Staff Reporter

A TV advertisement made for the company by Martikas Advertising to promote its PopVid club downloading service featured an offer of a free music video.

Large text said: Get a free official music video direct to your phone. Alongside this were the words subscription service. However a viewer complained that the advisory was partly off the screen and so unreadable.

The ASA ruled that although Martikas had repositioned the advisory it was still unclear that users would have to subscribe to take advantage of the offer.

It said: We considered the ad implied viewers could get a single one-off music video for free by texting the number on the screen. We did not consider the reference to a club or the text references to a subscription were sufficient to alter that impression.

The ASA has instructed Martikas to withdraw the ad from the air in its present form.

It is understood as many as 2000 existing 3 customers were signed to new 3 contracts through Hugh Symons by the distance resellers.

Karl May of MK Mobiles in Manchester told Mobile News: 3 switched off around 40 dealers last weekend because they werent delivering the right quality business. There are lots of dealers out there that are box-breaking and doing cash back.

Lino Mastrobono of Wolverhampton dealership Smart Talk Communications Centre added:

3 switched off the distance resellers who were claiming to be from 3 and churning them back on to the same network. I understand that 2000 of these connections could have gone through Hugh Symons. Its great news for us. I have no sympathy for these guys. They are causing independent dealerships trouble by giving us a bad name.

3 included a warning to dealers in its dealer newsletter last week. This warned dealers against the practice of disconnections and reconnections and said that anyone breaking the rules would have their dealer status reviewed.

A 3 spokeswoman said: We are getting tough with anyone who doesnt play ball. This is business as usual. We have an ongoing commitment to reviewing the performance of dealers and relationships. If dealers are not performing to the KPIs we set down then we will review that relationship.

Butler and co-founder Martin Flick sold Axxent for 2.7 million last August. Butler stayed on as divisional director and Flick as sales director.

However following this weeks announcement that Azzurri has acquired mobile consultancy company DVH Group Butler decided to hand in his resignation. He will stay at the business until the end of January.

When we were acquired by Azzurri I planned to stay on but as time went on my motivation changed Butler said. My heart is in building a business. I want to be the guy at the front – at Azzurri I was one of the minions.

Butler admitted that he had been planning to leave for some time. We have been discussing for the past six months that if the right acquisition came along Id leave and we have found that in DVH.

On his departure Butler will have to take three months gardening leave but said that he intends to remain in the mobile industry. Id like to start something up he said.

It cant be in direct competition with Azzurri but we are parting on very good terms so it would be nice to do something where we could work together in the future.

Under the terms of the acquisition which is Azzurris fourteenth in five years Flick will replace Butler as divisional director. He said: Its no secret that Azzurri is on a buying strategy. We were looking for a like-minded business. As part of that we spoke to DVH and the fit was right. Its a very aggressive timely move that further strengthens our mobile division.

DVH which is based in New Malden has an annual turnover of 3.5 million and employs 31 staff. It provides mobile voice and data solutions to clients including Land Securities and Bovis Homes.

Former DVH sales director Simon Price will join the Azzurri mobile division as sales director and former DVH managing director Ben Orchard will join as finance and operations director.

Commenting on the sale Price said there would be no personnel changes. The only likelihood is that we will merge our mobile offices but given that we are located six miles away that shouldnt pose any problem he said.

Price added that he believed DVH clients would benefit from the sale. A major attraction for us was the support and expertise that will now be available within the Azzurri Group and we know that both our staff and clients will truly benefit from this he said.

Founder and MD Peter Carnall said this week that all its accounts were in order. He claimed that banks have a blanket policy of closing down small business accounts instead of reviewing each trader on a case-by-case basis. Such activity was handing power to big companies in the sector said Carnall.

We have held accounts for both our distribution business and our software business with the Bank Of Scotland he said. Our software business has had its accounts closed and it isnt even involved in the purchase and sale of mobile phones.

Companies like 20:20 Unique and Fone Logistics have an increased monopoly in the industry because the banks wont deal with anybody else. Theres a great possibility given the stigma surrounding the mobile phone sector that other banks will not be interested in us. It will jeopardise the future of the business.

The introduction of The Proceeds Of Crime Act in 2003 means that bank staff can be made liable if they fail to report fraudulent activity by business customers.

He admitted: My presence may have been a hindrance to the recovery because there is still some contention about the administration. Some people are still blaming me for the collapse. My being part of the executive was leaving a bad smell. Also my heart was just no longer in it. But it is a wrench to leave.

Dawe plans to set up another company focusing on new technology. He said: I have no intention of building another Unique or working for a competitor. I will be starting a niche business in a new area.

Unique chairman John McFarnon said: The recovery of Unique since its takeover in April of this year has been beyond all expectations. [Unique co-founder] Rob Lees and I supported by the strong management team we have assembled are totally focused on continuing the companys outstanding progress to date.

Tesco is expected to start offering contracts over its web site in the next few weeks. It will then begin trialling the service at some test stores before the end of the year. Dedicated in-store stands will give shoppers the chance to sign up to a contract there and then.

Tescos move into contracts is separate from Tesco Mobile the MVNO that uses the O2 network to offer two low flat-rate pre-pay tariffs: Tesco Mobile Tariff (handset and SIM) and Tesco Mobile Value tariff (SIM only).

Tesco Mobile has picked up more than 750000 subscribers since its launch two years ago. It is thought this success has given the supermarket giant the confidence to chase similar success with contract customers.

