The imminent re-branding of parent company NTL to Virgin Media represents a world of opportunity for Virgin Mobile according to Sales and Distribution Director Rob Shardlow.

The re-brand as Virgin Media will create the biggest company in the Virgin stable.

Theres a massive opportunity for us to participate in a far broader range of offerings Shardlow told Mobile News. The [Virgin Media] re-brand will be backed by an ad spend in the £10s of millions. Strategically its exciting for Virgin Mobile and its exciting for our customers.

Virgin Mobile will continue to trade under its existing brand but will add broadband cable and digital TV to its portfolio. The extended package will be offered to other retailers. We are actively looking for and talking to partners about the broader Virgin Media offering Shardlow added.

Shardlow doesnt rule out partnering with another High Street retailer even given the companys decision to close the 19 concessions it has within WHSmith stores this Summer.

Managing director John George reacted to negative comments made by a Motorola field rep by banning its staff from all 81 JAG stores.
The rep who was previously a JAG employee had made negative comments about his former employer when visiting JAG stores.
Motorola moved quickly to defuse the situation. In a statement it said: Motorola has investigated thoroughly and is disappointed that there has been a misunderstanding between the company and JAG.
It added: We value strongly our relationship with JAG and aim to actively engage with JAG and all retailers to help understanding of our products and solutions.
Georges anger had grown when his attempts to address the situation directly were turned down.
He said: We didnt seem to be taken seriously by [Motorola]. In the end I took the difficult decision to tell them we didnt want their representatives in our stores any longer. Its not an action I took lightly.
All rep visits are now under review. Whether a store manager spending 15 hours a month talking to field personnel is the best use of time is debatable said George.

The new £20 million site opened last week by Scotlands first minister Jack McConnell has a capacity of around 1700 call centre staff. More than 1000 staff have already been placed in employment at the centre located at the Skypark business centre at Finneston near Glasgow. A further 700 are to be recruited in the coming months.
The Finneston site will be O2s fourth call centre in the UK.

It also appears that 3 will still be able to cancel a customers contract within this two-week period but the dealer will receive no credit at all.
Dealers are now left with the dilemma of what to do with stock that has been returned and used.
Fone Doctors proprietor Faisal Sheikh said the move would annoy a lot of people. Dealers will be far from happy he said. If anything its a bit of a stupid move on 3s part. I think this will probably annoy consumers more than the dealers themselves. It may even lead to some dealers boycotting the network.
However this is a move that some dealers have already put into motion because of policy changes by 3.
Airways Communications Gary Bridger said he has severed all ties with the network.
We dont bother with 3 anymore its too much trouble he said. It appears that 3 is tightening the rules in the industry and attempting to shut down the direct selling guys. Its basically saying to people to follow its trading terms or not bother at all.
Busby Communications Jake Atkins also believes 3 is becoming harder to deal with: Theyve become unbearable he said.
However 3 defended its latest policy change and said it was doing it to develop the network.
This latest change just brings us in line with the rest of the industry said a 3 spokesman.
The main point is when we launched four years ago we were totally alien to everyone. We have now become a more mature business.

In response to Connecting for Health a 10-year government initiative to transfer all UK health records into electronic format Medify Solutions created MedifyRemote.
The secure mobile patient note access application is the first to enter field use throughout the NHS. It allows healthcare professionals to access review and update a patients complete medical history in a single secure session via a Microsoft Windows-enabled PDA.
Dextra said there had been a good response to a MedifyRemote direct email campaign with high levels of orders and enquiries.
Dextra Solutions sales director Angie Simpson said: To see orders placed and deliveries despatched early in the partnership bodes very well indeed. We see MedifyRemote as a groundbreaking data application and believe the potential business customer base does too.

Hay replaces Stuart Henry Carphone Warehouses director of indirect distribution who left Orange 16 months ago.
Hay reports to Orange UK vice-president of sales Mike Newnham who has had replacements for Henry in position on three separate occasions since Henrys departure only for deals to fall through at the eleventh hour on each. Orange head of indirect sales Steve Heald and head of multiple retail Simon Wetton will report to Hay.
Hay will be responsible for managing existing partnerships and creating new relationships within the indirect channel across mobile and broadband.
Newnham said: His tenacious approach has ensured the Britvic brand portfolio has been expertly represented across the UK while operating in one of the countrys most competitive industries.
Hay takes up his role on March 5.

Traders have started to take money back from the First Curacao International Bank (FCIB) based on the Dutch Antilles.

