Rob Conway chief executive of industry body the GSMA said: These proposals are designed to further a narrow short-term and populist agenda and run counter to the wider interests of consumers the business community and ultimately the European Union.

The regulation agreed on May 23 by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers and backed by the UK House of Lords sets a cap of 0.49 (33p) a minute for roaming calls within the EU and a maximum charge of 0.24 to receive a roaming call. These rates are to fall to 0.43 and 0.19 respectively by 2009.

Customers will have three months after the regulation is adopted to choose whether they want to opt for the Eurotariff or an operator-provided package. If they do not make a choice the Eurotariff will apply by default.

The European Commission will re-evaluate the regulation after it has been in effect for three years.

Although the charges were scheduled to take effect by the end of June ministers in the Council of the EU are pushing for the new rates to come into effect earlier.

The GSMA has branded the regulation unnecessary and predicted it would curb competition and harm consumers. UK networks offer better roaming packages than the regulatory caps will deliver it claimed.

Conway said: The regulation is unnecessary as operators are delivering increasingly good value on roaming services. The average cost of calls in Europe is now 29 per cent lower than in 2005.

He added: Most of the network price plans offer volume discounts that are better value for many customers than rigid price caps. Under some plans he noted the cost of a two-minute outgoing call on the most popular roaming routes can be as little as 0.33 a minute.

Price declines have been driven by innovation and competition and have been achieved without the market distortions and unintended consequences that would be caused by regulation he said.

Vodafone argued that its customers had already seen the average cost of European voice roaming fall by over 40 per cent since summer 2005 with the introduction of Vodafone Passport and Vodafone World.

Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said: Twelve million customers have chosen our Passport tariff which already offers a better deal than the proposed Eurotariff.

Networks also complained the regulation required them to contact all their customers within a month of its introduction to inform them of the changes. It would also be difficult to move customers to new tariffs in the required time frame they said.

But the House of Lords EU internal market sub-committee chairman Lord Freeman said the European Parliament was right to introduce the roaming caps. However he criticised the decision to include caps on retail charges expressing concern they would stifle competition and discourage innovation.

Freeman said: People have been overcharged for using their phones abroad for too long and it has become clear the market would not have resolved this issue alone. This vote should ensure we move towards a fairer system.

However we feel averaged wholesale caps rather than retail price caps could have ensured customer savings while maintaining competition and innovation.

The vote was hailed a victory for consumers by the European Parliaments Socialist Group but not drastic enough.

Mobile phone operators are making huge profits from us all and we could have gone further said Maltese Socialist MEP Joseph Muscat.

Microsoft UK mobility business manager Jason Langridge said: All the major networks are on board and weve recently added LG and Toshiba to our handset range.

The upgraded service allows users to view emails in their original HTML format and displays text and images as they would be seen on a PC. It also integrates Windows Live Messenger and supports live mail.

The deal has seen the creation of Unique Telecom a division of Unique providing a one-stop business solution to compliment its existing mobile convergence propositions.

Daisy and Unique have developed four products for small and medium businesses including highly competitive call tariffs and discounts against BT Retail line rentals plus three bundled solutions including inclusive minutes line rental and broadband options. Customers can also tailor-make their own tariffs and will have access to Daisys online billing as well as business advisors.

Uniques business partners will receive up-front commission payments and a wider product portfolio including greater business mobile handsets and accessories from Nokia and Samsung mobile push email and data solutions support services and IMEI management along with VoIP and O2 business connections.

Daisy CEO Matthew Riley said: The relationship lets Unique business partners expand into fixed-line while Daisys products are taken to a completely new customer base.

Daisy has provided Unique with highly trained field and office staff while business partners have access to a comprehensive portfolio of dual-branded POS and sales tools.

Unique chairman John McFarnon said: We have developed the service to mirror the mobile contract commission concept where payments of up to £125 per line provide an exciting new revenue stream for independent mobile specialist resellers targeting business users.

A 3 spokesman admitted: Its about refreshing the point of sale. Its a standard procedure for all dealers not just Q Club members. Dealers who arent meeting expectations will be asked to take them down. They won¹t be replaced.

Dealers were baffled but unsurprised. Karl May joint owner of Manchester-based MK Mobiles said: 3 told me to take its stands down. Without them how do we draw attention to its offers?

One Cardiff dealer said: It hardly surprises me. It is another rash move on 3s part.

Many B2B dealers showed interest in the Sat Nav device at its Unity seminar last month.

HSC sales manager Carlos Pestana said: Work is another part of the customer-led proposition Hugh Symons is offering. It offers attractive commercials creating additional customer contact and a better chance to tie customers into their business.

