Vodafone service provider Enable Communications (for-merly WaveTech) has been bought by Centrica as part of a 43 million deal. No changes will be made to Enable Communications staff or premises. Centricas telecoms division One.Tel which has an existing customer base of 1.1 million will acquire 10000 mobile customers 238000 residential fixed-line customers and 11000 business fixed-line customers following the takeover.

Centrica Telecommunications has around 1.5 million customer accounts under the One.Tel and British Gas Communications brands.

Asif Aziz head of voice services at Centrica subsidiary One.Tel said:

Weve bought Telco Holdings and all the companies within that including all their customers assets and capabilities. The name Enable Communications will continue to operate.

Centrica acquired Enable Communications parent company Telco Holdings last week for 43 million in cash.

Centrica has also taken on 1.2 million of debt. Vodafone has transferred Enables SP licence to Centrica which will run the mobile division exactly as it was under its former parent company.

A Vodafone statement said: Vodafone has agreed to transfer the SP licence to Centrica based on the strength of the strategic relationship already exists between Centrica and Vodafone and assurances that Centrica will maintain the SP business at its current level.

Sir Roy Gardner chief executive of Centrica said: This acquisition will enable us to reinforce One.Tel as the major alternative for BT customers and support our efforts in the B2B market.

Enfield-based Telco Global Group was set up in 1996 and provides fixed and mobile telecoms and Internet to residential and business customers. Telco is also a major distributor of international pre-paid phone cards.

The hope is that the new centre will enable 3 to resolve customer queries more quickly. The new unit will employ 40 staff .

Mehran Mehmood director of Wimbledon-based dealership Fonevision commented:

Its something the network had to do. Customers complain that the customer service is poor all the time. The people in India do their best but if you dont speak very clearly they dont understand. So its about time – 3 has come good.

Ellis Dunning the director of Talksense in Borehamwood was also pleased about the news.

Its excellent he said.

The team in India are getting better and dealing with issues more quickly as they gain more experience and knowledge. But this is a big step forward.

Its great news for us but it would be good if they set up a call centre for the customers as well.

Speaking at a dealer event in central London last month (see Page 27) 3 UK sales director Marc Allera said 3 commissioned quarterly surveys and performed extremely well in every area except customer service.

Two new dealer incentives also launch this month.

Prize draws will be held on a weekly basis with each sale of a 3 handset equating to a raffle ticket and winners taking home a variety of unspecified electronic kit.

Also up for grabs are around 100 skiing trips in the new year based on the volume of sales up to Christmas.

3 also said that it would launch a basic business package to help dealers sign small businesses to the network and at least eight new handsets will be made available before Christmas.

3 will launch a no-frills proposition aimed at the small business market place this year some time.

Called The Real Business it will be based on current price plans but will include extra dealer support one part of which is the new customer service team in Glasgow.

New credit checking and registration processes for small business customers will be put in place as well

(See full report P27).

Orange is charging customers an extra 50 upgrade fee to customers who spend less than 30 per month and have been on a contract for between 12 and 18 months.

Ian Robinson of MoCo said:

Even if a customer is a month out of contract youd think Orange would want to sign them on to a new contract.

Is Orange saying that the other networks are welcome to their low-spending customers? If it doesnt apply to Oranges own sales routes or especially the likes of The Carphone Warehouse independent dealers will be very upset. Customers are clever. If the service is comparable between retailers they are going to make their decision based on price.

Andrew Culverhouse of Time2Talk in Potters Bar said:

They are charging the customer to extend their contract. This is unfair. It would appear Orange is trying to impose an 18-month contract. It seems that Orange is saying If your contracts up you are a low-spending customer and you want an upgrade then go elsewhere.

We try and upgrade a customer and find out that they have to pay 50. In one respect it could benefit us switching them to another network.

A spokesman for Orange said:

It applies to all Orange customers and all retail routes across the board. Its actually a reintroduction of an old clause. It existed before. We are going back to what we did before.

