Virgin Mobile is to launch the first UK-wide broadcast mobile TV service from October 1.

Channels on offer to subscribers on the Virgin Mobile Tellyphone will be BBC One ITV1 a special mobile version of Channel 4 and E4. Users will also be able to receive DAB digital radio.

The service which is provided by BT Movio the companys wholesale mobile broadcast entertainment arm also features an electronic programme guide.

At present the only compatible handset is the Lobster 700 which will be available from the launch date at Virgin Mobile outlets Virgin Megastores WHSmith and online. However Virgin promises more in the pipeline.

The Lobster 700 is Virgin Mobiles first Windows-based smartphone offering Windows Mobile functionality and Windows Media Player.

The service is free to existing customers on a contract tariff of GBP25 a month or more or GBP5 a month on pre-pay though there is an initial free three-month trial offer. The handset costs GBP199 on pre-pay

The launch will be backed by a TV ad campaign featuring a mystery celebrity from October 9.

An amendment to the existing Road Safety Bill which goes before Parliament for the last time in October proposes that the fine for driving and talking on a hand-held phone be increased from GBP30 to GBP60 with three penalty points on the drivers licence.

But campaign groups argued that hands-free kits are as distracting for drivers as hand-held mobile phones. Recent research by the University of Utah suggests that using a mobile phone while driving regardless of whether it is handheld or fixed to the dashboard is at least as dangerous as driving while over the legal alcohol limit.

Kathy Keeler head of campaigns at national road safety charity Brake said: Talking on a hands-free set is almost as dangerous as using a handheld mobile phone. Compared with listening to the radio or talking to a passenger in the car there is significantly more impairment when using a hands-free kit.

Emily Crawford policy and campaigns officer at the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety said: The impairment primarily occurs through distraction from the conversation not from taking a hand off the wheel.

Stephan Krafft channel marketing manager at German car-kit manufacturer Bury Technologies said: Of course every phone conversation distracts the driver. But it is the same as the driver chatting to a passenger in the car. You cant ban conversation from the car.

Nokia UK head of communications Mark Squires said: A total ban would be hard to quantify because it would by extension require legislation for in-car entertainment systems which are usually much more difficult to operate than car-kits. The same goes for chatting to other passengers drinking and eating behind the wheel and so forth.

He added: The existing legislation is sufficient. If the police believe that the driver is doing anything that can affect his control of a vehicle then they can act. We are up to our eyes in legislation. It is a question of driver education.

Mobile users are losing interest in music downloads according to a survey by music research firm Entertainment Media Research.

The survey of mainly 18- to 34-year-old music consumers carried out in association with law firm Olswang found that although 46 per cent expressed a preference for using a music phone rather than an MP3 player to listen to music on the move only four per cent were very likely to start downloading content any time soon.

Though the survey found that slightly more users expressed some interest in downloading – 25 per cent compared with 21 per cent a year ago – the numbers actually doing so are currently only 11 per cent of the sample. This means that nearly half of users who claim to be interested in downloads fail to start.

Instead the survey reveals two-thirds of consumers share music with friends. It contends that mobile downloads have attracted early adopters but failed to reach a wider audience and also reveals a wide lack of understanding about digital rights management and copyright law.

The findings have implications for 3G take-up as fast music and other content downloads have been touted as the key benefit of the technology. Even among 3G users only one in five use their phone to download music according to a recent report by music industry trade body the IFPI.

Fone Logistics head of marketing Julien Parven said: Fulfilment is a really important channel to us and will offer particular growth – to the point that we may well set it up as a standalone business outside of the regular dealer distribution business in the next 12 months. It gives dealers a real chance to compete with the multiples on acquisition because there isnt the same concern for stock holding and overheads. It frees up more money for acquisition.

Sales for August are tracking at 28 per cent up on July largely on the back of good fulfilment numbers on 3 connections and Orange upgrades. Parven reckons fulfilment will grow 15 per cent by the end of September.

Fone Logistics appointed former Dextra/4U new business head Michael Jordan as business development manager two weeks ago. Jordan will drive its fulfilment business into specialist and non-specialist multiple retailers.

Our fulfilment business is ripe for expansion and we will now be able to reap the rewards for our considerable investment in the backbone and infrastructure of the system said Fone Logistics director of network sales Giulio Laise.

Hyde insisted that T-Mobile valued its channel relationships and that it was committed to third-party distribution in the long-term.

We continue to be focused on third-party distribution as a very important channel for us he said As long as Im here you will never hear T-Mobile in the UK saying we no longer want to do business with third-party distribution.

Hyde acknowledged that there had been some concern from dealers and that regaining trust that had been engendered over the last few months might take some time but he said that any channel players that the network was keen on continuing relationships with any dealers that were prepared to embrace T-Mobiles customer values.

