Sources claim that Vodafone will continue to cut ties with distributors through 2007 after it terminated Hugh Symons distribution contract before Christmas until only Yes Telecom and one other are left.

One source said: It had already decided to cut Hugh Symons contract. Everybody knew that. Stuart Henry bought Hugh Symons some time but Vodafone had already made up its mind. It will end up working with just Yes Telecom and one other [distributor].

Hugh Symons decided to pull Vodafone connections from its portfolio on January 1 after Vodafone dropped the package available to Hugh Symons dealers by around 50 per cent. Officially Hugh Symonss contract with Vodafone runs to March 31 but its diminished commercial terms preclude new connections.

Hugh Symons refused to comment.

Mobile News reported in November when Vodafone dropped Fone Logistics that Hugh Symons alongside Kent distributor MoCo would also be dropped. MoCo is no longer distributing Vodafone although it retains its status as a direct Vodafone dealer.

Contrary to reports in other press MoCo retains its distribution relationship with 3 and expects to ramp up sales when 3 launches its business offering in April. Distributors must connect 1000 consumer contracts per month to qualify for 3s accelerator bonus and MoCo has not consistently met targets.

But it maintains that its relationship with 3 remains in tact and that it has always been based on future business connections.

The appointment of Northamber the largest UK owned trade distributor of IT and communications equipment as a distribution partner sees the T-Mobile significantly boost its presence within the SME market.
According to T-Mobile head of indirect business sales Adrian Williams the new partnership will provide Northamber s IT reseller customers all 5000 of them with access to the complete range of T-Mobile products and services.
T-Mobile s product range will line up alongside Northamber s existing range of servers storage security laptops and desktop PCs printers software networking and components. The distributor s efforts will initially be focused on T-Mobile s 3.5G HSDPA Web n Walk card.
Williams says: Concentrating on the Web n Walk card to begin with makes sense. The product fits well with Northamber s existing product offering and gives it a simple proposition to put to its customers. We recognise that asking anyone to actively sell the complete T-Mobile portfolio from day one is a tall order.
Experience
Northamber has massive experience in this sector with an impressive customer base of key resellers. They understand their market which works in a very different way to our established distribution channels and they ll bridge the gap between us as a network and the IT reseller he says.
The launch of HSDPA is a significant development for IT resellers. There are also signs that manufacturers are looking to embed the technology in their laptops which will lead to widespread adoption.
Northamber will not be the only IT distributor on T-Mobile s books.
I think there s space for a handful of IT distributors to work side by side he says.
Northamber already has experience of deploying hardware and providing remote access. We re providing it with an extension to its existing product range. Northamber isn t looking to encroach on T-Mobile s existing distribution channels. We re mainly talking about a data focused proposition which provides a good fit for both of us. It s a long term initiative on our parts.
Hugh Symons business manager Bob Sweetlove believes that IT resellers are well-placed to sell into the SME community in theory.
Northamber is used to shifting boxes and making a margin on each box he says. How is it going to cope with a commission-based model? Or has T-Mobile rewritten the commercials for IT distributors?
The networks revisit the IT channel on a cyclical basis. T-Mobile is not breaking any new ground. Now that data is becoming a more viable proposition IT resellers are an attractive route to market.
Continues Sweetlove: It makes sense for T-Mobile to sell products like Web n Walk through IT resellers but what about the rest of the T-Mobile portfolio? How will the likes of Northamber deal with voice products and business contracts? I don t feel threatened or compromised. I m not frightened of competition from the IT sector.
Mobility
Fone Logistics head of marketing Julien Parven said: T-Mobile won t be the only ones to go down this route.
IT companies are not selling mobile they are selling mobility. These guys are used to selling infrastructure solutions and communications. The likes of Northamber are as much a service/solutions provider as they are a box shifter.
It makes sense for the guy looking after your IT infrastructure and corporate email inside the office to take care of it when it goes on the road. Rather than let the IT reseller muscle in on our market we need to look at moving into theirs. There are lots of similarities between mobile and IT channels. Both have distributors dealers and systems integrators. We have plans in place.
He goes on: The existing channel hasn t got behind Web n Walk; I don t think it s as compelling a proposition as T Mobile thinks. This could be a last ditch attempt to win it some penetration and market share.
Northamber was unavailable for comment as Mobile News went to press.

Northamber factfile
Founded in 1980
Largest UK-owned trade-only IT distributor
Vendor list includes: Acer

The concession on Harrods third floor was a Carphone Warehouse outlet until earlier this year. It features Vodafone s new store design so far rolled out to 72 of its 348 stores.
Vodafone head of retail Tom Devine said: Every handset we sell is available on pre-pay and because of the kind of customers we expect we will be stocking more high-end models. We usually sell two BlackBerrys a week in other stores but we ll sell more than that here.

Customers will have secure access to mini statements and balance enquiries from their mobile phone. Any information displayed is automatically deleted. No personal details are stored on the handset itself.
Alliance & Leicester director of e-commerce Ian Tandy said: Accessing banking details via a mobile phone is the next natural step and one we think our current account customers will embrace.

LG marketing manager John Bernard said: Jill will be sorely missed within LG Mobile. She helped grow the business from nothing to where it is today. We wish her the best of luck in the future.
Glenn who was LG Mobile s account manager for T-Mobile was one of the first to join its UK operation in 2003 ahead of its rise in the UK market on the back of 3. LG Mobile took seven per cent market share in 2004. It sold over one million handsets to T-Mobile during her tenure.