Tesco Telecoms spokesperson Joanna Kinloch said: Weve been looking at offering contracts since launch. We are still investigating all the different routes with mobile networks and distributors. Nothing has been finalised yet.

The network source said that Dextra would be supplying the airtime for all five networks in Tesco stores as well as online.

The potential revenue stream is huge. Its rivals will be gutted to miss out on this said the source.

In the past 12 months Dextra and 4U Airtime have won business from other multiples such as Boots Jessops Morrison and Asda. These contracts now boosted by Tesco mean Dextra and 4U are dominating the multiples channel.

Mark Ormerod group managing director of Dextra and 4U declined to be drawn on whether the Tesco contract had been signed but didnt rule it out.

We continue to build our relationship with Tesco he said. We have supplied a number of product ranges into Tesco stores for some years and the relationship continues to flourish. I cant comment about any airtime contract.

Seven B2B specialists have been recruited to the programme boosting the team to 12. Mainline is in the process of recruiting three others.

The programme dubbed Business Mobile provides dealers with a business toolkit of sales and marketing activities and commercial incentives. The aim is to assist dealers to grow their Orange business within the SME market.

Mainline marketing head Gail Hollinshead said the necessity for extra staff reinforced the success achieved by the original members of the programme over the past 12 months. The group deals with 46000 SME customers and sells around 185000 handsets a year.

We have developed a comprehensive range of sales and marketing activities for the dealer to choose from each of which is specifically tailored and suits their budget and priorities said Hollinshead.

Each activity is undertaken on the dealers behalf – allowing them to concentrate on growing their business. The programme includes a fully supported web site e-mail campaigns trade and local public relations a full tariff analysis service appointment setting with sector-based data additional incentives plus stationery and proposal templates.

Orange accreditation gives them added credibility in the market and helps to secure business added Hollinshead.

Our direct and ongoing involvement in support activity allows dealers to focus on sales. We look to hit specific market sectors that will provide us with the customer profile and handset volumes that our dealers want to target.

Hollinshead says that in return for this support Mainline expects participating dealers to be dedicated and committed to the programme. However she pointed out that they do not have to be solus Orange.

The dealers involved receive a significant number of leads from Business Mobile and that is reflected in the increase in Orange connections she says.

Hore said: Im head of the UK for mobile phones. From the end of December that role ends. I am one of three people in the UK who are being redeployed or ultimately made redundant.

The other two UK employees affected are sales development managers Andrew Kidd and Robert Hughes.

Philips has two major centres of operation for marketing and sales in Paris and Hong Kong. But as part of a refocus on the Far East and eastern Europe it will close the Paris centre by the end of the year.

We are not doing a huge amount of business in western Europe but we are doing a substantial amount of business in China and Russia particularly and this closure is about concentrating our efforts so we can continue and try to grow that said Hore.

Paris closing means that the operator field sales teams in western European countries including the UK Italy Spain France Portugal will also close by the end of the year Hore said.

Hore said the news hadnt come as a shock. Its been obvious for the past few months that something needed to change but the formal announcement has only just been made in the past week.

If there are suitable jobs within Philips they will be put to us for consideration added Hore. We are also looking at opportunities outside the company. In the next few weeks we will make our decision.

See Whats Out page 18

Operation Venison collapsed after the defence successfully argued that information crucial to the defence had been withheld.

Customs must now pay part of the costs incurred by the defence as these costs were incurred as a result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission by the prosecution.

The total costs incurred by the defendants through the legal aid system are estimated to be around 6 million.

Barrister Anthony Barnfather defence counsel in Operation Venison said his firm Pannone & Partners decided to make the application because defence costs had spiralled through no fault of the individual defendants or their lawyers.

See Our Shout page 22

The men hijacked corporate phone lines of companies such as BP to dial premium-rate numbers on mobile phones reports James Blackman.

Jonathan Rees 23 and Mark Rebeiro 25 had set up the premium-rate lines themselves and racked up a profit on the calls of 63000 and 12500 respectively.

They were found guilty at Truro Crown Court on September 7 of conspiracy to defraud and were each sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The total combined cost to the victims is estimated to be 250000- 300000. Vodafone fraud risk and security manager David Morrow said:

This must have cost the victims at least 250000. A content provider only gets about 20p out of 1 charged to the caller.

DC Rob Williams of Penzance CID who led the investigation for two-and-a-half years put the fraud even higher at around 300000.

A Mercedes and a Porsche have been confiscated as proceeds of the crime.

Rees and Rebeiro used contract Vodafone mobiles to make the calls. Some of the switchboards that were attacked belonged to Vodafone clients. Vodafone successfully tracked the locations of the calls and identified the handsets and accounts belonging to them.

Evidence supplied by Vodafone showed that Rees and Rebeiro tapped into Vodafone private wire numbers used by businesses to enable employees to re-direct a mobile call via the company switchboard.

They then phoned the premium-rate numbers that they had set up. The premium-rate calls were billed to the victims of the fraud.

Rees and Rebeiro obtained a total of 75500 in fraudulent revenues between December 1 2001 and April 30 2002.

Companies hit included BP Zurich Newbury District Council and United Utilities. Rebeiro insisted on his innocence until he entered a guilty plea. Rees changed his story continually said DC Williams.

The premium-rate network operators will retain the revenue because they were not involved in the scam.

DC Williams said: It was a nightmare. Im not a specialist and the combination of technical information and the sheer volume of data involved was very daunting.