Staff Reporter

Called Talk Me Through It the operation will run from a customer support centre set up on Thomass 16-acre estate in Somerset.

The service aims to provide answers to most mobile phone technical queries.

The idea is for distributors to insert a card into every handset pack bearing a premium-rate customer support number.

Unique Distribution is the first distributor to handle the cards.

Calls will be charged at 1.50 a minute. Also TMTI will sell support service packs through shops.

The packs will offer 30 minutes of support for 14.95. Crispin Thomas said he was in talks with some manufacturers to offer a 30-minute support card with handsets.

We have been talking to some wholesalers that sell in to very big chains. They have a huge need for this kind of thing he added (see full story P36).

Jones who was responsible for the sales of all Orange products as well as logistics operations and customer equipment purchasing left Orange two years ago. An ex-professional golfer he planned to set up his own golfing academy.

Before joining Orange Jones spent five years at Hutchison and was responsible for integrating the companys UK sales and distribution operations into one unit.

He was also briefly involved with failed Internet handset broking company Mloop.

At 3 Jones will be responsible for marketing sales and distribution and managing 3 stores customer service centres and new products and services.

Jones said he was excited by the challenge and said he would be injecting enthusiasm excitement and passion back into 3.

I want to get people both inside and outside the business excited and believing in what 3 can deliver.

We are moving into an operational phase of the business. This requires people with different skills. This is a similar situation to when Orange first launched. Ive not seen anything going on at 3 that I didnt expect to see. The situation here is what you would expect at any newly launched network.

Jones claimed that launching a network required people with technical skills.

Then once you have launched it needs people with operational skills who can move things forward he added.

Im comfortable working here. I have known some of the people at Hutchison personally for many years. They are hard taskmasters but that is part of the challenge.

There has been an immense period of excitement and enthusiasm in building the network and launching. The organisation is going through a flat period. My job is to push things on again said Jones who was quick to point out his role would not come into conflict with that of 3 sales and distribution director John Barton.

Im happy to work alongside John Barton. Im glad he is here. John has done a tremendous job here and I look forward to helping him address operational issues.

Joness arrival could explain the departure of 3 marketing director Lisa Gernon who has left for a six-month sabbatical. It was no secret that Gernon and Jones did not always see eye-to-eye when they worked together at Orange.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe complained that four symbols used in the O2 campaign were too close to the registered trademarked symbols that Sony uses for its PlayStation games console.

The two companies reached an out-of-court settlement with O2 agreeing not to repeat the advertisements once the initial campaign ended in May. The campaign consisted of television magazine and print advertisements.

An O2 spokesman said: We had a discussion with Sony and agreed that we wouldnt repeat the advertisements. The ads were tactical and had a finite window of opportunity so the agreement hasnt forced us to make any changes. We havent had to pay any damages or costs. Our ad agency VCCP has been made aware of the objections .

FITE was set up at the start of May at a highly-charged meeting of over 400 traders who packed a meeting room at Lancaster Cricket ground to challenge the VAT rules (Mobile News May 6).

More than 250 traders pledged 1000 each towards a fighting fund. In fact barely four traders actually paid.

FITE organiser Frazer Holmes a director at Barnard Atkins VAT Services warned the organisation couldnt go on without funding.

It is very disappointing. It was great being in that room. Everyone was right behind the project. Hands volunteering money were shooting up. Thats no use when nothing else happens. A lot of traders said they were going to wait to see what other people were doing. Others simply left the industry.

Waiting is the easiest way of ensuring nothing happens. The victory of Customs & Excise against Bond House Systems took the wind out of the sails of many dealers. The result is still very disappointing.

The end of the VAT consultation period was June 10. By that time the FITE should have stated its position put a framework and constitution in place and elected board members. Lack of funding meant none of this happened.

Holmes will not try and resurrect FITE. There is no point when you have such little support. I spent a lot of time and expense on the project. When so few people were committed it makes no sense to do anything else.

The claim comes as the market leader unveiled its latest research.

The findings make for positive reading and contradict suggestions that MMS hasnt caught the imagination of the British public.

Networks and service providers will be pleased to learn that the potential of downloadable picture-based services is greater than was previously thought with those polled showing a healthy interest in services such as travel information news games and screensavers. As well as looking at UK opinion the research also examined how MMS has fared in other parts of the world.

Operators will be pleased to learn that instead of eating into the ARPU generated by SMS MMS actually increased total user ARPU with recipients of an MMS message typically replying with an SMS message.

