Staff Reporter

Network operators and service providers will now use the same database. The process of porting will be co-ordinated over a business-to-business web-based system accessible by all network operators and service providers.

Customers will be able to choose the date they wish to port their number. Network operators and service providers will share a common view of the process allowing customer information to be accurate and consistent. The new initiative will be phased in during September and October. It has been agreed developed and delivered by the mobile network operators working as a single body.

The move was welcomed by

Oftel whose director general David Edmonds who said:

I have been seriously concerned at the inadequacy of existing arrangements for porting mobile numbers. I therefore pressed the operators to provide a simple and cheap way to port numbers.

Oftel welcomes the new arrangement by the four mobile network operators. This means that from October consumers can switch their mobile numbers between networks easier and faster.

Improving the transfer process will provide an opportunity for more consumers to retain their mobile number and maximise the benefits of switching between operators to get the best deal.

This new arrangement is an example of telecoms operators working together. Oftels strategy encourages self and co-regulation and I am pleased to see this initiative will deliver benefits to consumers.

Oftel said the need for such action as underlined by results from an independent mystery shopper survey that looked at whether consumers were being given the correct advice when enquiring about transferring their mobile number.

Conducted in 300 retail outlets and call centres of mobile service providers the research shows that only one in five people were given correct advice when asking whether they could transfer their number the costs involved and the length of time the process would take. Similarly almost one in three consumers were told that it was not possible to keep their number or staff did not know whether it was possible.

Edmonds added:

This mystery shopper exercise has revealed some worrying findings.

For example four out of five customers were given wrong or no advice about whether they could transfer their mobile number and the costs and timescales involved.

Oftel wants to ensure that consumers are well informed and aware of the choices available to them so I am writing to the mobile operators asking them to comment on these findings and set out their plans for improved performance.

The survey also looked at SIM locking handsets to one particular network.

The results show that less than half of the consumers surveyed were told they could keep their handset when changing supplier. Current guidelines allow operators to lock handsets but the results of the survey will feed into Oftels current mobile market review.

Shuttleworth (38) takes over from Don Gunn who joined ET at the beginning of 1999 from Cellcom which he joined when it was a start-up in 1985. Gunn had an earlier career with British Aluminium Company Vestric and Expamet International.

Shuttleworth is European Telecoms fourth financial director in as many years and follows Max Ashton Huw Evans and Gunn.

Gunn was heavily involved in getting European Telecoms bank the Royal Bank of Scotland to continue to provide banking and debt facilities to ET for the next 12 months in the face of 27 million losses over the last financial year (Mobile News July 9).

Before joining Ora Shuttleworth was finance and operations director for US electronic security group Sensormatic Electronics Corporation. ET group MD David McKinney said:

With the departure of Don Gunn we recognise the need to appoint a group finance director with the experience of successfully taking a company into profitability through the generation of significant margin improvements and the continued implementation of operating efficiencies.

Mark is well placed to assist in the rebuilding of ET into a profitable group focussing on supplying value added fulfilment services for the telecoms and converging industries.

The money will be spent on new IT systems boosting customer services and gearing up for offering total telecoms convergence. Central to the relaunch of Singlepoint is a billing system called Geneva. This is said to be able to calculate the best tariff based for customers based on their previous thee months use. It can also calculate payment plans loyalty schemes and be configured top sell new products.

A key objective is to establish start-to-finish customer care. This will create enormous efficiency improvements with virtually no customer waiting time said Caudwell Group chairman John Caudwell.

Police have arrested two men. They are John Griffin (41) of Wishaw and Edward Morcombe (27) of Fauldhause.

Morcombe has been identified as being a former employee at the plant. The men appeared at Linlithgow Sheriff Court and were released on bail pending a further appearance on July 25.

The theft took place at 3pm on Friday June 22 while inventory was being shipped in readiness for the formal closure of the plant the following week. Police said that it appeared the thieves simply attached a tractor unit to the parked trailer and drove off unchallenged by site security.

Motorolas spokesman Tony Joyce confirmed that the raid took place but said as the company were co-operating fully with the ongoing police investigation Motorola did not wish to compromise any prosecution by saying anything more.

