Staff Reporter

He leaves at the end of this month and will be replaced by business solutions vice-president Mike Newnham who joined Orange four years ago from PriceWaterhouseCoopers as vice-president of finance.

Alastair MacLeod formerly sales director of business solutions will assume Newnhams former position as vice-president of business solutions at Orange UK on an interim basis.

A source close to Orange revealed: Oranges dealer roadmap for 2005 has 3G pencilled in for early February. Knowing Orange it is a loose date. It could be March.

Its just looking to dip its toe in the water at the moment and plans to spend 12 million which isnt much to acquire between one and 1.5 million customers this year.

According to the source the Sony Ericsson Z1010 is already on the roadmap as well as around three other models.

It will be a soft launch. It wont be big because it cant afford to get into a fight with the other 3G networks. None of them has mastered the technology yet and it will hurt Orange financially if it allows customers to migrate too quickly between its networks.

The source added that Orange will allow customers to upgrade between its 2.5G and 3G networks.

Orange said that no plans had been finalised with regard to the independent dealer channel.

It hasnt been nailed down yet said a spokesman. Its in the process of being confirmed. Nothing has been finalised. People will be talking about it because we launched our 3G services at the end of last year.

In a statement the network said:

A number of the support functions of Singlepoint and Vodafone have now been aligned with many employees reskilling or transferring to other positions.

The final integration project will be completed by April 2005 and it is anticipated that 195 roles will be put at risk of redundancy.

It is hoped that some redeployment will be possible at Singlepoint as well as in other parts of the Vodafone business.

When Vodafone acquired Singlepoint it made no secret of the fact that the company would become part of the Vodafone UK business.

Vodafone also recognised that Singlepoint had consumer telesalesexpertise and it developed Singlepoint as a telesales centre of excellence.

Over the past 10 months this has been developed as a telesales centre for all Vodafone consumer customers as well as a new direct sales service.

Call handlers are now also sharing customer calls with Vodafones other contact centres in Birmingham and Warrington resulting in a culling of many jobs now that the two businesses have been integrated.

At the UK launch of the SK65 handset this week Siemens vice-president for Northern Europe Jonathan Bate said:

Our former CEO said we have the option to fix it sell it or to close the business down. Because of that everyone had guessed that we are going to close down the mobile division or merge it with another manufacturer.

But it has also been said that we are going to fix this business. Were not looking to sell or merge with another manufacturer.

Siemens said an internal fix of its mobile division was under way. The programme has been dubbed Energise MD and will rectify the problem of products coming late to market that damaged Siemens Mobile in the second half of last year.

Its all about time to market making sure weve got the right customer relationships and that were doing the right marketing things said Bate.

We are now putting things in place so that the new products are on time. Siemens is in the mobile phone business for the long term.

Weve had two bad quarters because our products were late to market. There were software issues and weve paid the price. But thats history. Were here to stay.

Henning Dransfelt a research director at telecoms analysts Ovum commented:

It was very surprising that Siemens didnt announce anything at its AGM on January 27. It could be buying time. Or maybe a deal fell through at the last minute. [New CEO] Klaus Kleinfeld did say the mobile unit was losing e1 million a day and had lost e143 million in the quarter. He made strong noises that it would be sold or shut effectively ruling out an internal fix.

At its AGM on January 27 von Pierer told shareholders they would have to wait for a decision despite the need for a quick action.

Siemens has confirmed that it will release 15 new products in 2005. These include the new SK65 BlackBerry handset and two 3G phones.

According to Bate this is a clear indication of Siemens optimism for mobile in the future.

Its the widest range weve launched to date. It demonstrates Siemens commitment to the market he declared.

He went on to accept that while the manufacturer was keen to have a presence in all areas of the market it needed to maintain focus.

We need to be in all the key segments but focused within them he said.

Weve focused too much on the low-end in the past which has given us great volume but not the profits that are needed.

Key to Siemens strategy was its approach to 3G.

Well have a clamshell 3G device and a bar phone-style handset revealed Bate.

With the exception of 3 the operators are in the early stages of launch. We want to come in when its mass market. The 2.5G market is still massive and there are some exceptionally good products out there already.

The SK65 ships next week having been delayed from November. It is pitched at business users and supports voice diary e-mail and Bluetooth connectivity and has a full QWERTY keyboard and BlackBerry capability.

Three mobile telecom organisations have been hailed as some of the UKs 100 nicest companies to work for according to The Sunday Times.

They are The Carphone Warehouse Virgin Mobile and Isis Telecom.

The Carphone Warehouse came fourth in the list of the 100 Best Big Companies to work for.

Virgin Mobile came in at 72nd place in the Big Company list.

West London-based service provider Isis Telecommunications earned itself 18th place in the 100 Best Small Companies list. Isis made headlines in Mobile News a year ago when its employee James Storey won 100000 in Data Selects Who Wants to be a Millionaire promotion. His prize money was shared among the Isis team.

130000 UK employees were quizzed about their workplace. Their opinions were then collated to see which companies provide a supportive environment in which staff feel rewarded appreciated and are encouraged to develop.

Carphone Warehouse UK chief executive Andrew Harrison said he was delighted with the companys high placing.

Careers thrive at The Carphone Warehouse. We invest in the best people to deliver the best service. What is so rewarding is that this honour comes as the result of direct feedback from our people.

Harrison added that CPWs 7000 employees get standard benefits including life insurance an income protection scheme and a stakeholder pension scheme.

