Staff Reporter

Prices vary depending on location with the 25 selected countries split by geography into seven groups.

These are: the Republic of Ireland Europe Australia and New Zealand the US and Canada Middle East and Africa Asia and Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean.

All calls cost a flat rate within each group of countries and making calls is more expensive than receiving them. Text messages abroad cost 35p regardless of geographical area to send. Receiving texts is free.

The service is being rolled out gradually across the 25 countries.

Call costs vary from 65p a minute in the Republic of Ireland to 1.70 for Latin America. Calls made while in mainland Europe cost 95p a minute. Receiving calls in Ireland costs 40p a minute while in Europe they cost 60p. Calls received in Latin America cost 80p.

Income before taxes was e39 million with net income of e62 million. This is an improvement of e155 million on the year before.

We are encouraged by the improvements achieved during the third quarter and particularly with the high demand for our PDC phones in Japan and the continued success of the T610 series in GSM markets said Sony Ericsson president Katsumi Ihara.

Sony Ericsson sales have also been boosted by a series of product launches including the joint ventures first GSM clamshell phones – the Z600 and Z200.

We have received very positive feedback from our cusomers about these new products said Ihara.

However Ihara warned that it would be difficult for Sony Ericsson to keep up its level of profitability because of the prevalence of lower-priced models.

The news follows the successful launch of the networks video-clip download service earlier this month.

Mobile Music allows customers to download entire songs on to their mobiles and listen to them as they download.

To use the service customers must buy a small device that plugs into their handset and stores the music. Depending on the memory capacity of the users handset songs can then be transferred to their mobile.

Songs are projected to cost 1.50 a download – roughly the price of a ringtone.

The Mobile Music concept was first unveiled by the network at CeBit in Hanover in March. The launch of Mobile Music is in keeping with O2s drive to have 25 per cent of its ARPU coming from data by the end of 2005. At present the network has the highest data ARPU of all the networks making up 18 per cent of total ARPU.

Kondor has an exclusive deal to distribute Body Glove to The Carphone Warehouse The Link Phones 4U Argos Woolworths and 3.

Our products have achieved high visibility in the retail channels resulting in Body Glove gaining market share said Body Glove head of sales Malcolm Stapelton.

The network has worked with content provider Trigenix to create Screen Styles a new bundle that gives users a wallpaper of their choice a polyphonic ringtone a themed menu page and links to additional content.

In addition a substantial part of the T-Zone portal appears offline so users can explore the services without having to pay.

Initially the bundle is available to owners of Nokia 7650s and 3650s but it will be expand to cover Nokia 6600s and Siemens SX-1s before Christmas.

Users can buy the offering through the

T-Zone portals on their handsets or through the T-Mobile website.

The network will send out text messages notifying existing users of the service. There will also be a Europe-wide magazine and newspaper advertising campaign.

There are more than 100 Screen Style themes on offer covering sport music and film.

T-Mobile senior manager consumer product marketing and products Dave

Woollands said:

Personalisation is a key part of our data services strategy. Through the success of TZones we have seen that people want to personalise their mobiles. Screen Styles builds upon that. As well as earning revenue from the initial cost of the bundle we expect to see users data ARPU increase.

Orange has been hit by a handset shortage following the success of its current commission bonus scheme.

The network launched its bonus scheme last month with dealers able to earn up to 75 extra commission for every handset they sell if they reach targets.

But dealers have reported a surge in Orange sales as the network is reported to have connected the same number of customers on contract as it usually achieves on pre-pay and contract together.

One major Orange distributor said:

We are only getting stock on allocation. We have some supplies but nowhere near enough to meet demand. There isnt much we can do.

We have ordered more but like I say we are only given limited stock on allocation.

Another dealer told Mobile News:

When you see the number of products available from Orange it makes you laugh.

We do a lot of work with business customers and they want standard products like the 3510i and 5210. Ive had a deal waiting to be closed and Ive had to search everywhere for a 3510i.

The sudden increase in sales has left the network suffering severe shortages across its handset range. In one of its October stock situation updates only 10 out the 32 handsets listed on contract are available now.

