Staff Reporter

The National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) has launched a police register that links four databases enabling officers to check information on all four at once.

The databases are the Crime Reporting Information System (CRIS) used by the police to record details of all crimes; the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) which features the blacklisted IMEI numbers of stolen handsets and was launched as part of the Immobilise campaign; the Mobile Equipment National Database (MEND) which was set up to allow members of the public to record details of their mobile devices so that if they were recovered they could get them back; and the Stolen Equipment National Database (SEND) which records details of stolen equipment.

It also has implications for dealers who sell on stolen phones.

Previously if the police suspected a store they would have to get a search warrant take the handsets away from the premises and check them out said Jack Wraith chair of the Mobile Industry Crime Action Forum.

It would be a lengthy process. Now it will be much easier for the police to check to see whether stores are selling stolen handsets.

Now if police arrest someone in possession of a mobile phone that an officer believes might be stolen they can put the IMEI number of the handset into the register and see if they get hits on any of the four databases.

During a pilot of the system more than 2000 mobile phones were linked back to their original owners with a large number of individuals being charged with offences connected with the original theft of the mobile phones.

It will work much the same way as the current virtually instantaneous vehicle checks that the police can carry out with the DVLA.

The company has partnered with digital music advertising specialist Digital Mix to launch the service over all three of the countrys major operators – TMN Vodafone and Optimus – further establishing Shazams European presence.

The service branded Quale? (a Portuguese abbreviation of what is) will cost only e0.9 (62p) per tag and will allow users to identify a track from Shazams database including more than 15000 local Portuguese tracks simply by dialling the short code 12266 from their handsets.

The service then searches through Shazams catalogue of music and returns an SMS tag within seconds to the handset giving details of the title and artist. In the UK consumers have already tagged more than five million tracks.

Virgin Mobiles new Hassle-Free Mobile Phone Package bundles a handset with eight months minutes and texts so that a single purchase nets the customer pre-pay services for more than 240 consecutive days.

At the launch a Virgin Mobile spokesperson dismissed the threat of budget pre-pay rival 3 which has undercut all its pre-pay competitors since it entered the market with ThreePay.

3 has obviously slashed prices. But the question is whether or not it can sustain that. It depends on how economic its business model is. At the moment it is paying a lot of money to maintain it.

We wont do that. The Christmas market is especially competitive and this hassle-free offer has been brought in at the beginning of December to capture shoppers looking at a new phone for Christmas.

It is an attractive offer because it is a complete package – a one-stop shop for customers. Its about simplicity and convenience.

There are three Hassle-Free Packages available each of which includes a colour-screen camera phone SIM pack and 20 minutes of inclusive airtime plus between 30 and 60 texts per month for eight months.

Packages start from 99.99 including a Philips 355 rising to 109.99 for a Motorola C651 and 139.99 for a Sony Ericsson T610.

Virgin Mobile chief executive Tom Alexander said:

Virgin Mobile is the first pre-pay mobile phone company to launch a one-box deal that offers longer-lasting value and a hassle-free mobile phone experience.

The launch of Virgin Mobiles Hassle-Free Package takes away the worry of monthly payments for your airtime minutes by automatically adding airtime allowance to your phone each month.

There are no hidden charges. You pay upfront and thats it. Its ideal for people who are buying the phone as the perfect Christmas gift or really want to control their spending.

In a separate development the Virgin virtual network was in mischievous mood this week after it announced the death of the church confession box and the rise of text confessions.

Virgin Mobile Bites features a service called Sin to Win in which customers are invited to confess their sins and win prizes.

Confessions are rated by customers and the most popular are awarded 50 in alcohol or CDs.

Virgin Mobile claims that 10000 have confessed everything from white lies to sexual deviancy to the service since its launch in August.

John Conlon product manager for Virgin Mobile Bites said:

Sin to Win has been hugely popular proving that there is a demand for a high-tech solution to the confession box.

The 17-year-old was on bail at the time after holding a knife to a schoolboys stomach and taking his phone just a month earlier.

The thug admitted the two street robberies moments before his trial was due to start at Inner London Crown Court. He was sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders institute. His 16-year-old co-defendant was sentenced to 12 months.