The retailer also offers an employee incentive scheme whereby sales consultants can earn themselves anything from high street gift vouchers to trips to Australia and The Maldives.

Virgin Mobile CEO Tom Alexander said it was a great accolade.

This is an outstanding achievement for Virgin Mobile he said. We are delighted to gain third best company to work for in the South West in the prestigious Sunday Times 100 Best Companies list for the first time.

Whats more previously we have been placed in the Top 50 Best Workplaces list in the Financial Times for two years running. This is further evidence that Virgin Mobile is a remarkable and exceptional company.

Isis was equally delighted with its placing.

HR manager Emma Leach told Mobile News that the company has 62 permanent staff with a retention rate of 97 per cent.

We place a great deal of emphasis on employee wellbeing through training and development social events and an enjoyable working environment.

Its as important to us that our employees are happy in their work as it is that we offer excellent service to our clients.

The two are mutual – if our employees are happy our clients are happy and vice versa.

Being listed so highly in the Best Companies list has proved testament to this she said.

Images of the Franklin which purportedly runs the latest Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system appeared on the Internet last week following the apparent leak of a Dangaard Telecom presentation on the Microsoft web site.

Dangaard Europes largest distributor said it was unaware of either the device or any leaked documents.

Dangaard COO Michael Kehn responded: We dont know anything about the phone or [the leaked presentation].

A Motorola spokesman said: We are aware of the information on the internet. We have no comment. We do not comment on unannounced projects.

The leaked Dangaard presentation outlines the roadmaps of both Motorola and handset brand Qtek. The Franklin feature set includes Windows Mobile 5.0 a 1.3 megapixel camera with LED flash Bluetooth and EDGE.

Both companies achieved perfect scores of 50 points each to again clinch their Awards.

The Carphone Warehouse won Best Retailer for the 11th year running while 20:20 Logistics picked up Best Distributor (Handsets) for the eighth year in a row.

The judges described Carphone Warehouses entry as flawless saying: Carphone remains the leader on the high street and only one retailer pressed all the buttons. Another judge said the chain continually moves the goalpost for the other large retailers.

The judges remarks on 20:20 were: A superb entry clearly defining magnificent achievements in 2004 and that 20:20 was the undisputed leader in this category. Another judge remarked that: This company cannot be touched.

Other successes were recorded by Intec which won its third award in a row for Service and Repair.

Dextra Solutions won its second award for Distributor (Accessories).

Yes Telecom found another two Awards for Customer Service and Service Provider after its successes in these categories last year.

Motorola also turned in a winning performance nabbing two Awards. Its trend-setting RAZR V3 was voted Most Innovative Product while its A1000 3G handset was given the gong for Best Technological Advance.

But it was not enough to prevent Nokia walking away with the Best Manufacturer Award.

The judges reckoned Nokia had listened to feedback on product design had run the best training programmes with its 20 Nokia Academies and had produced the best advertising and PR led by its X factor and fashion ad campaigns.

Mopay claims to be the first online consumer site of its kind. Users select the make model and condition of their phone and Mopay gives an instant online quote. For example a Nokia 6310i in good condition will fetch 40.

If the quote appeals the respondent sends the phone in a Jiffy bag to Mopay by freepost. The company then assesses its condition and sends out a cheque within 14 days.

A Mopay spokeswoman said that Mopay plans to donate 10 per cent of every sale to charity.

For every recycled phone Mopay will contribute 10 per cent of the profit to Childline helping them to answer an extra call from a child in need of help comfort and protection she said.

Six phones could assist in the counselling of a child and 250 handsets could lead to the recruitment and training of a volunteer counsellor.

She added: In the UK alone 15 million handsets are discarded every year. Millions of others are left in a drawer and forgotten. Less than 10 per cent are recycled. Using an environmentally friendly process Mopay recycles handsets and refurbishes them for resale to telecoms companies in the developing world.

Mark Mitchinsondirector of Samsung Mobile UK said:

This is a very exciting sponsorship for Samsung Mobile and we are pleased to be able to continue our close links with the team in 2005. With the new riders and an incredible set-up 2005 looks set to be a highly successful year for the team and I wish them the best of luck for the season ahead.

Mitchinson added that Samsung will run a number of marketing initiatives for the fans at race meetings throughout the motor racing season.

Spectators will have the opportunity to participate in competitions demo the latest phones and share their racing knowledge during the season he said.

The roll-out follows a successful trial in selected stores since Christmas which saw the introduction of dedicated in-store areas with experts trained to take customer through the whole cameraphone imaging process.

Customers are advised on everything from choosing the best quality cameraphones through to getting the most from digital photography by home printing uploading images online and creating personalised gifts.

Carphone Warehouse UK chief executive Andrew Harrison said the cameraphone photography proposition heralded the companys commitment to become the number one retailer for all kinds of digital photography in the UK.

We have seen an increasing shift towards cameraphones particularly since Christmas and it seems that the convergence of mobile communication and mobile digital photography is proving to be what the customer really wants he said.

People just dont want or need two devices and as no one leaves home without their mobile phone this is how people will take photos in the future he predicted.

The Carphone Warehouse says that of the handsets it sells 75 per cent now have a built-in digital camera. Of these at least 27 per cent have a megapixel camera.

The company has also had more than 300000 images uploaded to its photography website run in conjunction with Photobox since its launch in 2004.