Staff Reporter

Vodafone will supply all BTs own internal comms requirements and also thousands of corporate customers who will start to use Vodafone minutes through BT Mobile.

A key part of the initiative revolves around a technology called Bluephone. This will enable BT customers to switch between BTs fixed-line network and the Vodafone network with a single handset.

When the phone gets out of Bluetooth range of its base unit the call switches automatically to Vodafones GSM network.

O2 lost out to Vodafone in its bid to extend its tenure as BTs wireless network provider. O2 said it had tested the Bluephone technology already but was not convinced of its merits. O2s previous incarnation BTCellnet rolled out a similar technology under the Onephone brand but it was never successful.

We tested Bluephone recently and werent convinced that it provided a good customer service said an O2 spokesperson.

Its not yet a proven technology. It relies on Bluetooth which is designed to work over a short range. The reception doesnt carry well through walls. Its a new technology so problems are to be expected.

T-Mobile which also made a bid to provide network space to BT shares many of O2s views.

Good deals are where each side receives good value said a spokesman. We took the view that this wouldnt necessarily happen in this case.

BT Retail CEO Pierre Danon referred to it as the companys flagship new offering and a revolution that will change the face of communications.

Project Bluephone provides better reception and better data speeds claimed BT Mobile Products chief Ryan Jarvis.

BT selected Bluetooth technology because of its small form-factor and its existing presence in handsets. We have successfully tested this feature. We are using class 1 Bluetooth which extends reception to 25 metres within the home and gives good voice quality through walls and ceilings in a typical UK house.

BT will use Motorola V-series handsets the same size and form-factor as current GSM handsets to carry the service.

BT said that it chose Vodafone over O2 and T-Mobile because Vodafones vision of fixed/mobile convergence matched its own.

O2 said Bluephone was not a key factor in its own bid.

The tender BT made was more about wholesale network access than a commitment to a particular technology.

We set a price at which BT could have wholesale access to O2s network. We were not interested in business with BT at any cost said the O2 spokesperson.

Some have questioned the wisdom of Vodafones decision to partner fixed-line business BT.

We are puzzled by the new MVNO agreement with BT said investment bank Citigroup. We are concerned that if BTs product takes off Vodafone will have contributed to a convergence strategy at odds with its capabilities.

(See Business Watch P10 and feature P24)

The multi-million pound deal is The Carphone Warehouses first TV sponsorship and is calculated to drive awareness of the brand and the fact that all TalkTalk customers can talk to each other for free.

The sponsorship includes broadcast slots on Channel 4 and E4 as well as the Big Brother website and interactive TV service.

Also Carphone Warehouse is opening three new retail outlets bringing its total number of UK stores to 527.

The new openings will be in London Victoria St Andrews in Scotland and Skipton in Yorkshire.

Intec now has accreditations from 14 handset manufacturers according to Intec head Harry Ramis.

The addition of LG and VK Mobile has ensured that Intec still retains the largest accreditation portfolio he said.

LG Electronics claims to be the fifth largest global manufacturer. With the establishment of 3G it plans to increase its global status to third place by 2007.

The VK Mobile brand is distributed by Unique Distribution. It is handling testing configuration at its own facilities

Oh no. A story about Coolfinger.com (part of the Caudwell Groups Wizcom content division) making every ringtone available for only 1 is a solid news item and stands on its own merit. We would certainly have printed it even if the press release hadnt been accompanied by this relevant picture of celebrity stunna Nell McAndrew who fronts (their word) a promotion for cheap ringtones and games on Coolfinger.com.

Music ringtones artist images video streaming and short video downloads will be part of the content package made available to Vodafone customers.

The deal is more far-reaching than previous content distribution agreements between Vodafone and Sony Music. Under the terms of the new deal Sony will provide standardised music content to Vodafone customers in 15 territories.

This agreement is key in establishing Vodafone as the home of mobile music content globally as we enter the multimedia world of 3G said Guy Laurence marketing director of Vodafone Global Products and Content Services.