The research into Japanese user trends also showed that there is a market for much richer content than is currently available in this country – an indicator that 3G services will have a market when they arrive.

Commenting on the survey Nokia mobile Internet solutions director Pekka Pohjakallio said:

This will be the year of MMS. Last year we saw the service being launched and at that time Nokia had only two handsets that offered it. Now we have 22 handsets. More importantly MMS is starting to become a standard feature across many manufacturers.

One of the key findings of the research is that the proliferation of MMS handsets is key to the success of the service. Looking at users in Japan and in the UK the research showed that people need to be able to send MMS messages to other MMS handsets as opposed to a computer or to a non-MMS handset that receives a standard text message with a Web link.

We found there has to be an element of immediacy with MMS messages said Pohjakallio. If an MMS is sent to a computer people are not sure if the receiver is sitting at their computer and it could take days before they get the message.

Pohjakallio also said that MMS is more than just the sending of picture messages although person-to-person self-created messages are the most popular use of the service.

Also popular especially in Italy are MMS content services. Pohjakallio noted that once they subscribe to a service users are unlikely to quit while services that have been available across SMS become much more popular once picture images can be offered.

With something like a traffic report I receive an SMS that says the traffic is moving at 55 cars an hour. I have no idea what this means. But if I am able to look at a traffic flow through a camera that shows me how the traffic is moving I get a far clearer message he said.

To ensure the growing popularity of MMS handsets Pohjakallio stressed the importance of advertising that shows MMS as a simple service that is of use to the average user.

We have found that you cannot overload the customer with too much information he said. It is important that users are not overwhelmed by the possibilities. So let them send a picture message then let them add text to that then add an audio clip. People will learn.

The research also showed that keeping pricing clear and simple was important while most people were pleasantly surprised by the high picture quality on offer.

Other findings included that consumers who bought an MMS handset enjoyed a higher degree of customer satisfaction than those who did not.

The Japanese studies also found that users viewed themselves as more likely to send more SMS messages as well as MMS if they had an MMS handset.

In addition the survey confounded suggestions that the success of MMS in Japan was a cultural matter that wouldnt translate to the UK as those polled in the UK showed a similar willingness to use the services as those in Japan.

Pohjakallio also rejected the suggestion that recent user figures in Japan (where networks experienced a sharp drop in MMS ARPU after the first six months) had shown that MMS usage was a fad that users soon lost interest in.

While it is true that people go through a honeymoon period during which their spend is very high they do still have a reasonable spend after the period is over. MMS is definitely not a fad.

Until now the scheme has been limited to a select group of high-performing cherry picked dealers who had to meet stringent criteria such as having a direct business sales business sales force and an in-house business customer service centre.

Orange now realises that there are not enough qualifying dealers to fill the gaps. It wants its distributors to support smaller independents by hosting the direct sales teams and customer support centres.

This will enable smaller dealers to enjoy the benefits of being part of the scheme without meeting all the criteria.

Orange has laid the groundwork for this plan by appointing four distributors in a group of nine new members to the scheme. EBS Midland Netcom and Anglia Telecom are distributors whose direct sales teams will to join the scheme.

None of the distributors will be allowed to extend the scheme to their dealers for the time being.

The other five new Orange Business Specialists are Telecommunications Direct Fonetrader Mobileshop.com A1 Communications and Phone In.

This takes the total number of Orange business specialists to 31 which Orange claims cover 65 per cent of the country.

Orange head of sales Stuart Henry says distributors will play a part in a third phase of the scheme. He told Mobile News:

We are looking at a number of distributors to join the Business Specialist scheme. We always said we wanted a network of dealers to cover the entire country.

The distributors could appoint smaller dealers in areas where we have gaps in our network of Business Specialists.

Meanwhile former Orange trade marketing manager Richard Henson has joined T-Mobile as channel enablement manager to develop new data and business products

Henson was heavily involved in the Orange Business Specialist scheme and had a hand in Oranges hard nosed businessman adverts.

He is being tipped to spearhead T-Mobiles drive for the SME market. He joins T-Mobile after a short spell at Unique Distribution which he joined after being made redundant at Orange at the beginning of the year.

The statement Bank loans and overdrafts amounted to 6.9 million needs clarification. The 6.9 million represented the finance charges in relation to bank loans and overdrafts (i.e. bank interest).

As at December 31 2002 Virgin Mobile had 13.1 million in its bank account and had a loan of 95 million owing to its banking syndicate.

