August appears to have been a bumper month across the board for the channel. However September looks like marking the start of a dark autumn for T-Mobile while 3s star may be rising again.

Dealers appear to have done well by Orange recently as customers responded well to the expanded and segmented tariffs but a reduction in money into the channel means that demand for its propositions may fall away throughout this month.

MoCo Distribution director of communications and operations Harvey Alexander noted that business was unseasonally good over the last two months. August hasnt been like previous years where things have been a bit wafty. This year weve just done our two best ever months he said.

September may not be so good a month for Orange however with cuts in commissions dampening demand especially in the business market. The real beneficiary from the fall in T-Mobile contracts will be 3 said Alexander.

3 has really picked up he said. The most popular tariffs are Video Talk and Text 700 and 1100. Now 3 has got the Nokia handsets it knocks over 50 per cent of the objections to the network. We think 3 is going to be strong in September because the demand for T-Mobile is not coming back.

For an extended version of this story check out the next edition of Mobile News

The permanent technology installed by Swiftpass will enable the charity to save money reduce paper ticket waste and reduce queuing time for visitors.

The Eden Project is leading the adoption of mobile ticketing technology with the UKs first permanent installation said Swiftpass CEO Oliver Seal. To be able to improve the visitors experience while simultaneously making cost savings is an exciting prospect for the attraction. The reduction in paper ticket waste is an added bonus.

Swiftpass delivers a secure digital ticket directly to the consumers mobile phone. The ticket is then scanned and validated at the entrance enabling fast entry.

Eden Project head of ICT Jon Curry said: With school holidays upon us the Eden Project is entering its busiest time of the year. Mobile ticketing will help us relieve the pressures of queuing and in so doing greatly improve our overall customer experience.

He added: It will also help us to streamline ticket distribution and redemption. The reduction in paper waste also supports our commitment to becoming waste neutral.

PrizePlay titles include Monopoly Snakes and Ladders Triple Towers Mah Jong Star Trek Poke Battle and Goldenballs.

UK content manager Neil Holroyd said: The games are extremely addictive and provide great entertainment for the casual gamer. The opportunity to win merchandise just by playing is a breakthrough in mobile entertainment.

To encourage trial T-Mobile users playing a PrizePlay game between August 14 and October 2 are entered into a daily draw to win an Apple iPod Nano.

Dealers signing up to Shebangs Sellfone 3G electronic retail management system can now connect 3 airtime contracts. It is the first time Shebang has been awarded official distributor status by a network.

Shebang managing director Iain Humphrey said he was in talks with the other UK networks about further airtime contracts.

It is the first network we have been officially allowed to distribute he said. We are allowed to distribute 3 to online Sellfone users which total over 400 dealerships. We would like to provide airtime connections on all networks and are involved in ongoing talks to achieve that.

We are only interested in building distribution relationships with Sellfone users. That is what makes us different from other UK distributors. We can offer a more technologically advanced service.

Humphrey is gearing up to launch new versions of the Sellfone 3G software for web retail call centre sales and the B2B market in the next few months.

(See feature)

The survey ranked O2 as ?Excellent placing it in the top five per cent of sites globally.

The survey ranked 14 telecoms firms on how they treated online users in the third quarter of 2006.

Customers make assumptions on a company and its brand based on the online experience said Customer Respect Group spokesman Matthias Bohler.

The service will allow customers to access any web site on their mobile for no more than GBP1 a day.

Phil Chapman director of marketing for T-Mobile UK said: No other operator lets its customers browse the ?real Internet from their handset. WebnWalk enables people to check out the sites that are personal to them not just a prescribed number of partner sites as offered by other operators.

All new WebnWalk devices are designed to connect to the Internet from the moment of purchase.

The range of WebnWalk handsets on pre-pay include popular devices such as the Motorola V3 and Nokia 6131.

Contract customers on T-Mobile can pay GBP7.50 a month for unlimited mobile web browsing.

Dubbed the O2 Ice The slim candy bar phone has video capabilities and allows users to stream downloaded videos sent from friends and families.

The handset features an inbuilt MP3 player and a 1.3 megapixel camera with zoom.

The O2 Ice combines a phone camera and video recorder in an all-in-one digital device commented an O2 spokeswoman.

The handset which has WAP will be available from GBP99 on pre-pay or free on contract only from O2 stores.

Korel had agreed to take the role as part of the senior management revamp that followed the appointment of Tanny Price as managing director at the beginning of May but was required to work out his notice at service provider Telecom Plus.

Korel said: Avenir is an extremely well-run business in all aspects including finance so I cannot envisage any major changes unless changes in business circumstances dictate.

Avenir managing director Tanny Price said: We are lucky to have a mix of dedicated channel staff and excellent support and services. We are committed to aggressively taking our company forward. We are confident that Brians knowledge of the industry and his financial experience will help in the smooth running of Avenir.

Prior to Telecom Plus where he was head of finance and company secretary for four years Korel held positions at Vodafone service provider Peoples Phone which was acquired by Vodafone and Betacom in the late 1980s.

Customers upgrading to an 18-month tariff and spending over GBP35 a month are promised unlimited service of specific services.

Orange vice-president of marketing Jean-Pascal van Overbeke said: During the four months since we launched our animal tariffs we have continued to learn from our customers about how each group uses their mobile. It is now time to use this insight to make the packages more relevant and make sure we are providing Orange customers with great value.

In the new deal customers with a Dolphin package will receive unlimited texts Racoon users will get unlimited calls to landlines Canary package users will receive unlimited evening and weekend calls and Panther users will receive unlimited off-peak texts.

The new offer will be supported by a GBP5 million TV ad campaign.

His resignation follows in the footsteps of UK CEO Bill Morrow who left last month to spend time with his family in the US.

Miles will be succeeded by Steve Pusey a senior executive at communications provider Nortel.

Pusey said: The strategic priority will be to reduce capital and operating costs and ensure Vodafone differentiates its offerings in the marketplace.

Miles said he was sorry to go but that Pusey would be an excellent successor.

Miles sudden departure follows a string of high profile exits from the firm over the last few months. Most notable departures include Keith Varty distributor channel manager Richard Hurring head of commercial partnerships Chris Huggett director of enterprise sales Jason Rigby senior manager of business partnerships and Iain Graham head of dealer sales.