Staff Reporter

Premtel provides a full range of services from premium-rate phone numbers SMS and MMS subscription and messaging services through to complex call routing virtual office systems and automated order lines.

The company which was founded by David Prosser and Neil Scotchbrook in 2003 also offers advertising and web site design.

There was no official announcement about 3G from Virgin Mobile but its web site now lets customers check if their postcode is within 3G coverage. It states:

3G is available to customers who have a 3G compatible Virgin Mobile phone… Virgin Mobile phones that are 3G compatible and are used in areas of 3G network coverage will be able to view Bites and download games and ringtones even faster than before… Right now 3G coverage is available in major UK cities and were working on getting coverage in other towns as we speak.

A Virgin Mobile spokesperson confirmed:

We have the Nokia 6630 on sale which is a 3G-enabled phone. So customers who pick up that phone can now get 3G. You can get Bites content at a higher speed but you cant get any specific 3G services yet. We will continue to introduce 3G handsets to our range. I cant confirm a date for the full 3G launch yet.

3G data rates are currently the same as normal GPRS costs.

A 3 spokesperson said: It means we have added another handset vendor to our portfolio. We have secured the deal on a global basis across the entire 3 group which says a lot about how Hutchison uses economies of scale to keep costs down.

3 UK CEO Bob Fuller said: Were seeing strong competition among manufacturers to deliver the most exciting 3G handsets. This is good for 3 the manufacturers and 3s customers.

The video mobiles available in the market in the second half of this year are comparable in size and weight to GSM phones but come with the full range of video mobile features.

Sony Ericsson corporate executive vice president and head of sales and marketing Jan Wareby said:

During 2004 global subscriptions to 3G services almost doubled.

We are building our

3G portfolio to support this growthThe K608i is a classic addition to the family that consumers will immediately find appealing and intuitive.

3 claims it now has over eight million customers across the globe.

Lea told Mobile News that Fone Logistics managing director Gillespie had sacked him for gross misconduct two months after Lea had handed in his notice and gone on gardening leave.

Lea explained:

I resigned on June 6 due to differences of opinion with the management team. I handed in 12 months notice to take time to decide what I would do next. I have since been sacked for gross misconduct. Ian has made several allegations against me. My lawyers are dealing with it.

I am being followed. Ian has built up a case against me over the past two months so that I dont get another job in this industry and so he doesnt have to pay me any more. I have been closely involved in this industry for a long time and I am going to come back fighting. I am not short of job offers.

I have to sort out the restrictive covenants first but they have stopped paying me now so as far as I am concerned they have broken the contract.

Gillespie said: This is a company matter. My professional advisers have told me to not to say anything. So I must say no comment.

See White Lines page 48

BT said that it was receiving 21000 complaints per month from customers about the sales tactics of rival landline companies.

BT issued proceedings against CCL in May for infringement of registered trademarks and for passing off after it claimed that CCL salespeople had misled customers into thinking that the company was in some way connected to BT.

In an out-of-court settlement last week BT received 150000 towards costs and damages and an undertaking from CCL that it would not infringe BTs trademark.

BT group managing director Gavin Patterson said: BT is pleased that a settlement has been reached for this legal claim. We are still concerned about the level of mis-selling in the telecommunications industry and we are prepared to take similar action against other communication providers if they confuse customers in this way and cause damage to BTs brand.

Caudwell Group managing director Tim Whiting said: After a thorough investigation in CCL it became clear that certain third-party operators acting on behalf of CCL were not following strict guidelines set down by us. The business moved swiftly to remove the third-party suppliers from the supply chain and to correct any wrongdoing to the small number of customers affected. We are pleased to have worked with BT to resolve the situation without the need of court intervention.

A BT spokesman added: It is not about the money. 150000 is a significant sum but the statement from CCL shows that someone else has agreed that this is happening. See Business Watch page 14

Orange has launched an initiative to give away millions of free voice minutes and texts to new and existing pre-pay customers.

Bonus top-up is part of the Orange Prepay Repay campaign to reward pre-pay customers. The amount of free minutes that customers receive will depend on how much they have used their phone.

Rewards vary between 1 and 25 per month for all customers spending more than 10 per month. For example a customer spending 50 in a month would receive an extra 25 credit.

Bonus top-ups are awarded at the end of every month and can be redeemed in the following four-week period as calls or texts. Existing customers can call 452 or 450 to join the scheme.

Alistair Johnston head of Pay As You Go at Orange said that Orange is expecting to give back top-ups equivalent to 50 million minutes of call time in the next six months.

There are nearly 17 million Pay As You Go customers in the UK and we have launched this initiative to give them the same benefits enjoyed by contract customers he said.

For too long networks have taken pre-pay customers for granted and we are working hard to reward our loyal and valued customers and offer them real value.

This month also sees the introduction of a new pricing plan for Oranges Pay As You Go framework. Call charges have been simplified so that the same rates apply 24 hours a day seven days a week.

Under the new system calls from Orange to Orange phones and landlines will cost 15p per minute while calling from Orange to other UK networks will cost 35p per minute. Text messages will cost 10p each video messages 50p each and answerphone retrieval will cost 10p.

No one here knows anything about it claimed Nokia UK communications director Mark Squires. The Business tried to run it six months ago but didnt.

UK weekly The Business claimed last Sunday (August 7) that Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers is keen to merge Cisco with a large wireless infrastructure company and that Nokia is the most likely target.

A Cisco Systems spokesman commented: We have made 103 acquisitions to date in our 20-year history. We made six acquisitions in the past quarter. But all of them without exception have been small niche companies where we have acquired either engineering talent or a niche product. You can draw your own conclusions.

The speculation comes on the back of Nokia CEO Jorma Ollilas resignation to join Shell though he will stay as non-executive chairman.

See Business Watch page 12

Thieves broke into the networks offices at The Boulevard Business Park Welwyn Garden City between 11.51pm on August 2 and 1.04am on August 3.

Crooks forced entry to the building damaging five doors without apparently finding anything of value. They then broke into a computer room and removed the IT equipment and four live routers thereby immobilising Vodafones entire paging network.

The thieves evaded security patrols a CCTV system and internal Access Control measures.

Detective Sergeant Ian Butler of Hertfordshire Police which is leading the investigation said: It is believed the offenders broke in just before midnight and left around an hour later. It is possible they used a metal trolley to move the stolen goods which was abandoned outside the building.

The thieves escaped in a white Transit van.

At Horseferry Road Magistrates Court on Wednesday Russell Merchant was remanded on unconditional bail until August 24 for Crown Court committal proceedings.

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

These include supplying radio terminals to paramedics and ambulance staff and migrating existing data applications to work on the new digital network. It will wait to hear whether or not that also incorporates Welsh and Scottish ambulance services.

O2 Airwave is a national digital radio communications network dedicated to the emergency services and public safety agencies. In total O2 Airwave has 150000 users across 78 public safety organisations including all 51 police forces in England Scotland and Wales

The network has 99 per cent coverage in Great Britain. It also offers complete interoperability between users so that paramedics and control room operators will be able to talk directly with police at the scene of an incident when it is operationally beneficial.