The statement The virtual network also sold 11.7 million of pre-pay airtime vouchers also needs clarification.

The numbers quoted relate to airtime vouchers distributed by T-Mobile on behalf of Virgin Mobile and represents only a small portion of Virgin Mobiles overall voucher sales. The numbers decreased as voucher sales were brought under the control of Virgin Mobile.

Overall revenue increased from 173.8 million to 287.7 million. The statement Virgin Group sold 22990506 worth of Virgin Mobile handsets airtime vouchers and other items represents the value of handsets airtime vouchers and other items sold by Virgin Mobile to Virgin Retail (Megastores V-Shops) not the amount Virgin Group or Virgin Mobile sold to customers.

Fuller left Orange in October 2000 after the network was taken over by France Telecom. He then spent seven months running the cable division of digital media and telecoms group Telewest before returning to Hutchison to spearhead its 3G activity in Italy.

Fuller has joined the main board of 3 UK but he also remains a main board director of 3 Italy. Meanwhile 3 Italy CEO Vincenzo Novari has been appointed a main board director of 3 UK.

Fuller shares the UK CEO responsibility with current managing director Colin Tucker who has now been appointed deputy chairman of 3 UK. Tucker and Fuller worked together in similar positions while at Orange.

Hutchison Whampoa managing director Canning Fok said: These new front-line arrangements reflect the transition of 3s businesses from development to operating stage.

Meanwhile 3 has this month been opening concessions within its Superdrug store chain.

The new stores will be concentrated in areas where the 3 network is strong including Sheffield and the Greater London area.

Last year Fok said 3 would have around 100 stores by the end of 2003. As yet the network only has three solus 3 stores however and a spokesperson for the company said that the focus was now on the Superdrug stores.

Superdrug stores with 3 stand concessions will have new window displays featuring the distinctive giant 3 branding currently used in 3s standalone stores.

Hutchison Whampoa paid 835 million to Dutch chain Kruidvat for the Superdrug chain.

An attempt to force T-Mobile to accept trade unions in its network function staff failed last week when a workers ballot was defeated by 181 votes.

Leslie Manasseh deputy general secretary of communications union Connect said:

T-Mobile and its consultants have an outdated and ill-informed image of what trade unions are about. Connect members across the communications industry know the difference that working together can make.

Weve had a great deal of support throughout this campaign. It doesnt stop here. Employees in T-Mobile deserve a say in their workplace. They have the right to be consulted about restructuring.

We urge employees in T-Mobile to exercise their legal right to join Connect. Workers have told us they want to make a difference. Were still here to provide the means for them to do that.

T-Mobile employed American labour specialists TBG Consulting to persuade employees to vote no in the ballot.

The ballot had been organised by Connect and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) following a recent growth in individual union membership.

The unions had been looking to give T-Mobile workers a greater say in company restructuring and how it would affect workers lives and working hours.

The two unions sought an application for statutory recognition to the Central Arbitration Committee but withdrew the application after discussion with T-Mobile. A less confrontational voluntary ballot was agreed upon.

TBG used focus groups and interviews with employees during which the companys preferences were made clear.

However Connect alleged that T-Mobile misrepresented the unions in order to persuade workers to vote against the ballot.

To win over 40 per cent of staff would have had to vote with a majority in favour of union representation. Around 570 people voted but the ballot failed by 181 votes.

The e-mail claims to be word-of-mouth advertising and goes under the subject line Nokia Is Giving Away Phones For FREE.

It offers a free Nokia 6210 to those who forward the e-mail to eight people.

A free Nokia WAP handset is supposedly on offer for those who forward it to 20 or more people provided they send a copy to an Anna Swelan at a Nokia e-mail address. Nokia said it does not employ anyone by the name of Anna Swelan.

Nokia head of corporate communications Mark Squire said the hoax e-mail dates back to early 1999 and had nothing to do with the company.

Nokia is aware of a hoax e-mail stating that Nokia is handing out free phones to people who forward the e-mail. This chain e-mail does not originate from Nokia he stressed.

It is not customary for Nokia to use this type of direct e-mailing to promote our products or services. We have started to investigate the origins of the e-mail. However as is generally the case with chain letters and e-mails they are virtually impossible to trace and are very difficult to stop.

Despite the age of the handsets on offer the message is still catching people out.

The company said it could not prevent its name from being used in general e-mail messages. But it strongly discouraged anyone from forging the Nokia brand and said it would take action against anyone found doing so.