The service uses the gateway of wireless solutions provider MX Telecom.

It means users can access video content more quickly and immediately. Only news weather comedy and music clips are currently available via the video short code service.

McGlade will see out the financial year ending March 31 2005 when O2 chief financial officer and ex-Vodafone financial director Matthew Key will take the reins.

McGlade joined BT Cellnet as CEO in October 2000 and oversaw the successful launch of the then new O2 brand. Colleagues admitted they were shocked by the announcement.

A spokesman for O2 said:

In a way it was shock when we first heard the news but hes had a great run. Hes been here for four years – arriving the year before the company was divested and re-branded as O2. He helped restructure BT Cellnet and turn it around as O2.

David is heading back to the US for family and other reasons. He has a post to go to there but details havent yet been finalised.

He is staying for another four months after which he will hand it over to Matthew Key who is number two at the moment. Matthew is currently CFO and is well respected within the industry.

Key joined O2 as CFO in February 2002 and looks after strategy business development regulatory carrier services and wholesale services. He was the prime mover behind the Tesco Mobile joint-venture of which he is currently chairman.

Prior to working at O2 Key was finance director at Vodafone for four years. He has also held various financial positions with Kingfisher Coca-Cola Schweppes and Grand Metropolitan.

He qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Young in London in 1987. Key is 41 years old and married with three children.

McGlade is on the board of directors at O2 parent company mmO2 at Tesco Mobile and the GSM Association. (see page 16).

Before joining O2 he was president of the western region for US operator Sprint PCS.

The 1 million Christmas and new year promotion involves exclusive incentives across all of 20:20s suppliers and covers 100 handset models. The Win a Villa promotion is in conjunction with Samsung and will conclude with one dealer getting the deeds to a holiday home in Cyprus.

The Nokia element of the promotion is a shareout promotion of a web-based rewards scheme across the Nokia range. Siemens will be giving away 170000 worth of accessories. Sony Ericssons contribution is the Mini Cooper S convertible.

Panasonic is promoting the X70 with a holiday in Barbados

3s pre-pay offering gets a boost linking in with 3s Christmas content campaign and the offer of FA Cup final tickets theatre breaks and games.

Virgin Mobile pre-pay is being pushed with the lure of a hospitality trip to the Virgin Mobile-sponsored Superbike Championship next year. Motorola is contributing a points and prizes promotion called Motovation.

Sendo is promoting the Sendo X with a TV campaign and Vodafone is giving away hampers.

This campaign shows all what we have to offer and is excellent news for the dealer channel said a 20:20 spokesperson.

The list is formidable – theres something for everyone.

Unemployed teenager Adnan Majeed (18) was conditionally discharged for a year after pleading guilty to stealing five phones at the shop at 324 Oxford Street on November 22.

The court heard Majeed selected the phones for purchase but then stuffed them into his bag before leaving the shop without paying.

Staff stopped him outside the shop and brought him back in but he made a run for it and was chased along the street and caught again.

Majeed was said to have a conviction for theft in May this year. He was also ordered to pay 55 in costs.

Thats the view of Keith Curran general manager of Yes Telecom which also runs its own MVNO utilising the T-Mobile network.

The pie is already baked and it cant get any bigger. Now somebody else wants to take a knife to it he said.

Of course the competition will be great news for consumers but ultimately it will undermine all the networks because the vast majority of their customers spend between 20 and 30 he added.

He said the existing pre-pay base on every network would be affected.

In general terms it wont affect business customers or those spending over a certain amount of money but it will be a major issue for the pre-pay sector as that represents such high volumes for the networks – sometimes as much as two-thirds.

Curran claimed that the easyMobile premise cut out the entire distribution channel and so threatened small dealers livelihoods.

The end user will feel like hes on to a winner but the industry as a whole is on to a loser said Curran

See full story page 24

A statement from his solicitor Ahmet Ratip of Imran Khan & Partners said: Mr Khan strenuously denies all accusations and the case will be vigorously fought to show his innocence.

Khan has been charged with threatening to kill threatening criminal damage two counts of arson and one count of arson with the intent to endanger life.