Staff Reporter

Staff Reporter

Anglia parent to float on AIM

Symphony acquired Anglia Telecom in April for 10 million.

An Anglia spokesman said: The purchase of Anglia rounded out the Symphony portfolio. Prior to it Symphony would have struggled to get onto AIM because its portfolio wasnt wide enough. It means that money will be available to Anglia if it needs it for any projects in the future though those probably wont be until next year.

Anglia is understood to be in discussions with Dutch operator KPN about setting up an operation in Holland.

Symphony is proposing to carry out a placing of 10997561 ordinary shares to raise 4.51 million before expenses. Symphony parent company Eckoh is expected to retain a controlling stake in Symphony with a 64.64 per cent share of it following a flotation.

Anglia Telecoms turnover for the year ended 31 March 2005 was 30.5 million generating pre-tax profits of 1.3 million. Symphony Telecoms turnover for the same period was 21 million with pre-tax profits of 1.3 million.

Yes commissions now to reward upgrades and new business equally

Introducing the packages Yes Telecom managing director Keith Curran said:

An existing customer should be worth as much as a new one. Finally a provider is paying every bit as much for you to upgrade a customer as to introduce one.

Yes has also confirmed the upgrades to its MVNO Business Enterprise range of tariffs.

Yes is offering three types of Enterprise tariff: Enterprise is eight single user bundles ranging from 200 to 600 minutes; Enterprise Plus is nine shared bundles of two to 24 handsets ranging from 500 to 5000 minutes while Enterprise Power is six shared bundles of more than 25 handset accounts with talktime of 8000 to 35000 minutes.

Yes business partners will be able to offer Enterprise tariffs 10 per cent cheaper than comparable network bundles by tying SME customers into 18- and 24-month contracts.

We have a range of tariffs that will sell themselves to the business partners and their customers said Curran.

Orange direct scoops 2m corporate contract

The network will supply the firms 2500 partners and staff with a range of mobile devices including 3G Mobile Office cards SPV C500 smartphones and BlackBerrys direct. In addition the contract requires Orange to supply additional security training support and device upgrades.

We reviewed and piloted all the major UK operators said BDO Stoy Hayward head of technology Graham Knight. Orange was the only operator that understood our business and was flexible enough to accommodate it.

Knight pointed out that the accountancy firm considered using a third-party distributor but he decided the channel was not capable of providing the level of service it required.

With the level of technical assistance we needed it was easier going direct he said. We were looking at a new BlackBerry and a new version of 3G. The networks were able to provide us with these more easily and quickly than a third-party distributor.

Avenir pledges to fix glitch in contact systems

Avenir sales and marketing director Tanny Price said Avenir was aware of long waiting times coming into its call centre and was trying to remedy this as soon as possible. She explained Avenir had done the most O2 connections in the channel in August by a long way.

The connections increase we experienced last month really took me by surprise she said. However I am confident that the changes and improvements that we have put in place will have a significant impact and that our levels of service will be back to what our customers have always enjoyed with Avenir.

Things were obviously never going to improve overnight once the move [to new offices] had taken place. New systems always take a while to bed in and tweak she said.

Price added that Avenir had put in new telephone systems and recruited four new members of staff to bolster resources.

We have a proposed restructure in place for October which will mean a different kind of service will be given to Avenir dealers. We will be introducing dedicated relationship managers whose responsibilities will be to liaise continually with the networks for exceptional queries and for any incidents that may arise.

I am monitoring the stats on a daily basis and can see a definite improvement. We have introduced a generic e-mail address where any dealer issues or requests can be forwarded. This also acts as an online help desk and normally responses are turned round within an hour.

See Sharp End page 14

Orange assistant accused of theft

Russell Merchant 26 whos now unemployed of Larkspur Court Hawthorn Road Wallington Surrey is charged with stealing the vouchers while employed at the Orange store at 261 Oxford Street between December 13 and 16 last year.

Merchant was granted unconditional bail.