Dass Solicitors said that it had procured the release of in excess of USD 1.6 million (GBP 0.8 million) from the Central Bank which assumed all its assets after placing the FCIB into liquidation on behalf of one trader.

Dass has further hearings listed on February 2 for a number of its other clients.

Dass said: If you have not already initiated a wire transfer and provided the documentation requested by the Central Bank we would advise you to do so immediately.

Nokia has reported high Q4 sales and profits despite shifting phones at lower average prices.

Nokia shipped a record 106 million phones at decreased average selling prices. It put its lower average selling prices down to sales in emerging markets. Despite this it reported higher profits as a result of its scale.

Its net sales in Q4 were up 16 per cent sequentially and 13 per cent year-on-year. Gross margin increased to 32.4 per cent up from 30.9 per cent last quarter.

Operating margin rose to 13.3 per cent up from 12.2 per cent in the last quarter.

Nokia had been expected to report 24 per cent growth in sales of its more expansive multimedia phones. The confirmed figure just six per cent fell way short of that mark. Analysts saw this as a minor blip.

Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said: We recorded record device volumes net sales and earnings-per-share for both the fourth quarter and full year 2006. Also on a sequential basis profitability improved significantly with gross margins for the quarter up in all business groups.

He added: Nokia was able to increase its share of the global device market significantly in 2006 to an estimated 36 per cent clearly solidifying our number one position in the industry. We achieved this result through the strengths of Nokias world class brand products cost structure and efficiency without sacrificing our operating margins or cash flow.

Elite Mobile is offering dealers the chance to ride in helicopters speedboats and rally cars as part of its Xchange dealer incentive programme which is running again this year.

Xchange will run through the year. Dealers on the Xchange programme are allocated points against purchases of specific product ranges. As points accrue members get to claim more valuable rewards.

Up to 30 rewards are up for grabs. Elite is offering a Powerboat Day a Helicopter Tour over London a days Subaru Impreza Rally Experience a Sony HD digital camcorder and a Sony Vaio laptop.

Elite sales and marketing director Barry Nash said: Many of our customers are independents. We work hard to support them and we want to reward their loyalty. When we were researching schemes that would be open and fair to every customer no matter their size or status we found the typical loyalty promotion runs for just a few weeks or months and is inevitably skewed in favour of the larger buyer something other dealers naturally resent.

That type of incentive wasnt for us.

Nash claimed the Xchange programme rates dealers fairly whether large or small. Ninety per cent of Elites customers used the scheme said Nash.

EBS has combined with Orange and Sony Ericsson on its latest dealer incentive scheme Rock the Kasbah. The new scheme rewards dealers for the quality of the Orange connections they put through EBS.

Rock the Kasbah offers EBS dealers the opportunity to earn points based on sales of Sony Ericsson handsets and Orange connections. Higher levels of points are given on specific handset and higher Orange tariff sales. Bonus points are also rewarded to dealers based on reducing levels of returns and bad debt or fraud.

The new scheme is in line with Oranges quality drive. Orange is looking for a reduction in returns and bad debt from its dealer base.

Orange national sales manager Mark OMeara said: With such fierce competition for dealer loyalty and market share incentive programmes are becoming the key to creating and driving communication and loyalty. We are keen to work with the channel to ensure dealers distributors and in turn Orange benefit from improving quality alongside driving retention and sales.

He added: To ensure we create an incentive that not only delivers return on investment but impacts the bottom line we have incorporated the traditional sales volume targets with two additional measures based on dealer returns and bad debt. This will result in a better quality of sale for all involved and deliver results against the bottom line.

EBS commercial director Mark Jennings said: Unlike previous years when a network has decided to go it alone and shift their focus from quantity to quality this year all networks are delivering the same message. They all want quality connections. This is something that can not be ignored.

Sony Ericsson UK & Ireland managing director John Harber said: Sony Ericsson is committed to supporting Orange in ensuring quality sales and reducing return rates. We are excited to be sponsoring the Rock the Kasbah incentive which promotes our Walkman and Cyber-shot range.

Jennings added: EBS has run many successful dealer incentives over the years but they have all been driven by delivering volume connections on high talk plans. We have recognised that this needs to change for us to fit into the current model being delivered to ourselves and quality needs to become a measurable commodity.

Top scoring dealers on the incentive will win a trip for two to Marrakech in Morocco with a jeep safari through the Atlas Mountains a visit to the Bahia Palace and a trip to the famous Souks to boot.