Staff Reporter

Sharetime offers free International Call Saver shared inclusive minutes to any network at any time and if users sign a two- year contract free calls to an office land line and some free mobile-to-mobile calls.

Ed Liston of Stockport-based Active Business Communications said: Sharetime has been enormous for our business. Traditionally corporates are not interested in bundled packages. Up to 60 per cent of their calls may be to other mobiles on the fleet. But Sharetime will make them think again. Even if there are a lot of calls between company mobiles Vodafone will have done its sums.

These handsets can bring in up to 100 a month in revenue. Vodafone is using a sprat to catch a mackerel. The other networks must see the Sharetime initiative as a serious threat that will undoubtedly lead to a significant amount of churn.

Orange and O2 especially will have to look very closely at what Vodafone is doing and devise a competitive strategy as a matter of priority.

Mike Bower of Link Telecom in West Yorkshire was more cautious however. Many businesses are concerned more with the cost of cross-network calling rather than internal mobile-to-mobile traffic. So the free mobile-to-mobile element of Sharetime may not be as attractive to them as it may first appear he said.

Sharetime has a consumer flavour. Business customers are more astute than the consumer and know theres no such thing as a free lunch. The headline has a tremendous market appeal but some businesses will be wary.

But he added that from a marketing perspective Sharetime was wonderful.

It is enabling us to knock on a lot of doors with something new to talk about. Customers who have seen the TV ads are coming to us. All the channels should embrace initiatives like this. It gives us something to discuss with customers. That invariably leads to a strengthening of the business relationship we have.

The TV ads are certainly prompting business customers to look at the deal they have from their current supplier. People will churn as a consequence. Every network must have aggressive offerings.

My guess is that the others will look at the impact Sharetime has on the market and their customer base before committing themselves to going down a similar path.

Vodafone is obviously determined to win back some of the business customers it has lost to other networks. This initiative will not be the only one it comes up with.

Simon Winter of AMC Communications in Bristol reported a storming month with customers clamouring for Sharetime.

He acknowledged that putting a business proposition on TV was a risky strategy saying that consumers might feel they were getting a raw deal compared with business customers but he thought that on balance Vodafone would gain.

Were happy to leave consumers to The Link and Carphone Warehouse he said.

We will see a significant increase in revenue as we sign up new customers in the short-term. Long term however well see a decline in ongoing as mobile-to-mobile calls come out of the equation. The other networks will react. Its just a question of time before they all fall in behind Vodafone.

Some argue that Vodafone has taken its eye off the ball over the past few years and seen its share of the business market decline as a result. Sharetime seems to demonstrate how serious Vodafone is about recapturing the business sector.

But Mobile Republics liquidator is investigating the sale by its managing director Henry Amankwah.

One Stop has acquired the Mobile Republic site as part of a plan to bolster its e-commerce operation. But the sale has angered creditors.

Following a winding-up order by creditor A Safer Place to Buy Mobile Republic was wound up. The companys assets are being managed by the Official Receiver.

One Stop marketing director Lee Morris said the deal did not infringe the terms of the liquidation.

We have bought the domain name and website owned by Henry Amankwah. We have not bought the company he said.

Morris admitted One Stop would have to shake off Mobile Republics tarnished reputation. He insisted it was worthwhile.

We are picking the 200 affiliates who linked their websites to that of Mobile Republic in return for commission.

Obviously some havent been paid. Well work to restore their confidence because they can produce a lot of connections.

Liquidator Colin Howarth said: We need to find out whether the assets were sold after the winding up order. Once I have the facts well know what action to take.

A Safer Place To Buy solicitor Stephanie Kleyman was stunned that Amankwah had sold assets.

Once the assets have been sold the liquidators costs are paid first. Then come our legal costs. We dont get the 116000 owed to us. I am stunned that Mr Amankwah has sold assets of Mobile Republic when it is in the hands of the liquidators.

Amankwah was unavailable for comment.

T-mobile last week started selling its 3G data card just a week after Oranges mobile office card went on sale.

Orange claimed that it would have 66 per cent 3G population coverage putting it ahead of its rivals.

T-Mobile was unable to specify an exact percentage but said that coverage is focused on London as well as major UK cities.

T-Mobiles 3G says its data cards currently give access speeds of up to 128k – a speed that will increase to 384k in the coming months.

T-Mobile UK head Brian McBride said speed is not the main attraction.

The switch to 3G is not just a matter of speed its equivalent to the move from the typewriter to the PC. 3G data cards give customers Internet access at similar rates to those they experience with high-speed fixed-line Internet access.

The launch of the card followed trials and usage with more than 150 T-Mobiles business customers.

T-Mobile is offering a 12-month contract multimedia package with the card priced at 199 and a monthly fee of 70 for unlimited data access.

The first three months of service is free as a promotional offer.

Jas Singh MD of West London dealership Microline believes T-Mobiles 3G data card pricing structure will appeal to business users.