We have to make sure wherever you see the T-Mobile brand it stands for the same thing he said. Those partners who are willing to help us deliver that experience we are absolutely happy to have a relationship with them long-term. Those partners who arent as interested in aligning goals well thats not really a partnership.
See feature

The decision means that low-end handsets which were previously protected with software encryption will now have hardware encryption fitted. Essentially this means the only way to unlock the handset is by requesting a key from the manufacturer to unlock it. It is hoped the move will clamp down on the problem of box breaking by making the whole process more difficult.

Marcus Dacom head of product marketing at Nokia said: Essentially we are constantly looking to improve our security platforms. Also we are now putting a lock that was previously only on our top-end 3G phones into low-end handsets.

Dacom explained: By changing our security measures on low-end phones we hope to make the phones safer. Now hard-coding will be built into the architecture of the phone. Basically this means that the user will need to re-programme the phone to make it work.

Mark Squires head of communications at Nokia said: This move is a direct response to retailers and operators. Box breaking is a big concern and this should certainly help to combat it. It is good news for the whole market. We have already extended our warranty so it is now only active in the country the phone was purchased in. This helps break the cycle of people box breaking and then selling handsets abroad.

Squires adds: The operators have welcomed this move and Im sure the public will too.

Thousands of mobile phone and CPU traders have been informed that their bank accounts will be closed by September 15 because of pressure from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). More traders are expected to go out of business as a result.

The First Curacao International Bank (FCIB) based in the Dutch Antilles was a last resort for UK mobile phone traders after all major UK high-street banks ended their relationships with the trade late last year. But the FCIB has now also handed notice to customers involved in the trade of mobile phones and CPUs.

Up to 300 traders in the UK and EU received e-mails from the FCIB earlier this month which stated that their accounts had been suspended following service on the FCIB of a court order relating to the seizure of documents in connection with suspected criminal activities.

Last week an e-mail was sent to all other CPU and mobile phone traders which gave notice that their accounts would be closed on September 15 and that they had until August 31 to make any wire transfers out of their accounts.

The FCIB said in the e-mail that the processing of wire transfers for the telecoms and computer trader market has become increasingly difficult if not impossible. The move was also put down to the position of HMRC in the UK with respect to this particular market segment. However traders have so far been unable to transfer funds out of their accounts ahead of closure. Wire transfers have been blocked by the FCIB. Traders have been requested to supply further documentation to enable the transfer but even the provision of the relevant information has not seen their funds released.

The FCIB will not release the court orders relating to the bank accounts voluntarily. Birmingham-based Dass Solicitors is in court in the Dutch Antilles this week to get the court orders and traders funds released. Cassandra Moore legal executive at Dass Solicitors said: The limited banking options now available for trading companies will most certainly result in a significant number of companies becoming insolvent.

The advertisement in question was listed in the Carphone Warehouse Buyers Guide for the Fresh mobile phone network. It stated it was the UKs cheapest pay-as-you-go network and then listed a table for cross-network calls per minute for a number of networks including Tesco Mobile Standard with Fresh the cheapest package shown.

Tesco challenged the advertisement however saying the claim The UKs cheapest pay-as-you-go network was misleading because it believed other tariffs offering better value for money were left out.

A Carphone Warehouse spokesman said: Tariffs were excluded from the comparison chart where there was a requirement for a customer to take additional steps such as a minimum monthly top-up to benefit from prices cheaper than or equivalent to those offered by Fresh.

However the ASA upheld the Tesco complaint and ruled that from August 1 it would no longer be able to run the ad in its buyers guide. Instead The Carphone Warehouse was forced to change the wording to our best value pay-as-you-go network.

A Tesco Mobile spokeswoman said: The Carphone Warehouse was claiming its Fresh mobile tariff was the cheapest UK pay-as-you-go tariff and conveniently didnt mention our Tesco Mobile Value tariff which offers the same prices for calls and texts. The ASA adjudication will not allow it to continue advertising its Fresh tariff in this way or make this claim.  

She added: We are very pleased that the ASA has upheld this complaint and that consumers will not continue to be misled.

The new application means Nokia users no longer have to send their handsets to Nokia service centres and network operators no longer have to recall handsets when they go awry to install updates. It represents potentially huge logistical savings for operators and financial savings to Nokia not to mention convenience for Nokia customers.

At present the software updater works with the Nokia N70 N72 6131 6630 6680 6681 and 6682. It will be made available across its Series 60 handsets during the autumn.

Nokia UK head of communications Mark Squires said: The first thing is customer satisfaction because customers can now flash their own phones with software updates. It means theyre not wasting time and money.

There is an operator benefit too and it also means staff in our repair centres can spend time on repairing phones rather than flashing new software on to them.

Orange said that fixes were implemented on August 14 following earlier difficulties and that new fixes will be applied to the system this week.

A spokesperson said: This is being treated as a high priority and the Orange technical team is currently investigating the problem. The full extent of the resolution will depend on the outcome of ongoing investigations.

We also recognise that there are long call waiting times for registering customers. We have allocated extra staff to handle these calls and so reduce the waiting time. We are aware how frustrating this is for our dealers and customers and are taking urgent actions to improve the position.