Models listed as out of stock include the Nokia 7250i Sony Ericssons popular T610 Samsungs A800 V200 and C100 and the Panasonic GD87.

Other popular handsets listed as on allocation orders only include Nokias 3510i and 6100 as well as the Sagem My-X6.

A spokeswoman for Orange said:

Like all networks we have a short-term supply difficulty primarily driven by volume constraints placed upon us by manufacturers late launches and cancelled launches due to quality issues.

This has been exacerbated by an unusually high number of orders that we were happy to satisfy last month.

We expect this situation to be rectified in the coming weeks.

It is understood that Orange is unlikely to continue its bonus scheme past its initial two-month period.

When the scheme was launched it was set to last two months with the possibility that it would be extended for a further two months.

The reorganisation aims to replicate rise in Siemens UK sales across Sweden Denmark Norway Finland Iceland Greenland Holland and Ireland.

Bate is credited with more than doubling Siemens UK handset sales and trebling its profits in less than two years. Bobby Sanghera who was network accounts director takes over as director of UK sales.

Bate said: The re-organisation will give Siemens Mobile more focus in each individual market rather than all countries being part of one large EMEA region. We already have the number two position in northern Europe.

Bate will be joined by Neil Sansbury who is the financial director for the region.

This is very good news for all 3 dealers said Ian Gillespie of 3 distributor Fone Logistics. I have seen the product and it is very impressive. The download speeds are extremely quick and it should be a good seller for Christmas.

But the six 3 distributors were also told not expect the new NEC 616 handset until the first quarter of 2004.

Nokia was contacted by a trader who bought some units and then complained to Nokia. This led to Nokias own Investigation and the subsequent raid.

Nokias legal representative Jeremy Newman said: We cant name the company that was raided. Trading standards are investigating the firm with a view to prosecution. It was not a dramatically big raid. Less than 500 items were seized.

More than 170000 counterfeit products including batteries chargers and covers have been seized over the last six months.

Nokia has launched a new anti-counterfeiting campaign following a spate of incidents where customers have been reportedly injured as a result of fitting poor quality counterfeit batteries to their phones (Mobile News).

The company expects there will be a booming market for counterfeit car-kits due to the incoming legislation.

Nokia is focusing on ridding the market of counterfeit batteries chargers and car-kits because they are safety critical. It is fighting a secondary action against passing-off.

Consumers are not deceived by passed-off products as they are with counterfeit products. Passed-off products do damage Nokias brand and reputation and the distinctive character of its trademarks said Newman.

Nokia launched its anti-counterfeiting drive days after Belgian consumer organisation – Test-Aankoop – slammed the company for producing unsafe batteries after testing what it thought was a batch of original Nokia batteries.

Nokia said Test Aankoop may have inadvertently tested counterfeit batteries and invited them to test original samples. These were protected against short circuiting.

Nokia has launched an ad campaign to warn about the dangers of counterfeit batteries and how to spot them. The website (www.nokia.com/battery) contains pictures of counterfeit batteries and details of a dealer helpline.

Nokias UK head of corporate communications Mark Squires said:

We are the most active manufacturer in fighting counterfeit products.

We would like to see more cohesive work from the industry to tackle the problem.

We need more support from governments. We are doing as much as we can to protect consumer.

An FCS statement said:

Throughout 2003 the mobile network operators acquired a number of the remaining mobile independent service providers.

Recently both O2 and Vodafone indicated that they will not be renewing their agreements with a number of other mobile independent service providers when they expire at the end of the year.

As a consequence the Federation of Communication Services has decided to wind up its MISP group with effect from December 31.

The Association of Communication Service Providers (ACSP) and other FCS groups remain available to provide representation for mobile independent service provider companies it concluded.

FCS chief executive Jacqui Brookes added:

An industry grouping of mobile phone service providers has been part of FCS since 1989. The end of the MISP group is a sad milestone for competition in this marketplace.

She added: The major reduction in the number of mobile independent service providers is bound to have a negative effect on the mobile market as customers will have far less choice of branded mobile phone airtime suppliers in the future.