US distributor Brightstar has teamed up with US IT distributor Tech Data to launch a new UK and European handset distribution business.

The new company Brightstar Europe will distribute mobile phones and other wireless devices to network operators dealers agents retailers and e-tailers throughout the UK and Europe. Tech Data and Brightstar will have a 50 per cent joint ownership of Brightstar Europe. The joint venture arrangement will be finalised in the coming weeks.

Brightstar Europe will be headquartered in the UK with access to 10 logistics centres and 16 sales offices across Europe. The company is expected to commence operations in March pending regulatory and other required approvals.

Tech Data CEO Robert Dutkowsky said: The formation of this joint venture with Brightstar is a new and exciting approach towards extending Tech Datas reach into new product and service markets. Tech Datas established pan-European footprint and logistics capabilities in combination with Brightstars knowledge of the mobile device market and its relationships with many of the worlds leading mobile manufacturers and operators will provide customers with unparalleled service.

He added: Brightstar Europe will serve as a critical supply chain partner enabling manufacturers and operators to reduce costs improve delivery times and invest more in next generation technologies.

Brightstar president and CEO Marcelo Claure said: The European mobile device market is highly fragmented in terms of supply chain and distribution services. We believe that Brightstar Europe will transform service levels provided to operators retailers and manufacturers significantly reducing operating costs and improving mobile device delivery throughout the region. We are introducing next generation distribution to the European market.

Last week Brightstar confirmed that it had struck a global distribution deal with Motorola.

Motorola executive vice president and president Ron Garriques said: Motorola is working aggressively to build our brand strength as well as our distribution reach in markets throughout the world. Brightstars expertise are proven. It brings rapidly expanding capabilities that can help us seize and capitalize on market opportunities.

Gareth Jones has joined Northampton distributor EBS as a non-executive chairman.

EBS founder and majority shareholder Ray Kingston said: Gareth and I have been friends and colleagues since the early nineties. I have great respect for Gareths in-depth knowledge of the industry and his proven track record. I believe his appointment will further enhance our current excellent management team ensuring we are well placed to achieve our ambitions and strategic plans.

Jones said: I have watched Ray and his team develop a first class and successful business over the years and I am delighted to be joining them and involved in their exciting future plans

Jones was sales director for Orange until 2001 and chief operating officer at 3 for two years following its launch in early 2003.

JAG has announced the expansion of their direct B2B operation and their intention to continue that development this year.

JAG managing director John George said: We have been planning the expansion of our B2B operation for almost 12 months.

In April last year I appointed Gareth Evans a senior member of the JAG team to manage the business department in a drive to expand it.

Gareth has been in the business for over a decade and brought a wealth of experience and know-how with him.

JAG has also recruited three new business managers to its ranks and will be looking to expand its team to around 16 B2B managers.

The new managers are operating from Romsey Llanelli and Cwmbran signifying a move into southern England and Wales over recent years which have been covered by JAGs retail expansion. This trend is expected to continue as more managers are recruited.

Vodafone UK head of convergence Andy Bord said: It s hard to pinpoint who we ll go up against because there are a shed-load of players out there at the moment. We re looking to improve our existing customer service and further raise customer confidence.
Bord said that the network had invested in round-the-clock support for the service.
We ve had many requests from our customers for improved customer service so it s something we want to push forward he added. We are also strengthening this push with a 30-day money-back guarantee for customers who experience any faults with the service.
The new service is available on an 18-month contract and costs 25 a month. Customers who cancel their mobile contract will be required to pay 35 a month for broadband. Subscribers will receive up to 8Mbit broadband with inclusive anytime calls for up to 60 minutes to UK landlines. Vodafone said it is available to 97 per cent of UK households.
Vodafone mobile customers get the Vodafone Mobile Connect USB modem for a half-price fee of 58. Wireless 3G connectivity is available at 29 per month.

Around 14.6 million Symbian devices shipped in Q4 last year up from 3.3 million the year before. There were nearly 7000 Symbian-driven phone mobile phone applications at the end of last year.

