Staff Reporter

I have always said that I would leave any job straight away if I stopped being happy he said. The split with Intec was perfectly friendly and I wish them all the best. I just felt I had done all I could and it was time for a fresh challenge.

Priced at 179 with contract the S100 has a 65000-colour display a modem for fax transfers vibrating alert T9 predictive text input smart messaging (EMS) and organiser functions

Technical problems forced Garmin to delay the NavTalk handset from Q4 2001. The specification was upgraded and mapping software improved.

The NavTalk finally went on sale in Europe this month. UK versions will not ship until April until new UK mapping software is ready.

Garmin head of cellular sales Peter Hawkins said: We will be shipping at the end of the month. We have been waiting for some enhanced mapping software that will offer better navigation to end users. The handset is shipping in Denmark Germany France Italy Switzerland and Holland.

NavTalk users can send their GPS locations to each other and to location-based service companies. This could be invaluable in emergencies.

Garmin is in talks with networks and handset distributors with plans to ship products to retailers and independent dealers. The handset price has been set at 499 (plus VAT). The final price depends on network subsidy levels.

Hawkins claims Garmins pedigree in producing GPS devices will give it an edge over rivals such as Benefon which launched a similar handset with GPS navigation capabilities. This has failed to sell in any real volumes in the UK.

We know how to integrate GPS into a mobile phone and keep battery consumption low claimed Hawkins.

According to financial figures for 2002 released last week Oranges UK contract customer base increased 13 per cent to 4.2 million customers at the end of 2002. Contract customers accounted for over half the total growth during the year.

The pre-pay base increased five per cent during the year to more than nine million customers compared with 8.6 million in 2001.

For the first time ever Orange UK said it achieved a consistent increase in annual average customer revenues during the year and it is now enjoying the benefits of its maturing customer base.

Overall average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 5.7 per cent during 2002 to 259. Within this the average ARPU for both the contract and pre-pay bases increased as did the contribution from both voice usage and non-voice services. Contract ARPU was 557 for the year ( 544 in 2001) while pre-pay ARPU increased from 121 to 125 having passed inflection after Q1 2002.

The voice element of average revenues increased 2.3 per cent to 222 in 2002 while the contribution from non-voice services increased 32 per cent to 37 in 2002.

Non-voice revenues contributed 64 per cent of the growth in overall ARPU.

Orange UKs total revenues increased 12 per cent to 4094 million. Churn fell to 17.5 per cent (2001: 18.4 per cent) with contract churn at 15.5 per cent and pre-pay churn at 18.8 per cent.

Average usage rose during the year to 140 minutes per month (from 138 in 2001) with the contract base averaging 326 minutes and the pre-pay base 56 minutes per month.

The average cost of acquiring new customers increased to 120 in 2002 reflecting the increased focus on higher-value contract segments.

Average contract acquisition cost increased to 254 in 2002 (from 214 in 2001). Pre-pay acquisition costs dropped to 14 in 2002 following a reduction in the level of handset subsidies offered and a higher proportion of SIM card-only connections.

The job has gone to Scott Thomas previously a sales director at Argos Group e-commerce acquisition Jungle.com where he oversaw sales across multiple channels such as retail outfits business-to-business routes and online services.

Thomass main task will be to replicate the retail success of Phones 4U online.

The body will provide their customers with a multi-network commonly branded solution for making payments using their handsets.

Orange T-Mobile and Vodafone along with Spains Telefonica Moviles said the alliance will enable customers across Europe to securely buy digital or physical goods using their handsets.

3 Debitel KPN Mobile Group O2 and TMN have also expressed an interest in joining.

The alliance hopes to establish an industry standard that will enable merchants and operators to press on with the roll-out of more mobile payment-enabled services.

Mobile payments or m-payments have already been trialled with varying degrees of success. Companies hope to use the technology to drive sales of low-ticket products which are priced so as to preclude credit card payments.

The history of the mobile phone industry shows that major business volumes only came when customers had the freedom to reach across and interact with any network said Tim Jones newly-appointed chiefexecutive officer of the Mobile Payment Services Association which will be based in London.

Jones has held a number of senior executive positions including chief executive of retail banking at National Westminster Bank.

He also co-founded and headed the now-defunct Mondex electronic cash initiative within National Westminster Bank.

The claim was made at the EDGE Operators Forum (EOF) in New Orleans last week. The EOF said that many European operators are evaluating EDGE or enhanced data rates for GSM as a complementary or alternative technology to 3G because of its low cost of deployment and technical efficiency.

The EOF claimed that those deploying EDGE can increase data speeds to three times those achievable over GPRS for around to $1-$2 per subscriber without the need for a 3G licence.

Motorola Nokia and Sony Ericsson all announced EDGE products at the 3GSM World Congress.

Call.Saver claims to offer 20 per cent cheaper calls from fixed lines to mobiles and 250 inclusive off-peak minutes. The service is being sold only in The Link for 12 months. One.Tel has no plans to offer similar packages through any other retailer.

Link MD Nick Wood commented: We have been selling fixed-line phones longer than The Carphone Warehouse. It is an incremental profit opportunity for The Link because 70 per cent of our customers are on BT.

He added: This is a better value offering than Talk Talk.

The new tariff will be promoted by the biggest advertising campaign Virgin Mobile has undertaken.

A 5 million ad campaign started last week on cinema TV and radio and in the press.

The main TV commercial is set in an old eastern European hospital where bored patients use their thumbs to make a nuisance of themselves by pressing light switches on and off and playing pranks on other patients. The ad closes with the line The Devil makes work for idle thumbs. Keep yours busy. Text another Virgin mobile for only 3p.

Texting is phenomenally popular with the young with whom Virgin is already a well-loved brand said Virgin founder Richard Branson.

We want to reward those customers for the support that has made Virgin Mobile the number one network for texters in the UK.

Vodafone Orange T-Mobile The Carphone Warehouse and 3 have all launched flagship stores in Oxford Street. The new Oxford Street emporium means O2 now has 205 stores in the UK.

The new O2 store covers 719 sq metres on two levels. Customers will see demonstrations of O2 services such as media messaging O2 Active ringtones games and wallpaper downloads.

Sections will be dedicated to Arsenal O2s main sponsorship partner. The business area will have a conference room and an area offering Internet access.

A large interactive screen in the front window of the store will display special offers and images of passers-by to lure them inside.