3 which offers music content via its own 3G portal says it is unconcerned by Vodafones deal with Sony Music. It takes the stance that Vodafone is still operating within an inferior 2.5G sphere and is also finding its own problems with 3G technology a year after 3 entered the market.

With 17 local authority members the Central Buying Consortium (CBC) is the largest local authority purchasing consortium in the UK and represents most of the major authorities outside London from the Midlands to the South East.

It uses the collective power of the group to procure the best deals on a wide range of items.

Last year it decided to centralise its mobile telecoms purchasing in this way and invited tenders for the contract.

MoCo submitted a bid in January this year and following a lengthy selection process recently discovered that its tender along with those from T-Mobile Direct and O2 Direct had been accepted.

MoCo managing director Ian Robinson said: It really is a feather in our cap to be recognised in this way. To be the only independent to be selected for such a major contract when we faced tough competition from so many others let alone all the major networks is a real achievement for us.

It was quite a tough assessment process – the CBC sent eight people to look at all aspects of the business plus there were follow-up calls and e-mails. Our tender focused on service and the fact we are unbiased and can provide the best impartial advice.

A crowd of about 8000 is expected to turn up

The audience will choose the encore by voting for their favourite aria by text for 25p each.

O2 head of sponsorship Paul Samuels commented:

By allowing fans to vote for the final encore by text message O2 is offering a unique interaction with the performance.

The judge at Kingston Crown Court ruled that Sandhu serve an additional five years in prison should the amount not be paid.

Sandhu (37) of Great Barr Birmingham was convicted of missing trader fraud last October.

The confiscation order was based on the amount of VAT fraudulently obtained. Over a 27-day period in June and July 2001 more than 110 million passed through his bank account.

He was buying phones VAT-free but reclaiming the tax back as if bought in the UK. The phones were being purchased from Luxembourg without VAT being charged.

In its annual study of customer satisfaction within the UK mobile industry JD Power and Associates polled 2000 mobile users and found Virgin Mobile the best network for customer service in the pre-pay sector.

Virgin Mobile which featured in the poll for the first time was voted top in four out of six categories in the pre-pay segment. They were customer service cost of service handsets and promotions.

Virgin scored 738 out of a possible 1000 for satisfaction among pre-pay customers in the poll compared with second-placed Vodafone which scored 719.

Virgin has exploited its showing in the survey with a brief advertising campaign in The Sun and the The Sunday Times. Virgin will also send out an e-mail with a video attachment in the hope that word of its achievement will spread.

The attachment is a short film of an over-eager toilet attendant who finds himself forced into a compromising position in the name of customer service.

Vodafone scored 730 out of 1000 in the contract segment ahead of Orange on 724. In both pre-pay and contract O2 and T-Mobile scored less than the industry average with T-Mobile coming bottom of the heap with 680 and 699 in the respective categories.

Its very disappointing said a spokesperson for T-Mobile. Weve set ourselves the objective of topping the survey. We want to be the best and obviously JD Power is an indicator of that.

By next year we want to show improvement against everyone else. It is important because regardless of what we focus on we have to get customer service right. Without good customer service the other stuff wont work. We will move in the right direction for next years poll but it may take a while to clear negative opinions.

T-Mobile pointed to a good showing in an NOP poll in February and said customer service problems have been addressed since the JD Power survey.

Dealers will be able to offer customers the Phoenix Talk Carrier Pre-Selection (CPS) service.

This allows the customer to select an alternative carrier to BT but without dialling extra digits. Different carriers may be selected for local national international and special tariff calls as well as those to mobile phones or pagers.

The Phoenix Talk CPS deal is what our dealers have told us they want to include in their offer to business customers commented Avenir sales and marketing director Tanny Price.

Both they and their customers will benefit from the Phoenix Call support network. Dealers will receive the additional bonus of an excellent commission arrangement.