Staff Reporter

"Having loved the challenge of growing a partner channel and shifting the mix from voice towards data at Cable and Wireless I was keen to replicate my success in the mobile world" said Mukherjee.
He added that his top priority was to make the most of the "huge opportunity" that wireless data presented to the Yes Business Partner and IT reseller community.
"I firmly believe that our future is not just in sales´" added Mukherjee. "It´s essential to deepen our relationships with those partners who share our vision and develop joint initiatives and propositions that add value to the customer."

The move follows the company´s appointment as a 5 Network distributor in April and a corporate restructure that recruited executives to handle fixed-line voice and broadband accounts.
"We can now offer our customers a diversity of products" he said.

"It has nothing to do with the sale of the Caudwell Group" said a spokesman. "If the sale process was not going ahead we would have had to embark on this recovery process anyway. Any business that has been haemorrhaging money has to go into recovery mode. It has to return to profitability. The business was badly managed in the past and we are now in the process of recovering it."
The Caudwell Group said that underperforming staff will lose their jobs. Reports last week claimed that many workers had walked out already and that morale was low. The 4U Business call centre in Warrington is being shut down.
Staff that have consistently hit targets will be offered similar posts at the firm´s head office in Stoke-on-Trent transferred to local sales roles at Phones 4U or moved to new roles elsewhere in the group. More regional sales offices are expected to close. 4U Business IT legal finance audit and marketing teams will be integrated into Phones 4U.
A Caudwell Group statement said: "Over the past 12 months 4U Business has consistently underperformed predominantly due to lack of management discipline. At the same time the small business market has become increasingly competitive.
"Losses are now so significant that urgent action needs to be taken to restore 4U Business back to profitability. As a result certain departments will be integrated into Phones 4U to gain economies of scale."

Phonebox Direct managing director Simon Slater said: "We want to increase business by 20 to 30 per cent over the next six months growing from a mid-sized web dealership to a bigger web sales business. We are looking at new strategic markets and will use Paul´s knowledge to take us forward."
Smith left 4U Ltd early last year and Wright left in late 2004.

This does not in any way refer to Unique Distribution as it currently operates today. Mobile News recognises that the holding company Daleri sold Unique´s assets including the trading name to Land Investments when it went into administration in March 2005.
The company resumed trading as Unique in the summer of last year. Unique continues to trade as a going concern under the new holding company.

The handsets will be supplied through Emblaze subsidiary European Telecom and is an extension of an existing relationship which began last October. Emblaze will act as a virtual manufacturer for the range which is sourced from the Far East.
Virgin´s original Lobster supplier was Data Select which launched the 485 supplied by Korean manufacturer Bellwave in June 2005.
European Telecom MD John Drinkwater said: "We have invested significantly in streamlining our operations. This is testament to our achievement."
The news comes as Virgin announced the second Lobster the 575. The handset costs £89.99 on pre-pay and free on contract. The flip phone is available in black or hotter-than-hot´ pink. It includes a 1.3 megapixel camera and video recording.

Kallasvuo announced last week that he is considering acquisitions and cooperation deals to strengthen the Finnish handset maker.
"In an increasingly complex business environment a pragmatic look at partnerships and acquisitions is essential" he said.
Nokia is also mourning the loss of board member Edouard Michelin who died in a boating accident in north west France. Ollila paid tribute to Michelin describing him as an "outstanding industrialist and a friend". He added: "He was widely liked and respected for his charismatic leadership which combined astute business mind with a genuine interest for people." There are no immediate plans to replace him on the board.

He was most recently a director of Vodafone´s charity arm the Vodafone Foundation. Caldwell a qualified solicitor joined Vodafone in 1991 from a similar position at Boots. He led Vodafone´s three-year battle to gain planning permission for its Newbury HQ and was also a key figure in the Vodafone takeover of Mannesmann.
A Vodafone colleague said: "In an age where hard-nosed expedience is considered a normal and desirable aspect of corporate culture Mike Caldwell combined an excellent and highly successful PR operation with real care for the people under his management. He was a gentleman in the truest sense and inspired great loyalty."
Mobile News editorial director Ian White said: "I knew Mike for 15 years and was privileged to earn his friendship. It was a measure of his popularity that his funeral was attended by people as diverse as Vodafone chairman Lord MacLaurin and Mike´s musical hero blues guitarist Bernie Marsden."
See White Lines page 60

Envirofone.com chief executive Pete Petrondas said: "We recognised that we needed to encourage the general public to recycle so we decided to offer them either cash or credit from Argos."
Punters also have the opportunity to nominate a charity of their choice to receive a donation £35000 worth of charitable donations have been made since January.
The firm reconditions handsets and then send them overseas to be used in countries where the cost of new hardware is prohibitive.

The sites in Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road have been confirmed as participating members of the trial which will involve offering Nokia 1100 handsets free when bought with £30 airtime confirmed easyMobile sales and marketing director Mike Lewis.
"Weve had great success with our retail partnerships so far and easyInternet Cafes are all on prime retail positions so we thought we should try to sell through them."
EasyMobile announced a partnership with The Link in March to distribute pre-pay Nokia 1600 3220 and 5140 handsets plus the Motorola RAZR V3 through the retailers 295 stores. The decision to trial a presence in easyInternet Cafes is in line with the MVNOs strategy to widen its distribution to other high street brands.
A number of easyInternet Cafes including the ones involved in the trial already include staffed concessions devoted to selling products from all the other easyGroup businesses. It will be there that easyMobile products will be offered. Staff will register customers in-store.