CID officers at Livingston are continuing their investigation and other arrests are expected.

The theft was only discovered after a container trailer disappeared from the loading bay at the Bathgate plant.

None of the phones have been recovered Dealers have been warned to be suspicious of purchasing a retail boxed blue Motorola T180 handsets supplied with charger and hands-free kit at less than standard pricing.

Elite boss Ajay Gokani said.

The van has been recovered but the cargo of 50 Nokia handsets is missing. They were a return load of 30 Nokia 8850s and 20 Nokia 8210s. They were brand new (Cont P2) phones being returned because some of the boxes were damaged. We have a list of the IMEI numbers.

It happened mid-morning. The driver had stopped off to have a cup of tea after making a delivery in Manchester. We think the men are from the Manchester area. I dont believe they followed the van all the way from London said Gokani.

Manchester Police confirmed the attack took place at 10:10 on Tuesday June 26.

Two men both five foot eight tall and wearing blue balaclavas approached the Mercedes Sprinter van from the rear and opened the doors. The driver was dragged out from behind the wheeland dumped on the road.

He suffered minor grazing to his knees and forearm. No goods have been recovered said the police statement.

Cityphone boss Barry Donaghey told Mobile News he had been in talks with the administrators for some time about taking the 120 stores.

I understand that another company is bidding. I would like to know who it is. I might be able to do a deal with them said Donaghey.

The other bidder is believed to be a consortium of dealers based in the North of the country. Administrators HLB Kidsons confirmed there were two bidders for Phone People but declined to name them.

Seventy Phone People stores closed earlier this year with redundancies of 70 staff.

It seems potential buyers have not been impressed with what they were being offered.

WAP store boss Graham Cornhill said:

Ive been offered the stores. But I do not think it is worthwhile spending thousands of pounds on stores when we can open up a shop next door for next to nothing. Not many of the stores have a good trading history.

Fone Logistics managing director Ian Gillespie said he put in a bid but has now pulled out of the running.

We put in a serious bid about two months ago but heard nothing back from the administrators. In the meantime we have re-assessed the situation and decided not to pursue our interest any further.

Donaghey is unsure as to what the outcome of his talks will be.

I dont know if we will definitely buy or not. I just hope that after all these negotiations we are not going to find out that the shops are in a worse condition than weve been told. But negotiations are taking an awfully long time.

BTCellnet general manager Ian Driver told Mobile News the network was aware of the urgency of the matter and expected an announcement this week.

I guess the lawyers will be busy between now and then Driver said last Wednesday.

On Monday July 30 an administration order made under section 8 of the Insolvency Act meant PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed joint administrators of RSL COM.

Around 115 redundancies swiftly followed.

There is insufficient resources to maintain the growth requirements of the Group. As a result in the absence of financial support from the RSL COM Group or additional funding from an investor the company was forced to seek protection from its creditors through the administration process said Pricewaterhouse-Coopers.

Joint administrator Peter Spratt confirmed:

We are seeking buyers for all parts of the business as a going concern and are optimistic that our strategy will produce the best opportunity of preserving value in the company. (full story page 14).

A further three people were made redundant following the appointment of joint administrators Simon Bower and Mike Oldham of London insolvency specialists RSM Robson Rhodes which handled the administration of Ora and disposal of three Wap Stores that in an ironic twist were sold to Cityphone for 700000.

The remaining 12 companies within the Cityphone group including Talk 4 All and Phone Direct continue to trade.

An RSM Robson Rhodes spokesperson confirmed:

We can confirm that Pointgold Ltd a mobile phone distributor went into administrative receivership on Monday September 23.

The company has ceased trading. Only two of the 23 staff remain.

The receivers say it is too early to tell whether any of the remaining companies in the group will be affected by the collapse of Pointgold which was the primary distribution company within the Cityphone group.

It is understood Pointgold supplied Cityphones Talk 4 All and WAP Stores.

Cityphone MD Barry Donaghey was unavailable for comment. However Donagheys partner and Pointgold director Paul Williams told Mobile News that the collapse of Pointgold could affect (Cont P2) other companies within the Cityphone group.

The receivers are looking at the commissions owed to other companies in the group and the effect it has down the chain.

