with the colour screen and polyphonic sound of the T100 Samsung could have launched a new wave of handsets. But Mitchinson believes ensuring the products are tailored for the market is more important.

We dont want to rush out unreliable products like some of our competitors. It is more important to get the design right and ensure that when our product comes out it gives the best experience. Everyone is going to have colour screens polyphonic sound and MMS. Our goal is to ensure we have the best.

Everyone is trying to increase ARPU while at the same time moving away from a volume model. But sales staff still work on commissions. There is no point in manufacturers making great products and networks adding great packages if the retailer lets us down.

We need to be working with the retailers to ensure that they have all the help they need to sell the handsets.

To achieve this there will be more Samsung roadshows where dealers will learn about the products and liaise with Samsung merchandisers.

We have about 12 per cent of the UK handset market. In the independent channel this is seven per cent. So there is room to improve.

Mitchinson also said that the new handset lines would be high-end products.

It said it has yet to decide in which countries and in which sectors the redundancies will be in.

Alcatel spokesman Klaus Wustrack said:

The restructuring will take place after we have studied our various markets around the world. Once we have completed our studies we will negotiate with our individual social partners such as unions workers councils and the employees themselves.

Wustrack says the company is currently carrying out the evaluation phase.

The redundancies are part of Alcatels plan to have a total of 70000 staff by next year. Alcatel has four UK offices employing just under 1000 staff in Maidenhead Banbury Newport and Greenwich.