Staff Reporter

Three more dealers have been named as breaking the rules of the FCS Crime Prevention Scheme as follows. They are Sajad Khan and Sajid Sadiq (Mobile World 119 Wellgate Rotherham South Yorkshire S60 2NH) and Rajindr Singh (Network Communications UK 150-154 Central Market St Marys Street Cardiff CF5 1AD)

Another dealer Christian Coker (82 Cromwell Way Kidlington Oxon OX5 2LL.) has been restored to Good Standing under the FCS Crime Prevention Scheme Coker has undertaken to comply with the Rules of the Scheme. Anyone in the industry is now free to (Cont P2) trade with Coker subject to the Rules of the Scheme.

Networks service providers and distributors must check with the FCS website and ensure that they are not dealing with dealers who are currently operating outside the rules of the Scheme and have been named as such said James Malcolm manager of the FCS Crime Prevention Scheme

In addition to checking our website industry members should always feel free to liaise directly with our CPS inspectorate to ascertain whether any new dealer approaching them for network connection service provision or handset supplies is deemed to be is Not in Good Standing or operating under a separate name. It should be remembered by all industry members that those who trade with a dealer Not in Good Standing are themselves in breach of the Schemes rules.

They are the triple-band WAP-enabled T36 and the first GPRS phone with Bluetooth the triple band R520. The R520 phone also supports High Speed Data (HSCSD) and wireless connectivity with the built-in Bluetooth chip.

There is also a calendar with different views; month week day and a tasks list. Automatic synchronisation with a PC via WAP/internet Bluetooth infra-red technology or cable is possible.

The R520 features a loudspeaker which gives it speakerphone functionality and a proximity switch to switch from speakerphone mode to regular mode as the phone is brought towards the ear.

On the T36 a built-in Bluetooth chip makes wireless connectivity possible between the phone and other mobile devices.

The T36 features WAP and supports High Speed Data (HSCSD) to send and receive data as fast as a landline modem 28.8 kb/s as opposed to GSM which allows for 9.6 kb/s. This makes it capable of sending and receiving large amounts of data over the internet at high speed. It is also the first triple-band (GSM 900/1800/1900) phone from Ericsson and first mobile phone to have built-in Bluetooth wireless technology for cableless connection to headsets and other devices.

The built-in Bluetooth radio chip acts as a connector between the headset and the phone. The user presses a key on the headset and use the voice recognition feature in the T36 to answer or initiate the call.

Much of the menu system can be accessed using voice commands. The T36 has a WAP 1.2.1 browser. High Speed Data (HSCSD) brings the internet to the T36 several times faster than a standard GSM connection.

Its emergence along with GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) means that mobile Internet behaviour and usage patterns will change as large-file transfer become possible with a mobile phone says Ericsson.

The T36 supports WAP 1.2 recently developed to enable secure mobile e-commerce transactions. With the Ultra Slim Battery there is up to 455 minutes talk time and up to 200 hours standby time.

The Wales-based company which conects through Cellular Operations in Swindon denied rumours last month that it was facing receivership but admitted to difficulties and making 48 people redundant (Mobile News May 30).1st Line employed hundreds of tele-sales operators who cold-called people at home.

Mobile News understands that The Carphone Warehouse is planning on completing the acquisition of Cellcom by June 9 depending on due diligence and other formalities.

Cellcoms French operation CMC is excluded from the deal.

Carphone Warehouse managing director Charles Dunstone told

Mobile News:

We are in conversations with Cellcom. An announcement of our intention to acquire Cellcom was made to their employees. They were told it was likely that Cellcom would become part of The Carphone Warehouse. I cant say much more because of confidentiality and a commercial considerations. We still need to consult Cellcoms suppliers and employees further before we announce all our intentions.

Cellcoms marketing director Jack Knight had already tendered his resignation and will leave Cellcom soon to set up a retailing consultancy called Symbion.

Knight indicated that he was leaving because of the changes that were afoot at Cellcom.

