Staff Reporter

Westminster has embarked on a campaign to get networks to bar phone numbers that appear on prostitutes calling cards posted in phone boxes.

The council has picketed phone stores and distributed mock tart cards to charities and the general public bearing the names and numbers of network bosses.

In its stunt Westminster printed 20000 calling cards with the business phone numbers of network heads Arun Sarin (Vodafone) Brian McBride (T-Mobile) Sanjiv Ahuja (Orange) David McGlade (O2) and Bob Fuller (3). Chief executives of NTL and Telewest have also been targeted. Westminster hopes that complaints to the networks management will spur them into action.

Quipped Brian McBride: Ive had no phone calls at all. My friends and family have stopped calling now they think I am mixed up with prostitutes and Westminster MPs.

He went on in a more serious vein: It was a very clumsy and ill-informed piece of electioneering.

The Council said it had produced the cards because the network chiefs should be held publicly accountable.

In an unfortunate turn of phrase a spokesman for Westminster City Council said:

We will keep this up until they pull their fingers out and calls to these numbers are barred. They talk about social responsibility on their websites and it is about time they put this into practice. Because it hasnt been legislated the networks have been slow to cooperate.

He went on: Prostitution relies on anonymity. These companies must bar the numbers and help break up the sex industry.

But the operators have accused Westminster of drumming up a media frenzy and making demands they say are unreasonable and which they claim could be counter-productive.

It is a media frenzy and smacks of political expediency because it is to do with sex and is something everyone dislikes said a spokesman for Vodafone.

It is not true that we have refused to talk to Westminster. We have not received a single enquiry as a result of the councils action.

Vodafone does not normally get involved with interpreting the legality of issues that are the territory of law enforcement authorities.

Other considerations are the safety of prostitutes and the danger of inadvertently barring numbers that have no association with either carding or prostitution.

Westminster has claimed that both 3 and NTL have agreed to bar phone numbers. 3 denied this however and was angry that Westminster suggested that it had acted in response to the campaign.

We have already been trying to talk with the council so trying to claim that as a victory is not right said a 3 spokesperson.

Our door has always been open to dialogue. We are still waiting for them to get in touch. We arranged to meet them as long ago as March but no one from the council turned up because of a mix-up with the dates on their part. We have followed up that initial meeting with legal queries.

We cant just cut off phone lines and accuse people of being prostitutes. We are happy to work with the council but there are legal and data protection issues. We are perplexed by the method and approach that Westminster has taken given that we are awaiting guidance from the council on how to tackle certain issues.

We would be in breach of contract by disconnecting customers without proof that the numbers are being used for criminal activity.

3 is happy to iron out these issues and to engage in dialogue with Westminster but we have been trying to contact it since April and it hasnt responded or attended meetings. We are dismayed that it has chosen this course of action when 3 has been willing to work with the council on the issue.

In a statement O2 said:

We strongly reject the suggestion that we do not take our responsibilities seriously with regard to crime prevention. O2 continues to be at the forefront of measures to tackle areas such as handset theft as well as child protection.

Cutting off lines would set an uncomfortable precedent for those in other unpopular but legal activities. Anyone who puts a card up in a phonebox whether for malicious reasons or as the result of a practical joke would be cut off.

T-Mobile said it would only bar numbers in legitimate cases.

Orange said disconnecting prostitutes mobile numbers would simply mean they would buy new SIM cards for 10 and a rise in the number of phonebox cards in circulation because all new numbers would have to be advertised.

MoCo Retail the retail arm of Kent based-dealer/distributor MoCo Cell Link is expanding the number of MoCo-branded retail outlets to 36 by the end of this month.

With 23 stores and 13 more coming online MoCo Retail claims the growth makes it now the UKs largest chain of independent branded mobile retailers.

All MoCo stores retain their own name under MoCo branding. The success of the programme is largely due to the additional features that being part of the chain can bring.

MoCo Retail outlets have access to a preferential Specialist Retail package which allows them to connect to all four major UK networks.

The number of stores now means they are also eligible for network promotions and incentives normally only seen in multiple chains.

MoCo sees the retail chain as a key area of growth over the next year said managing director Ian Robinson.

Its the synergies argument. The independents always ask why the large multiples such as Carphone Warehouse get such preferential rates from the networks.

He went on: The greater the number of stores in the group the more we are able to deliver for them in terms of better commercial packages and marketing support.

We already have a monthly retail programme that is written exclusively for our stores – giving them help and advice on retail sales and marketing and we are now looking at increasing our commitment to them with bespoke point of sale and additional branding material.

MoCo first launched the programme in January 2003. It allows independent dealerships to come under the MoCo banner to get benefits such as better commercial packages and support.

The outlets are spread all over the country in locations including Northern Ireland Scotland Hull Birmingham and Hertfordshire.

Robinson says he wants to expand the franchise scheme as much as possible and as an added incentive is developing a special bonus for members – their own dedicated website.

Its all very much in development but we are planning to launch a MoCo Retail website he admitted.

This will effectively be a mechanism whereby we can communicate with outlets and they can communicate with each other and customers wishing to find their local store will be able to log on to find that stores details.

We think it will be a useful tool for the dealers and will act as an additional means of promotion too. This is a very important area for us which is why we are willing to put the investment in.

Sorry though I am to read that Leo Campbell at Claydon Heeley had a less than enjoyable time in his dealings with T-Mobile I am intrigued to find that I am somehow responsible.