Ex-MSN supremo Gibbons joins O2

Gibbons was responsible for MSN sales and marketing which includes MSN Hotmail and MSN Messenger in the US and 39 other markets worldwide. At O2 her focus will be the companys move to take advantage of converging technologies where an O2 spokesman said her expertise at Microsoft and previously at Apple and Hewlett Packard will be key.

O2 chairman David Arculus said: [Gibbons] brings with her a wealth of global experience in marketing development and customer service particularly in internet based services which are becoming increasingly important in O2s business.

Gibbons appointment comes after a period of wastage in O2s non-executive directorships since last August when Paul Myners and Neelie Kroes announced their departure.

Mobile Q1 spend grows

Total ARPU fell to around 17 from 17.36 in Q1 2004. Data ARPU grew from 3.29 in Q1 2004 to 3.49 in the period ending March 31.

In its quarterly market update Ofcom revealed that voice usage was down from an average of 34 minutes per month in Q1 2004 to just 30 minutes. UK users sent on average 47 text messages per month five more than during the same quarter in 2004.

O2 dismisses merger talks

O2 said that it would focus on growing its operations

An O2 spokesman said: Its just the talk of city analysts in a couple of brokers notes. Weve lived with takeover speculation for four years. The City said that we would be gobbled up within a few months.

Last month O2 was linked with a joint-bid from Germanys T-Mobile and Dutch operator KPN. Citigroup was reported this week as claiming that KPNs German subsidiary E-Plus was ripe for a takeover bid from O2 and that it might also consider a merger with 3 to take advantage of its 3G network.

O2 defended its cautious approach to 3G so far as being in line with demand.

3G wont be mass market until the end of the year at the earliest and The Carphone Warehouse has admitted that as well said an O2 spokesman. Our investment is in line with demand.

He added: We are concentrating on growing the Tesco Mobile business in the UK which is doing very well and the Tchibo venture in Germany. We are around about number two in the UK and gaining when others are losing customers.

The German operation is the fastest growing in Germany. It has turned from being an absolute laggard into being on a par with Vodafone. T-Mobile and E-Plus have struggled there. We want to continue to realise the value of those operations.

O2 paid shareholders 2.25p per share at the end of August which O2 pointed out was two years ahead of City analysts expectations.

3 also dismissed the reports.

New b2b Orange head

Morris who will cover acquisition retention and growth of Oranges SME customer base will report to Orange Business Solutions marketing director Shaun Orpen.

Morris joined Vodafone in 2000 as operations director for Vodafone Marketing Services.

Morris said: The small and medium business is a challenging market to provide services for due to the diverse range of customer needs and I am excited by the opportunity.

O2 ups commitment to mobile rugby presence

Fans can sign up to their clubs official mobile content service whatever network they are on to get SMS and MMS downloads including ringtones club wallpapers and a WAP site.

This will give them access to match previews half and full time scores with commentary and analysis of the games. This season they will also be offered exclusive video content containing all the highlights 24 hours after the game.

O2 UK head of sponsorship Paul Samuels said: O2 is proud to be continuing its successful partnership with the Guinness Premiership as it enhances O2s presence in rugby at all levels from grassroots with O2 rugby class right through to the England squad.

Whatever we do in our sponsorship it is critical that we deliver additional value to our customers and the Guinness Premiership mobile service offers the most up-to-date and detailed information that any rugby fan could wish for.

O2 claims that its MMS alerts will contain pictures club and player stats and text making it the only service in the UK to offer all elements of multi-media messaging. In addition the Guinness Premiership micro site WAP portal can be accessed through the Sport section on the O2 Active service.

Fans will be rewarded for their loyalty with a season of O2 experiences – everything from having a chance to meet their rugby heroes win signed shirts or even train with the players.

Samuels said: We believe that with the Guinness Premiership and the activity planned to support the England rugby team we can continue to create awareness around the O2 brand and reward our customers by offering the best rugby experiences and services available.

Premier Rugby commercial director Jon Varney added: As the numbers of people following club rugby in England continue to grow O2s range of mobile services will help us feed the passion our supporters have for following all the Guinness Premiership news and match action.