Millar currently on gardening leave from 20:20 is expected to take up a position in the Dubai offices of US distributor Brightstar considered to be the largest SIM-free distributor on the planet after his severance terms expire.
Millar told Mobile News: There is no animosity between 20:20 Logistics and myself. I worked there for six-and-a-half years and during that time its turnover increased from 50m to 600m today. I m on gardening leave and I ve been wished well by customers suppliers and staff. The time was right for me to move on to new challenges.

Miami board directors
Brightstar set up as a legal entity in the UK last month. However as it stands the registered board directors of the UK start-up are its Miami-based top brass: Brightstar chairman and president Marcelo Claure and chief financial officer Oscar Fumagali.
It wants to cement its position as the world s biggest distributor and establish a truly global presence. At the moment it is a huge player in North and Latin America has made a pitch to the Far East and now the UK but I can t see it being a big splash said one source close to Brightstar. It hasn t had a huge impact in the Far East. It has registered as a business in the UK but there is no one in it.
The appointment of Millar will not change the fact that for the time being Brightstar has no UK-based staff. However Millar could still orchestrate Brightstars expansion into the UK from Dubai or even Miami reckon sources.
Millar described as a tough negotiator certainly has the knowledge and contacts within the UK to pull strings.
One distributor source said: If he s restricted from working in the UK but can work for competitor companies outside the UK then he can still work for Brightstar and build up the operation from outside the UK.
Another source said: Rod has a relationship with every key person in the industry Mark Mitchinson at Samsung Simon Ainslie at Nokia; those people will pick up the phone to him. That is the reason that Brightstar want him on board. He could set up meetings with those key people.
Brightstar which posted revenues of $3.1bn ( 1.59bn) for the year ending August runs offices on four different continents already and secured a credit loan of $250m ( 128m) at the end of August from US investment company PNC in order to fund further global expansion. Brightstar has been very active in its pursuit of top distribution talent from within the UK market in recent weeks according to sources.

UK growth plan
It will likely target UK distributors for acquisition when its UK growth plan is properly under way rather than set up a green field operation.
It is very difficult to set up from scratch as a distributor in the UK. You need direct trading agreements with Nokia and Sony Ericsson and everyone else and you don t just come by those said a source.
They re hard to get. You have to demonstrate that you have original channels to market which are sufficiently different to a manufacturer s routes to market with other distributors.
But Brightstar needs to act quickly. Danish distributor Dangaard comparable in size to 20:20 Logistics and in profile to Data Select received cash for expansion when it was acquired by Nordic Capital in June. It has been eyeing up the UK for more than 12 months and is known to have a genuine ongoing interest in Data Select.
Kondor Unique and Fone Logistics all have key distribution agreements in place on handsets or accessories. But Data Select the UK s second largest distributor is the most admired. It is the prized scalp for foreign invaders.
There is a very strategic reason why a global player like Dangaard would want a piece of the UK it is the largest market in Europe and the one market it has no presence in a source said.
So Dangaard can t do a pan-European deal with any of its handset partners because it is missing the UK piece of the European jigsaw.
Another source claims: If you want to enter the UK market you have to make a noise. You have to acquire a business that already has good customer and supplier relationships in place. And the one that stands out in the UK market in that respect is Data Select.

Brightstar factfile
Founded in 1997
Largest wireless value-added services provider in the Americas
Worldwide headquarters in Miami

Samsung Mobile UK director JY Kim will return to Samsungs headquarters in Korea in the New Year.

He will be succeeded by Chris Chung.

Kim told Mobile News: I will be leaving the Samsung Mobile UK team and returning to head office in Korea. My successor Chris Chung has worked closely with me over the last couple of months and he will be a huge success within the team here.

He added: It has been a great pleasure to work with the UK team and its clients over the last six-and-a-half years.

3 UK distanced itself from reports on Thurdsay (December 14) that 3 parent company Hutchison Whampoa was on the verge of selling its UK and Italian units to China Mobile.

A 3 UK spokesman said: Hutchison Whampoa is 100 per cent committed to 3 in the UK. It has categorically denied that it has plans to sell any of the 3 Group businesses. Beyond that we dont comment on rumour and speculation.

An article in The Register said that the UK and Italian business would be sold to China Mobile today (December 15). The report claimed that recent denials by Hutchison CEO Canning Fok were a smoke screen to facilitate negotiations over a sale with China Mobile.

Sources suggested Friday that the report originated after journalists picked up a fake press release in China. It is quite common in China. A fake press release went out from a false email address that said that China Mobile had acquired a 15 per cent stake in 3 Italy said a source.

3 UK restated its position which it has held since speculation grew last month when Hutchison posted its financial results. However it refused to comment directly on the report.