If customers are looking for value then T-Mobile will be the choice. But they may be worried that the cheaper option means they lose on reliability and service. Vodafone has a higher tariff and charges but no disruption of service.

Buyers will want the product that wont go wrong. T-Mobile has historically missed out on business clients because they dont have confidence in its ability to deliver.

Dealers are reluctant to sell T-Mobile unless the customer specifically asks for it.

Vodafone has the image. Business customers trust that Vodafones products are reliable.

The T-Mobile proposition seems OK. But the low speeds and its reputation will mean that Vodafone and Orange will still hold most of the market share. They are the networks that business users trust.

Meanwhile Vodafone has expanded its 3G data service to Edinburgh and Glasgow adding to London Birmingham and Manchester.

This compares with 211000 new customers for the previous quarter of which 46 per cent were contract customers and 258000 for the same period last year when 49 per cent were contract customers.

O2 UKs average ARPU for the period ending June 30 was 279 up on 272 for the previous quarter and 254 for the same period last year. O2 UK increased its net revenue growth target by 7-10 per cent as a result up from 5-8 per cent.

O2 UK sales director Mark Stansfeld commented:

We are very pleased. It is another strong quarter of growth and we seem to have maintained the momentum we have built up over the past year.

We are continuing to deliver high-value customers to the network and to maintain excellent relations with the dealer channel.

Stansfeld added that the arrival of newer networks which are expected to take market share from the incumbent network operators had not changed O2s business plan.

We are working to a plan to provide a good customer experience and consistency within the channels he said.

Whenever new networks come into the market they will have their plan. We work to our plan and these results show that it is working.

We dont have as deep pockets as some of the other networks so we are much more focused in our approach to advertising. O2s brand awareness is fantastic at the moment.

My summation is that any level of success were having is a total package. Its a virtuous circle.

We are driving high-quality customers to the network and working well with the channels. We are putting simple clear propositions into the marketplace with good lead times for dealers and the right advertising strategy. The sales process is good and easy to manage.

Haines masterminded the transition of the Vodafone brand from a UK network to a global giant through deals such as the sponsorship of Manchester United and the 110 million sponsorship of the Ferrari Formula One team.

He hit the headlines a year ago when rival F1 team owner Eddie Jordan unsuccessfully sued Vodafone for allegedly reneging on a 150 million deal to sponsor his own team.

Jordans case was based on a 15-minute telephone conversation in March 2001 between Jordan and Haines. Jordan claimed Haines told him that Vodafone would be Jordans sponsor for three seasons for a total of $150 million.

The judge ruled that Haines did not have authority over the Vodafone board to sanction the deal and Jordans case was dismissed. Haines is understood to have started his search for a managing directorship when that path was closed to him at Vodafone.

Optical recognition enables the user to tap the images of the keys which is replicated on a compatible PDA smartphone laptop or PC. Exclusive distribution is from Avenir which is setting up a website to sell the device to consumers. It will be rolled out into retail channels as production increases and new versions are released.

This month the dealer went direct with 3 and will also now be offering O2 Vodafone and T-Mobile through distributor Fone Logistics.

Director Andy Hattersley said he was looking forward to seeing business boom thanks to direct sales of 3 because 3s lucrative offers hold considerable attraction for both the user and the dealer.

He went on: We are realigning and restructuring the business. We will be going for all networks now primarily be specialising in pre-pay contracts and mobile accessories.

According to Hattersley 3 is dealer-focused with very good deals and commissions.

The way the market is changing we just couldnt afford to put all our eggs in one basket he said.

Oranges Double Take promotion is very strong at the moment and the handsets are coming into stock but we had to look at expanding our horizons.

Hattersley set up the business with his partner Jonathan Miller four years ago when they opened their retail outlet in Chesterfield Derbyshire.

At the time they decided to be Orange exclusive because there was the potential to put enough Orange connections on to make the business sustainable.

Two-and-a-half years ago the pair also launched an online retail shop offering Orange contracts. This remains unaffected by the changes.

Called Clever Cakes the new advertisement will run until the third week in August and targets small businesses. It highlights the availability of free calls between all company mobiles up to 100 handsets.

The campaign will also run for seven weeks in national and regional newspapers business and management magazines and online.

3 is adding 550 Argos stores nationwide to its retail base. Argos will sell ThreePay through its stores web page and telesales teams.

Argos claims that its catalogues are in two-thirds of UK homes and that 98 per cent of the population live within 10 miles of an Argos store.

This agreement with Argos shows our commitment to challenge the mobile networks at every level said a 3 spokesperson.

Its a good way to reach even more consumers in the country. Argos has a large reach in the UK and it will just increase our ways to market. We added 60000 ThreePay outlets in just two months after launch in February and were adding 550 more here.

O2 has 51000 active pagers on its network although most of these are contained within automatic devices used for remote control switching operations for water and power services. Now the network has given users six months notice to switch to paging service PageOne or swap to O2 BlackBerry or BusinessText services.

(see Comment P14)