Langford was killed after a confrontation with Kes Ingoldsby 18 and James Diggins 19 in a chip shop in Henley. He fell and cracked his skull after a bad-tempered exchange. A jury cleared them on the grounds they acted in self defence.

The court heard Langford challenged the pair and the jury accepted there was provocation despite Diggens admission he had punched Langford in the face.

The head of BTs Fusion endeavour has been elected as the new chairman of the Fixed-Mobile Convergence Alliance (FMCA).

Steve Andrews is BTs chief of converged communication services and will lead the global alliance of telecom operators as it attempts to accelerate the development of convergence products and services.

Andrews said: I am delighted to be taking the chair of this prestigious organisation which does so much good work in smoothing the path for convergence through global operators agreeing standards which allow services to work together. It is going to be an exciting year for convergence especially at BT. Shortly we will be launching the WiFi version of BT Fusion and we have committed to create a first phase of 12 Wireless Cities across the UK by early next year.

The FMCA has just become a legally incorporated organisation and has 26 member operators including AT&T Deutsche Telekom KPN and PCCW serving 800 million customers worldwide. The FMCA was founded by BT and was chaired in the past by former BT executive Ryan Jarvis.

The FMCA has also launched a vendor affiliation programme to encourage greater collaboration between operators and vendors and accelerate the development of new products and services.

The programme addresses the need for products and services to work together seamlessly and increase support for new industry-wide standards.

The FMCA is focusing on identifying common specifications for dual-mode WiFi-enabled handsets with more than 25 converged devices forecast for release by mid-2007.

T-Mobile is collaborating with music giant EMI to trial ad-supported mobile video. The service is already running on the mobile network with ads provided through Rhythm NewMedia.

The service offers UK users free access to mobile video content embedded with television-style advertising. T-Mobile customers get an electronic programme guide on their handset to guide them through content choices including news entertainment and sport.

The music element of the trial will feature music videos from EMI UK artists such as Lilly Allen Gorillaz The Kooks or Robbie Williams. Videos will be packaged and streamed with specifically targeted advertisements from advertisers including Coca Cola Zero Gillette Land Rover and Nike.

T-Mobile executive vice-president of business development and innovation Tony Kypreos said: We see mobile as the key emerging platform to address many of the shortcomings of traditional media today. We see 2007 as the year of deployment across our geographic base.

EMI Music UK and Ireland chairman and CEO Tony Wadsworth added: We are experimenting with a number of new business models to fulfill demand while at the same time ensuring that artists are fully compensated for their work. We think well learn more about what fans want from mobile music in this trial.

Finnish manufacturer Benefon launches its first consumer SatNav device under the TWIG brand next week backed by a 2.5 million euro advertising campaign.

Benefon CEO Jonathan Bate reckons the device will shift 10000-20000 units all via 20:20 Logistics with significant take-up during the Christmas shopping window.

Bate said: Not only will consumers have their own personal navigation
device but the channel will have a premium product to sell crucial in the run-up to the all-important Christmas market and operators a new suite of services that will further drive-up data usage.

The TWIG Discovery combines GPS navigation and location-based services with GSM telephony in a bar-style handset. It will be available across the channel from next week pitched at 29- to 45-year-old males at a mid- to high-tier price point. None of the high street multiples has an exclusive on the device.

Until now Benefon has concentrated on niche B2B market segments.

The Benefon brand has been around for a long time but the
company has been in survival mode for the past few years said Bate. The products by and large have been clunkers. But they have all featured GPS telematics and tracking – applications no other mobile phone has run – and theyve been sold into the business space. It has trickled along in that space with very little competition.

Benefon will launch five more TWIG-branded devices next year designed by Ross Lovegrove the winner of the World Technology Award for Design who has designed consumer products for Sony Apple Louis Vuitton and Tag Heuer. The Benefon brand will be faded out on next years handsets remaining only as the companys trading name.

Carphone Warehouse supply chain director Giles Harvey speaking at the Retail Week Supply Chain Conference vowed that the growth of the company would continue.

Harvey advised delegates at the conference how to link the consumer into the supply chain for a seamless operation. He pointed up the changes he has made to the supply chain at Carphone.

He said: The customer is king. You need to understand consumer demand and deliver their needs. Carphone is growing incredibly fast and the growth will continue.

The trial of VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) has shown promising results with improvements in the inventory systems and the availability of products. VMI is currently only being used in the UK which only counts for 50 per cent of the business. The next challenge is to improve the supply chain across Europe.