Staff Reporter

MBNA is a major player in banking services and employs 2500 staff in its Chester headquarters.

We rely heavily on telecoms to operate our business so our requirements for equipment and support are stringent said telecommunications manager Neil Thornton.

We always demand value from our suppliers. Although we prefer to deal with local companies wherever possible this never involves us making compromises.

Ternhill impressed us with its professionalism and commitment and a capability to provide a high and ongoing level of support.

Says Ternhill managing director Matt Sandford:

Corporate sales are a major part of our business. We will provide MBNA with a dedicated account manager who acts as a single source of contact. We will continue to succeed in this demanding field only by offering outstanding and cost-effective phone solutions.

Ternhill was voted the UKs Best Small Retailer at this years prestigious Mobile News Awards and is the regions largest independent specialist.

Progress Distribution which owned 22 shops went into receivership at the end of October. It is understood the company owed One 2 One in the region of 500000.

All 50 staff have been made redundant and the shops closed a spokesperson for the receivers said.

The auction took place a fortnight ago. We cant disclose the amount raised.

The company suffered major cashflow problems and the networks made it clear they no longer wanted to work with them.

The majority of Progress shops were leasehold premises and will be handed back to the landlords shortly said the BKR Haines Watts spokesperson.

His job is to accelerate the restructuring of Alcatels sales and marketing operations to address the most dynamic and profitable markets in the UK and Ireland said a company statement.

Howard has worked for more than 23 years in global telecoms sales and marketing.

Apart from working at Alcatel Howard has also held executive management positions with other major telecoms companies including Cable and Wireless and Nortel Networks.

Curran told CellStar he wanted to leave some time ago as he was unable to continue to spend time travelling overseas because of family commitments.

Yes Telecoms Colin Jones invited me to join last year. But CellStar asked me to remain to complete the strategic review Curran told Mobile News.

It has been a 12-month exit plan. I talked to Yes Telecom founders Colin Jones and Freddie Fazelynia. It became obvious there was a route for all three of us to work together. Ive been offered the opportunity to be a partner in the business. Ill be concentrating on sales while Colin Jones will be looking after day-to-day operations.

Curran says Yes Telecom is looking to offer prestige service to high-value business subscribers.

There is a niche market where high-value customers are not just looking for the cheapest service but the best service. We will offer a gold-star service.

Cellstar had a good year. Sales remained stable and grew a little. I worked to put forward some proposals. Whatever they decide to do will be a difficult decision for them. I enjoyed a great career there.

They were aware of my plans to go to Yes Telecom. They trusted me and were happy for me to complete the strategic review.

Network operators manufacturers distributors and dealers that register will be able to buy or sell stock globally with anonymity.

The service is designed to deal with the huge overstock problems faced in Europe and demand in Asia and Africa.

Mloop looks after all aspects of the sale including verification of stock electronic payments and logistics. Its understood a number of network operators have already signed up with the service prior to the launch. Mloop declined to comment.

He is Harvard-educated Tim Whiting (36) who worked with the 250 million turnover RHM Group for eight years. He joined as commercial director in 1993.

Singlepoint is described by Caudwell Group as the UKs largest independent airtime retailer. The company has had some issues with poor customer service this year which has resulted in some negative press coverage.

The division has also been affected by the delayed roll-out of a new telephone system and software.

We have specific challenges in addressing technical change and creating a culture focused on customer service said Whiting.

Significant funds have been made available to provide all our people with the systems and skills to develop Singlepoints position as a leading player in this sector.

Ringtones.co.uk says the ringtone sector will be worth over 30 million in Britain alone this year and 700 million worldwide. The company was set up last year.

Ringtones expects to deliver content to over two million handsets by April next year.

The company reckons nearly 60 per cent of mobile phone owners in the UK prefer to have customised ringtones and 60 per cent of these people change their ringtone on a regular basis.

Were also seeing tremendous growth in companies wanting to offer our services to their own customers through their websites says director Andy Mills.

This follows an agreement with mobile games provider IN-FUSIO which already supplies its mobile games service to the UK and France.

Weve delivered downloadable games services for over a year with more than 10 million games sessions played and paid for. said IN-FUSIO founder Gilles Raymond.

The extension of our gaming service to the whole of the Orange group gives us a potential end-user base of more than 40 million customers.

Orange head of games Alan Welsman said: Orange is determined to be the preferred network for mobile entertainment. This deal represents the next stage in the evolution towards a console gaming experience on the mobile phone.

Interim figures also show a 20 per cent growth in turnover to 540 million up from 447.9 million the year before.

Carphone Warehouse shops connected more than 1.4 million customers in the last six months up 14 per cent.

In the five weeks to November 3 connections numbered 308000 with 59 per cent of these in favour of contracts an improvement of 11 per cent.

The market is increasingly focused on handset replacement rather than first-time buyers. These factors play to our strengths said Carphone Warehouse chairman Charles Dunstone.

Our performance over the last six months demonstrates our ability to attract higher-spending customers.

Our mix profile continued to significantly outperform the market and increase in favour of more valuable subscription customers added Dunstone.