Staff Reporter

Orange commissions the first hydrogen fuel cell base station in the UK enabling coverage in remote areas where there is no power supply

Two weeks ago T-Mobile suspended some of its e-mail services. But according to a Southampton-based T-Mobile dealer some customers complained they could longer use their T-Mobile handsets for e-mail. The dealer said he rang T-Mobile and was told that the T-email server had been turned off.

The adviser said that unless you had T-email set up on your phone before March 1 you couldnt have it at all.

I had complaints from several other customers with the same difficulties.

No one at T-Mobile could tell me what had happened or why. I still havent had an explanation.

In a statement T-Mobile said:

We became aware of a problem with T-email on March 8 following reports that users could not access the service via the Internet. The problem only affected users over GPRS.

The loss of this functionality was not intentional and was treated as a high priority fault. This fault was rectified on March 15. T-email is now functioning normally again on T-Mobile handsets.

MoCo Cell Link launched its branding programme in Autumn last year saying it would provide independent dealers with extra support and the ability to compete better with larger high street multiples.

The 10 new MoCo branded dealerships are Advance Business Mobile Newtownards; Fonepoint Bangor; Global Communications Bangor; JMC Mobile Newry; Phones Direct Co. Armagh; Phonestore Belfast; Phonestore Lurgan; Straight Talk Belfast; Talk Mobile Solutions Downpatrick and The Phone Box Ballyclare. Moco also expects a further four stores to be rebranded in April.

These are MoCo Corporate Communications Galasheils Scotland; Fax Warehouse Letchworth and Intouch International Birmingham.

MoCo managing director Ian Robinson says the distributor is looking for a total of 35 to 40 dealers to come under the MoCo brand and reckons the deal is good for both the distributor and dealers.

The Mobile Phone Shop North West took the action on March 10 for alleged non-payment of commission.

Mobile Phone Shop company executive Peter Tomlinson who represented his own firm during the court case said:

We began dealing with Phone Direct last May. We did five O2 contracts for them and then requested payment.

However Phone Direct declined to pay us because it claimed we were in breach of our trading agreement with it. The company alleged that we had not sent the contracts and correct proofs of identity within the 14-day period.

Tomlinson claims that he spoke to Phone Direct manager Duncan Ashgrove about the situation.

I told Mr Ashgrove wed sent all the paperwork and that we had proof that we had adhered to the terms and conditions he said.

Tomlinson alleges that Phone Direct declined to pay.

We had no choice but to take legal action. We are a small dealership. We couldnt afford to write the payment off.

We felt we were owed that money and needed payment.

In court Tomlinson produced documents proving the paperwork had been sent within the 14-day period.

Deputy district judge Dowding found in his favour. The judge ordered Phone Direct to pay 1169.13 plus interest and costs within 14 days.

Ashgrove told Mobile News:

As far as we were concerned the contracts didnt have the correct proofs initially and were received outside of the14-day period which was a breach of our terms and conditions with the Mobile Phone Shop North West so we refused to pay.

I never spoke to anyone from that company regarding this matter until the litigation started. I wasnt even aware that there was a problem until it dropped on my desk in the form of a court summons.

We asked for paperwork supporting their claims. I wrote five letters to them which went unanswered until I received proofs from Royal Mail – which showed the contracts had been received here during the 14-day period – the day before the court case.

It was only then that it became apparent that we had made a clerical error regarding the input of this data on our systems which in turn led to us believing it had been received late.

Mobile Phone Shop didnt help us at all and have in fact cost us a lot of time and effort.

Had they sent us the documents they would have been paid. For the sake of just under 1100 we have put our reputation on the line and our relationship with dealers when this could have all been avoided.

Vodafone already has one language facility at its store in Oxford Street which is equipped with service desks and touch-screen computers that offer information in 24 different languages.

The company recently won a Retail Week Award for the service.

At a recent press launch Sony Ericsson president Katsumi Ihara confirmed the joint-venture had overcome a shaky financial start.

We are coming into the market with products combining Ericssons expertise in the technology side with Sonys strengths of the look and feel of the handset he said.

Sony Ericsson executive vice-president Jan Wareby added:

Camera phones are a key driver for global handset recovery. They outsell digital still cameras and MMS traffic is predicted to grow to 8.3 billion this year so understandably operators around the world are keen for manufacturers to include cameras.

Our drive has been to understand consumer needs and factors they consider when buying.

The ad featured a picture of chairman John Caudwell alongside the slogan: If you dont believe youre worth 1 million a year you are probably right!.

Caudwell told Mobile News that the day after the ad appeared the response rate was three times higher than normal.

The hardest part of any business is finding the right people. The right people are few and far between he said.