Former Carphone Warehouse commercial director George Dymond is returning to the UK to take up the role of trading director at Carphone vacated by John Durkan earlier this month.

Durkan replaces Richard Walker as chief operating officer.

Dymond had been working on Carphones US joint venture with US consumer electronics retailer BestBuy called BestBuy Mobile. Dymond opened nine BestBuy Mobile stores in New York a combination of concessions and standalone outlets over the past six months.

Walker will work within BestBuy and in a consultancy role for TalkTalk in the US.

A Carphone spokesperson said: George went to America to bring his experience in the UK to them as their market is so different. He will be based in the UK but will travel to the US about once a month to check on the companys progress.

Vodafones new flat-rate data roaming tariff which boasts overseas mobile-laptop access to the internet email and business networks has been dismissed as out of touch with reality by London telecoms analyst house Ovum.

Vodafones European customers with mobile-enabled laptops can roam abroad for a flat-rate fee of 12 Euros a day from July 1 allowing customers to download up to 50MB of data.

But Ovum principal analyst Jeremy Green said: The tariff is available to laptop card users and apparently not to other data users. Its down to the user to work out when a 12 Euro outlay is cheaper than just paying on a per-MB basis.

Vodafones suggestion that that 50MB per day constitutes practically unlimited data usage seems a little out of touch with reality a short while browsing BBC websites can easily rack up 10MB. So this isnt really a flat rate and it isnt really unlimited either. Its an offer thats roughly comparable to what you might pay on a daily basis to use hotel broadband.

However Green has lent his praise to Vodafones offer to other operators for lower wholesale data roaming rates on a reciprocal basis deeming them a small practical step towards ending the roaming logjam.

More than 65 per cent of the UKs equipment providers are in the dark about the governments new electronic waste directive which takes effect from July 1 and face heavy penalties for non-compliance.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive requires companies to recycle a proportion of goods that pass through their warehouses.

Companies that import manufacture rebadge and sell electronic goods should have registered with a WEEE compliance scheme by March 15 and compliance schemes should have registered members with the Environment Agency by March 31.

A survey by waste disposal provider WeeeCare found the majority of businesses had no idea what to do or even if they needed to be signed up to a WEEE recycling scheme.

The EA said it had taken every opportunity including producing fact sheets and holding workshops to ensure businesses knew their obligations. But an EA spokesperson said the department would not be hasty in handing out fines to non-compliant businesses but warned there would be eventual consequences.

He said: We appreciate its quite difficult and we recognise that businesses are trying to adjust. It doesnt mean to say that if we find a business who has purposely avoided the requirements that we wont take action. It will be pursued by our legal department if a business has had enough time to meet the requirements.

Affiniti is the latest O2 data dealer to qualify for its Data Centre of Excellence programme.

Affiniti mobile connections manager Phil Sharpe said: We were set with the task of connecting 400 data connections per quarter. As well as delivering a long-term data strategy we had to show we had a team that delivered pre-sales expertise and deliver an end-to-end customer service process.

O2 UK general manager of business sales Ben Dowd said: Affiniti already has a well developed strategy for mobile data solutions and is a specialist in this field. Affiniti knows the data market and will help O2 to understand and meet its business customer needs.

Virgin Media will sponsor the next series of Big Brother. Of the brands under the Virgin Media unbrella Virgin Mobile will take top billing in sponsorship of the programme.

Virgin Media managing director of marketing James Kydd said: Were a pioneering and innovative company so it made sense to create an alliance with a show that has genuinely changed the face of TV. We want to take the show to the next level by engaging viewers and pushing the boundaries of interaction across platforms in a way never seen before.

Channel 4 head of sponsorship David Charlesworth said: We share so much with Virgin in both brand and business so look forward to pooling our expertise to create a ground-breaking sponsorship.

The Carphone Warehouse confirmed its exit from the programme sponsorship earlier this month. Orange had also considered the deal.