It is of course possible that I have at most met Mr Campbell but it is unlikely as marketing agencies their hiringfiring and briefing simply did not fall within my remit.

That strangely fell to the marketing department along with advertising and the pulling thereof.

Yours imperiously

Patrick Barrow

Director-general/MD

Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA)

Willow Place

London SW1 1JH

Got a rant or something else you want to get off your chest?

Disagree with something weve written?

Fax us on: 0207 3243511

E-mail: editorial@mobilenewscwp.co.uk.

Or just call: 0207 324 3500

Siemens has issued a warning to all users of the 65 series in Europe and Asia that if a telephone call cuts off automatically because the battery has run down a disconnection melody could play loudly and in extreme cases actually cause hearing damage.

Siemens points out that this only happens if the handsets are held close to the ear for a prolonged period.

No one has actually suffered any hearing damage from this said a spokesman.

It was discovered through lab testing. Our primary aim is to communicate the issue to consumers make them aware of how to de-activate the specific shut-down melody and provide them with an approved free software upgrade by September 6 at the latest.

We are not talking about a product recall. The products involved only started seeding into the channel from June so we are not talking about a large volume of handsets. Future handsets will not be affected.

In the UK only the C65 CX65 and M65 have been affected. The full list of affected handsets is: C65 CX65 M65 S65 and SL65 as well as all provider variations such as the CV65 CT65 CXV65 and CXT65.

Jeremy Newing Siemens marketing director Northern Europe commented:

From a financial and market share point of view it is too early to tell whether this will have any implications for us.

Siemens found that during a telephone call the battery has to have run down to such an extent that the warning signal notifying has rung three times in the space of a minute.

After this the call is automatically disconnected.

Shortly before the phone finally shuts down it plays the disconnection melody – in certain cases at high volume. If users are still holding the phone up to their ear during this time it can lead to hearing damage.

To solve the problem Siemens recommends deactivating the melody or the animation function.

In addition it says that the phone call should be terminated as soon as the first low battery signal lights up.

To deactivate the disconnection melody the user must first select the Setup item in the menu then Ringtones then More melodies and finally select Switch off.

The company was formed in 1998 when the acquisition of Peoples Phone by Vodafone led to the entire installation department being made redundant. Managing director Mel Brown said staff had spent two years training auditing and writing new procedures to qualify for the award.

O2 has increased the business tariffs and sharetime commissions it pays to its dealers to bring it closer to rival Vodafone.

Dealers recently received their commission structures from the network outlining what they will earn for putting connections on certain business and sharetime tariffs.

O2 has doubled commission for secondary connections from 100 to 200 to bring it closer to the commissions Vodafone offers. An O2 spokesman admitted that the network hoped it would close the gap on competitors.

Feedback from our sales channels suggested we were losing substantially valuable connections due to our secondary connection commission being uncompetitive he said.

We have increased commission for secondary connections. We continue to monitor the market to ensure we remain competitive.

But as O2 is bringing its commissions up Vodafone is bringing its own down. The network has made adjustments to the commissions it pays for the same tariffs. Vodafone has kept the commission it pays for secondaries the same but clipped the commission it pays for lead connections which dealers say means some deals will earn them more money on O2.

Ian Robinson of MoCo Cell Link said: Basically it depends on the deal but if you have more sharer connections when compared side by side with Vodafone youd earn more by connecting to O2 by a nose.

It will also unveil a new 9000 sq ft office and warehouse facility on a new Daventry retail park in the next month.

The new stores will be in Louth Daventry Northampton Richmond Leeds Hull Selby Mansfield Northampton and Kettering.

The openings which are set to be complete by December will take its total retail base to 25 stores.

Go Mobile chairman Iain Humphrey said the company had spent three years working on an automated distribution and retail system called Sellfone 3G.

This lets dealers monitor the flow of business through their stores in real time.

Sellfone is a live retail system that lets dealers understand where their businesses are on a day-to-day and hour-by-hour basis said Humphrey.

It offers more security and detail about stock and commissions.

Our systems know exactly what accessories are relevant to which IMEI numbers and it calculates discounts for the customer if they choose to buy certain extra products with their phone. It also orders stock depending on what a store sells.

He claimed no other distributor was offering this kind of system.

The independent dealer is looking for the kind of stability that lets them know whats going on with the networks.

Sellfone 3G was developed by Go Mobile distribution arm Shebang of which Humphrey is managing director and Northampton-based PC Control Systems.

It links in to Shebang and other distributors and is online in 200 independent dealerships at present.

The e616V has two zoom cameras and a camera light which enhances images captured in low-light conditions. It also features GPS functionality for location-based services and can be connected to a PC via a USB cable.

Million-2-1 is acquiring tens of thousands of new customers each month he claimed.

The challenge for the business is how to accelerate and service that growth and customer base. I will be helping Million-2-1 to become a key partner for media owners who are looking to grow profitable revenues from interactive services.

Million-2-1 was set up in 2000. It runs fixed-odds betting prize competitions and lotteries both online and over mobile phone.

In June 2004 the company launched The Manchester Lottery a non-profit lottery for local charities in the Greater Manchester area.

Under its terms the network will match any money raised through sponsored events by staff.

MmO2 will also add 20 per cent to any regular charitable contributions that come out of an employees monthly salary. The scheme also takes advantage of tax rules that maximise contributions to charity.

About 60 mmO2 staff will be advisers to the Weston Spirit the charity set up by Falklands War veteran Simon Weston that works with mmO2 to help disadvantaged young people.