The quality of candidates is more important than the quantity. I want the UKs best business talent. So our recruitment process is ongoing. It usually takes us 1000 applicants to find one managing director.

Caudwell said he was after young vigorous high-fliers in their late 20s to early 30s. Caudwell Group company managing directors tend to be in their early 30s while group MDs are in their mid-30s.

There are exceptions but Im after young blood and for the right people there are plenty of opportunities to climb the ladder quickly.

The ad also disclosed the salaries and remuneration of several directors including 20:20 managing director Mark Ryan who according to the ad is paid more than 1 million a year.

At first they werent too keen about their salaries being included Caudwell admitted. But when they realised the benefits it could have in terms of helping the business grow they agreed. I wouldnt have done it without their approval.

He explained that the Caudwell Group never hires for specific jobvacancies.

Opportunities exist across the group both in the UK and globally for a variety of senior management roles. Our policy is to recruit for talent and then choose a job most appropriate to them. We can do this because the Caudwell Group is a massively expanding environment.

Rarely has anyone come to me knowing what job they are coming to me for – the majority of candidates come for a job within the Group.

We started a business 18 months ago that will have 1000 employees by the end of the year. Thats how quickly positions arise.

Caudwell said it was too early to say whether he would repeat the ad in the Sunday Times.

It depends on how successful this one turns out to be in terms of persuading the calibre of candidates we are looking for to apply. It was very expensive.

The ad quoted Caudwell as saying: I am reputed to be a billionaire. I am determined to share that wealth with you … if you join us and prove good enough to grow the Caudwell Empire I wont let you escape.

Initially you will be paid an attractive package but this wont be why you joined … You will have joined because of a wealth-creation opportunity made up of shares share options or Wealth Creation Bonds.

You will be trapped by wealth trapped by fulfilment and trapped by becoming a Caudwell success junkie.

(See White Lines P48).

Typically this industry has been driven by technology and before we even fully explore 2.5G were thinking of 3G and even talking about 4G WiFi and WiMax McGlade told the 3GSM World Congress earlier this month. Lets work on what we have today lets make it work really well and evolve the next technology only if it makes sense to the customers.

Among his corporate peers McGlade struck one of the few notes of caution at an event that was ostensibly trumpeting the advent of 3G. But McGlade remained cynical about the value of video streaming to mobile phones. And while he was excited by the prospect of music downloads he never suggested it was the killer application sought by the industry.

The ringtone business was bigger in the UK in 2003 than the sale of CD singles – and these are just ringtones. Theyre not even very good quality he pointed out. Once we get into real music downloads well have something really interesting.

McGlade said fully-integrated music devices could be expected on the market by the end of 2004. Until then though he warned that the industry must not let its ambition outrun its means.

We want to make sure that we sweat an asset in 2.5G and get used to using these services today so that when we evolve into a 3G environment were in really good shape.

This is the prediction of mobile industry analyst firm Baskerville.

In its latest report Baskerville predicts that emerging markets will use mainly pre-paid services to drive uptake. Developing markets named include China India Russia and eastern Europe.

Steady growth in advanced pre-pay markets such as western Europe will also help to drive pre-pay said Baskerville analyst Paul Merry who wrote the report Global Mobile Prepaid Stategies and Forecasts. Operators in these regions will reappraise pre-pay in light of its potential for accessing high-data-user groups including youth segments and its favourable return on investment.

He went on to argue that average revenue per user (ARPU) is not always the best way of considering the actual revenue generated by users when factors such as customer acquisition and provisioning are taken into account.

Operators realised some time ago that high subscriptions do not necessarily equate to high revenues. If average margin per user is considered which takes into account the cost of the subscriber minus the revenue they produce it soon becomes apparent that pre-pay is potentially highly lucrative.

Merry added that the historical perception of pre-pay as a lesser service offering does not necessarily match up to the reality.

Pre-pay customers can generate higher revenue per minute than post-pay customers and generally require fewer operator expenditures in terms of handset subsidies billing and collection costs and bad debt he claimed.

But Merry admitted that high pre-pay ARPU depends on how the pre-pay service is supplied – for example keeping billing simple and offering anonymity to pre-pay users.

Otellini presented a PDA prototype with a new silicon chip that delivers DVD-quality video. Production models will become available in the second half of the year.

Otellini also outlined plans to ship chips that support new WiMax technology by the second half of the year. WiMax will be an alternative to cable and DSL and offer wireless broadband Internet access from any location.

Wall Street Journal hi-tech columnist Walter Mossberg commented: As fast as 3G is the potential for WiMax is substantially faster. If he is right we are clearly going to have many new wireless networks and the choices for consumers and the challenges for operators and handset makers will become greater.