Jones joined in May following the merger of Dextra accessories and 4U airtime.
20:20 Mobile Group CEO Mark Ryan said: Chris joined us to review the business appraise opportunities and use his knowledge to help establish a budget for 2007. These tasks have now been completed.
Jones said: Next year is going to be tough for distribution. Dextra has one of the best chances in the industry of making things work. I leave Dextra on very good terms.
Jones who has held the sales director role at Nokia and several MD positions in the old Caudwell Group is looking at a couple of opportunities within the industry that would use Dextra s services.
Meanwhile Richard Bosson has been appointed as Dextra Solutions new commercial director. Ryan said Bosson had been appointed to strengthen the management team.

Meanwhile Orange vice president of sales Mike Newnham is looking for a replacement for former sales director Stuart Henry who left the business 13 months ago. Negotiations for three candidates collapsed at the last minute.
Newnham said: I have spent a huge amount of time looking for a sales director. We ll have an answer pretty soon.
He added: There hasn t been a wholesale shakeout. I recognise we ve lost Stuart and that he s high profile but the rest of the team is well established.

The legal move organised by the Federation of Technological Industries (FTI) will challenge HMRC s tactics of delaying and refusing traders VAT repayments pending extended verification enquiries that leave traders waiting up to a year for a decision on whether their tax refunds will be allowed.
The Government has even admitted it is not concerned that innocent traders are affected.
Paymaster General to the Treasury Dawn Primarolo told a BBC Panorama reporter: We make tens of thousands of enquiries. We can t promise that one innocent [trader] won t get caught up&&but a delay for the innocent is better than [making] a payment to the guilty.
But FTI chairman Fred Howarth said the situation is critical for many exporters.
Every VAT return submitted since March has been subject to extended verification. This isn t about catching fraudsters or even reducing fraud. It s about balancing books at the Treasury said Howarth.
Solicitor Alias Dass agrees.
He said: It appears to be a policy decision by HMRC. The action will challenge HMRC s actions which effectively amount to quazi freezing orders but which escape the scrutiny of the courts.
Dawn Primarolo seems to think it s justifiable for legitimate traders to suffer for the sake of the greater good. People trading legitimately to the letter and spirit of the law have lost businesses homes and marriages as a result of HMRC s actions. That s not the way democracy should work. It is up to the courts to decide whether an individual is guilty.
Dass added: If the actions of HMRC affect one innocent person that s one too man. By hounding legitimate traders the Government is on a hiding to nothing. It must get to the root of the fraud and put the real fraudsters behind bars.
A Treasury statement said: The Government has a duty to protect the revenue (sic). Our response has been proportionate targeted and risk-based. We are actively checking a greater number of suspect claims however as soon as we have satisfied ourselves that even part of the claim is valid we repay it
immediately.
We have defended our actions in the Court on numerous occasions. The courts have found that our policy is reasonable and we are not taking too long to process the claims.
Dass claimed around 150 people have registered their interest in pursuing a the Action that will challenge the Treasury s contention.
He said: That figure looks set to grow before we serve. Once the action is under way there will be a month or so for others to join. The actual cut-off date will be decided by the court.
FTI director Anthony Elliot Squire said: Primarolo s contention that it s tough if innocent people are ruined is typical of this Government s.
They think the whole industry is fraudulent. They ve advertised what missing trader fraud is all about with the implication that dealers knew about it and should have stopped it happening.
Elliot Squire went on: If HMRC can spend up to 12 months establishing the bona fides of a trader how can it expect the same trader make a decision whether or not to trade with someone within a couple of hours?
And they ve changed the terminology too. It s gone from missing trader to defaulting trader . That means anyone who is in any way connected with any element of unpaid VAT.
Elliot-Square reckons HMRC s actions could have a devastating effect on the public purse if it loses in the Court.
There will be a massive compensation bill which could run into billions. I ve asked the Treasury if they realise the extent of compensation they could be liable for. They refuse to discuss it.
The scale of missing trader fraud is estimated at between 3.5 billion and 4.75 billion a year. A proposed legislation change will force purchasers to account for VAT on mobile phones and computer chips.
Currently sellers account for VAT. The legislation is expected to come out in 2007 but may be delayed by wrangling at the European Parliament.
Up to 100 HMRC staff are being redeployed to tackle MTIC fraud.

A combination of competitive pre-pay offers from the high street multiples and the introduction of 18-month contracts has hit dealers hard.
Intek managing director Manny Hussain said his contract volume fell 25 per cent compared with last year.
We have customers we would normally be upgrading that we can t approach for six months. The rise of people connecting via the Internet has also had a negative impact. But with 50 million mobile users sales will recover. But these short term dips cause concern for smaller independents.
Phone Box managing director Nigel Harrison: Connections are down 40 per cent this Christmas in our six retail stores. Contract sales in mobile retail are generally down. There are no strong offerings from the networks the commercials are particularly low as well. Christmas tends to be quiet on retail contracts . This year the pre-pay business has been given to the big retailers.
Microline s Jas Singh said contract sales are down 40 to 50 per cent. He says networks credit scoring system means more people are failing the checks and making it harder to sign people up.
Eric Warner director of Reading-based WarnerComm said:
The consumer market is depressed you have the likes of Phones 4U giving pre-pay phones away. Parents who want something sexy for under a 100 will go to them. We can t compete.

Henson will be Vodafone s new head of IT reseller in the indirect sales team reporting to Rob Sandford.
Henson (41) has also previously worked at Orange where he helped set up the Business Specialist Scheme (OBS) which has since been replaced by the Orange Dealer Federation that comprises of the top 16 Orange direct dealers.