Staff Reporter

Vodafone led the way with a record number of 993000 new customers of which 755000 were for Pay As You Talk. Cellnet put on 658000 new users of which 455000 opted for Easylife and U.

Orange recorded 512000 net new connections including 329000 for its JustTalk pre-pay service. One 2 One increased its subscriber base by 439000 including 350000 on Up-2-You.

Vodafones performance was particularly strong and the network starts the year with a world-wide customer base of 9.1 million subscribers an increase of 77 per cent during the year.

We confidently expect (Cont P2) to see market penetration rates of more than 50 per cent in all our major markets within the next four years said Vodafone Group chief executive Chris Gent.

Cellnet boss Peter Erskine commented:

This has been a phenomenal quarter for the UK mobile phone industry a result of intense competition providing a wide range of services.

One 2 Ones MD Tim Samples noted:

We have made excellent progress far outstripping our projections for the three months and achieving the highest ever growth rates for One 2 One.

During the year One 2 Ones customer base increased 89 per cent and is expected to exceed two million users by the end of this month.

Thieves who forced entry into the building on December 13 stole quantities of Motorola Nokia Ericsson Bosch and Samsung phones. The warehouse is apparently under 24-hour surveillance. No-one was hurt in the robbery.

Information to the FCS Crime Prevention Inspectorate on 0181 778 3060.

A statement said:

Following recent press comment Vodafone Group Plc confirms it has made an approach to AirTouch Communications regarding a possible merger. There can be no assurance that any agreement can or will be reached.

The City went into a frenzy on the news marking Vodafones shares to an all-time high of 11.20 (at time of writing).

The share price had already powered through the 10 barrier on news of Vodafones 933000 net new connections for the fourth quarter.

Rumours about Vodafone and Air- Touch getting together have been doing the rounds for years.

Earlier talks apparently broke down over how AirTouchs domestic and international business would be handled.

The scam involved importing phones VAT-free from Eire and other countries and selling them without paying tax to Customs and Excise.

The men from Nottingham Derbyshire Wales and London. set up a string of companies to sell the VAT-loaded phones.

They then closed down their firms without handing the VAT over. Dozens of companies were set up and closed overnight when VAT bills became due.

The trial at Merryhill Crown Court West Midlands started in September after a year-long investigation by officers of the Nottingham office of the Midlands National Investigations Service.

Eight of the men pleaded guilty. Two who pleaded not guilty were found guilty after a 28-hour deliberation by the jury. They were Anthony Pointer (50) from Cardiff and Kan Sang Tang (39) from Nottingham. Pointer was jailed for five years six months including three months for contempt.

He was also ordered to repay 18000 or face another year behind bars and was banned from being a company director for 10 years.

Kan Sang Tang was jailed for five years.

The other jailed men are Nazir Ahmed (five years) Franco Lumber (four years) Roger Cruttendon (three years and four months) Joseph Yuen Chit Woo (two years and nine months) Martin Howlett (30 months) Timothy Haywood (two years) Vernon Cosker (12 months) and Mark Lane (six months).

Members of the public were searched as they attended the Court hearing in which an application was made for five of the defendants to appear in handcuffs.

Accused are customs employee Kailash Sawhney (48) Andrew Nicholas (37) Gunsum Patel (54) Nathanial Dass (41) Ibrahim Karagozlu (41) Andreas Demetriou (34) Mehmet Karagozlu (46) and Tony Atoniou (30).

The magistrate refused the application for handcuffs and remanded the men in custody to appeal at Belmarsh magistrates court today (December 14).

Sawhney Patel and Dass are each charged with two offences of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The other five are each charged with one offence following a joint customs and police operation involving the Complaints Investigation Bureau.

Said PocketPhone Shop managing director Simon Jordan:

We struck a deal with Kevin on the basis of implicit trust in both directions. We believe it worked well for both us and Brightpoint. However we are unhappy with the way in which Kevin has departed the company and dont feel we have the same rapport with the current management.

One 2 One was worried that its rivals could have used the data in a Christmas ad campaign and took the matter to court.

Because of the court ruling Vodafone and Cellnet did not see the report until four days ago (December 10) and only then under conditions of strict confidentiality.

Its main conclusions and how Oftel intends to implement them will be published tomorrow (December 15) and the full report will be out next month.

The MMC report follows a request on March 5 from then Oftel director general Don Cruickshank to investigate calls to mobiles. One 2 One assisted and feared confidential information it provided would be seen by Vodafone and Cellnet. The Secretary of State for Industry will now decide which parts of the report are to be excluded from publication.

BT lost its argument that it should see the confidential information about One 2 One.

Throughout lengthy discussions with Oftel our primary concern has been to ensure that we are not disadvantaged because our larger and longer-established competitors have early access to information which may well change the shape of the mobile market said One 2 One policy director Robin Saphra.

Vodafone Cellnet and BT will receive just four days advance notification of the MMCs conclusions.

In the past Oftel would have released copies of the draft report to the networks to allow them to make representations to the Secretary of State about commercially sensitive information.

Although One 2 One is not actually named it did provide confidential information to help the MMC understand how the mobile market worked. One 2 One felt existing regulations did not protect this information from being passed on to Vodafone and Cellnet.

Ormond will be in charge of all UK operations reporting to NEC Europe managing director Toshiaki Yamafuji.

Tony Hutsons role as divisional director of NEC UK is unchanged.

The appointment of Derek Ormond as managing director of NEC UK confirms NECs policy of localising senior management. His in-depth knowledge of our company and our European activities made Ormond the ideal candidate for the job. He will introduce and develop business strategies to maintain NECs leadership in the marketplace said Yamafuji.