The market has changed. The world has changed. I looked and thought Im not sure I want to do what it is turning in to. I made a decision to go.

Dunstone denied that (Cont P2) ownership of a service provider was part of a pre-flotation plan saying that Cellcom would still be a small part of the The Carphone Warehouse organisation.

There is no relationship between this move and any future plans for flotation. This is purely a commercial deal designed to keep CPW at the forefront of customer service Dunstone said.

The Carphone Warehouse wants to strengthen its virtual network brand Value Telecom which is administered by Cellcom. Dunstone is looking to develop fixed line and internet access options for Value Telecom as part of this particular brands development.

Ownership of a service provider would also give The Carphone Warehouse its own billing engine.

The company is convinced the continued integration of fixed mobile and non-voice communications is fundamental to its future growth.

The acquisition of Cellcom which has around 60000 subscribers would be in line with The Carphone Warehouses strategy to provide a seamless service from the initial retail purchase through to billing and customer care.

Cellcoms share holders include the Rothschild Investment Trust and Cellcom chairman Paul Cohen.

Le Pla has spent the last five years working on Sonys telecoms business. He started at the company as a national account manager in its brown goods division.

Sony Internationals advertising and PR manager Danielle Dichter said:

We will strengthen the local team in the UK and we recently launched a recruitment campaign for marketing and sales position.

Celltalk which claims it is Oranges biggest contract SP was established in 1991 by Richard Marsden and Jess Meredith Watts and currently employs 200 people. It says it has approximately 150000 corporate and consumer customers and offers connection to all four networks.

Marsden and Meredith-Watts will become joint managing directors of the group and retain control with close to 80 per cent of the equity.

General Industries is an AIM shell with cash and assets in excess of 1 million. It will change its name to Celltalk Group. The company is raising 1.84 million with an issue of 1.6 million new 115p shares. A further 189000 is being raised through an issue of 210000 new shares at 90p a throw.

Celltalk operates two trading divisions. Consumer business is handled through Direct Mobile Phone Warehouse whilst the Direct Business Communications side looks after the corporate business offering fixed line as well as mobile communications products.

The men have been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Epping police have also confirmed they are seeking other people in connection with ram raiding incidents on mobile phone premises in the Slough and in the Thames Valley region.

The Wales-based company which recently ran an ad campaign featuring Melinda Messenger connects about 20000 subscribers a month.

Some of its direct sell tactics have been criticised by BBC consumer programme Watchdog and the high-pressure tactics of its sales people have been reported in Mobile News.

First Line Mobile head of marketing Sam Thirlwell said:

A combination of tariffs and various different things in terms of customer calling made Vodafone a better choice. Vodafone gave us a better customer offering.

The company denied rumours that it had been facing receivership but admitted that it had been through a difficult time and had restructured where there had been overlap with its service provider Cellular Operations. Around 48 employees were recently made redundant.

It has been quite a difficult time for us. Thirty per cent of employees come from friends and family and redundancies have been taken quite hard. Weve had a lot of local press involvement which has unsettled the staff said Thirlwell.

They are Tariq Siddiq (Taz Technics 290 Moston Lane Manchester) and Javed Raja Sarwar and Tariq Sarwar (Talking Point. 320 London Road West Croydon). They join the other dealers Not in Good Standing. The full list of banned dealers can be found on www.fcs.org.uk.

Lumina is also now set to become the first UK service provider to offer customers on-line account management.

The facility will also be made available to new customers connected through BTCellnet-owned DX Communications or The Mobile Phone Store.

Business customers will have access to on-line account management from mid-November.

Lumina managing director Hugh Logan said:

The banks allow customers to handle day-to-day account management over the web thus allowing staff to focus on more complex issues.

We believe we should be offering a similar service. We are looking to offer the Internet as a key channel rather than a mandatory one through which to communicate with us.

Paul Lawton Luminas Director of Business Sales and Marketing believes that on-line account management will allow Lumina to focus on developing bespoke solutions.

Our sales account managers will be moving away from a box-shifting mentality and working towards creating a customer lifetime value approach.