Pointgold supplied all of the retail outlets within the group. We are hoping to save the business.

Robson Rhodes says it is too early to confirm the extent of Pointgolds debts and its creditors. However it is understood that T-Mobile is Cityphones largest creditor. Cityphone also purchased handsets and accessories from a number of other UK distributors. Rumours that Pointgolds parent company Cityphone were in financial trouble have been circulating the industry for weeks.

Donaghey admitted a fortnight ago (Mobile News September 16) that Cityphone was experiencing some financial problems and said the group was undergoing a restructuring to cut its overheads. Donaghey blamed the problems on the groups store acquisitions.

The shops were the biggest problem Donaghey told Mobile News after shutting 12 of the groups Talk 4 All shops.

Cityphone commenced its drive to build a nationwide retail chain in March 2000 when it purchased 18 TCL stores from the Kent dealer distributor liquidators KPMG.

The shops were rebranded Talk 4 All (Mobile News March 6 2000). A year later Cityphone purchased 14 Cellularfone (CFL) outlets in Northern Ireland for 500000 (Mobile News March 19 2001).

Within a year Cityphone had boosted its retail presence to 75 stores with the acquisition of the 30 WAP Stores from RSM Robson Rhodes (Mobile News January 21).

SonyEricsson UK marketing chief Peter Marsden explained both Sony and Ericsson used to outsource dealer support to field marketing agencies.

Sony used Mosaic Technology for training merchandising and in-store promotional support. Ericsson had a similar relationship with The Blue Water Agency.

After a review we discovered the service we were providing to the independent channel was not as good as we wanted it to be. Neither Mosaic or Blue Water will be working for us. Neither will the staff they employ. Thats probably where the rumour started that SonyEricsson is pulling away from the independent channel.

Blue Water people have been regarded by dealers as Ericsson employees.

There was no need for them to know that their Ericsson rep worked for a third-party field marketing agency. That was the way Ericsson wanted it to be done.

The row is over a website from a company called phones4you.co.uk set up by a Carphone Warehouse affiliate which directs surfers to The Carphone Warehouses home page.

I am amazed The Carphone Warehouse is being so blase about the whole affair said Phones4U managing director Anthony Catterson. They might see it as just one of those things and something that happens all the time but we see it as a very serious matter.

We believe Phones4U customers are being deliberately misled because The Carphone Warehouse is passing itself off as Phones4U.

The practice is the same as if The Carphone Warehouse built a store with a Phones4you sign outside and then a Carphone Warehouse interior.

Catterson wants the website closed down a formal apology from The Carphone Warehouse and financial compensation from the retailer for any sales that it might have made from the website.

They say it isnt illegal but I have a lawyer who thinks differently. It is the clear misleading of customers by using a derivative of our name continued Catterson.

It is an incongruous standpoint for a company that normally takes the moral high ground and presents itself to customers in this light.

That is why I have no problem going public with this . (Cont P2)

The dispute arose when Phones4U found that internet users who misspelt its web address and typed phones4you.co.uk were directed to The Carphone Warehouse homepage.

Catterson said the company was consulting its lawyers and suggested that The Carphone Warehouse was breaching its trademark.

But The Carphone Warehouse has denied any wrongdoing and suggest it is a perfectly acceptable and common practice.

It really isnt a big deal said a Carphone Warehouse spokeswoman.

In the first place it isnt something we have done we only found out about it last week.

The name was secured by a third-party affiliate that works for us. Secondly we have no problem with this sort of thing. It isnt illegal and we suffer from the same problem ourselves.

According to The Carphone Warehouse the controversial website was secured by one of the companys online affiliates whose actions are monitored by a company called Trade Doubler.

If The Carphone Warehouse secures a sale over the internet as a result of the redirection the affiliates are paid commission.

The Carphone Warehouse spokeswoman also claimed (at the time of going to press) that if users type in fonesforyou.co.uk they would be redirected to a dial-a-phone website while if users searched for carphonewarehouse.co.uk they are also directed to another dial-a-phone website.

We really cannot see what the problem is and we will be taking no action to stop Trade Doubler or any other affiliate she told Mobile News.