Orange customers who are Star Wars fans will be able to access characters images film clips and music clips as well as truetones and ringtones from the Star Wars saga as mobile content.

The wholly-owned subsidiary of TTG Europe claims its Talk-4-All service will allow customers to keep their BT line and number including services provided by BT such as 1471 but with cheaper call charges and simplified call packages. BT line rental is paid in the normal way.

Anglia CEO Andy Smith says the service will allow Anglia dealer partners to compete with their high-street rivals. This is good news for Anglias existing mobile dealers enabling them to offer complementary services that can increase their revenues and market share he said.

Simon Catterick head of network services at Anglia added:

This is not just about gross profit its about supporting our dealers and allowing them to compete with the big boys. The Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U have been able to sell fixed-line alongside mobile connections. We are giving our dealers the chance to do the same.

Talk-4-All operates three tariff packages.

Pay-As-You-Go is for occasional users who dont want to pay a monthly standing charge. Calls start at 1p per minute.

Evening and Weekend has a 5 monthly charge and free local and national evening and weekend calls.

The third package called 24/7 is for users who make frequent calls at any time. It is 15 per month with free local and national evening and weekend calls. Peak calls for all three tariffs are 2p a minute peak and 1p a minute off-peak and weekends.

The Talk-4-All service could not be simpler said Smith.

Customers contact us and we will make the necessary arrangements with BT to transfer them to the Talk-4-All service.

There are no hidden charges connection fees or breaks in telephone service. Customers just benefit from cheaper calls backed-up by our customer service expertise and high-quality network.

All Talk-4-All customers benefit from international calls charged at 4p per minute to Australia Canada Germany France Ireland Italy Netherlands Spain Switzerland and the USA at any time.

Calls to mobiles are priced at 5p per minute at weekends 17.5p at peak hours and 11p off-peak. Free calls exclude calls to mobiles premium-rate lines international calls directory enquiries and all non-voice and non-geographical numbers such as 0845 and 0870.

Dealer reaction has been positive. We have already done tests with key partners who have reacted really well said Carrick.

The recommendation from Investec analyst Christian Maher follows an update statement from Virgin Mobile prior to its closed period for its interim results to September 30 which will be announced on November 18.

Maher reckons Virgin Mobile revenues will be around 528 million but that these will be hit by higher mobile termination rates and the addition of more SIM-only customers with lower ARPU particularly strong through Carphone Warehouse stores.

Virgin agreed the planned termination cuts would hit its revenues but said that it still expects revenue growth in the high teens and rapid customer growth for the full year.

The combination of strong customer growth and our efficient operating model will result in margins for the first half being well ahead of the same period a year ago said Virgin Mobile chief executive Tom Alexander.

Virgin Mobile claims it has more than 4.2 million customers and the network is distributed through more than 5000 outlets.

The 7280 has a novel display which resembles a mirror when the phone is off. But when the phone is switched on it transforms back into a conventional phone display.

Navigating the functions is done through a thumb-wheel on the front. The user spins the wheel and presses it to access the feature they want. The side of the phone has a cloth Nokia tag similar to a pair of Levis jeans.

The 7260 is a candy-bar style handset while the 7270 is a clam-shell with a snap-on textile wrap. Both models have curved edges and are either black or white in exterior colour.

The new 6670 Symbian smartphone is similar to the 7610 but with more traditional key layout.

It is equipped with a megapixel camera a 4x digital zoom and extra image-editing features.

The three art deco-style devices will be available by November.

Nokia also unveiled a new 9300 Communicator which ships next month. It differs from the recently-launched Nokia 9500 Communicator in that it is smaller and has slightly fewer features.

Nokia UK business development manager Damian Pisani commented: Although it has many features in common with the 9500 it is closer to the size of the 6310i. It sits at the top end of the smartphone market.

The Nokia 9500 will ship at the end of November and the new 9300 will be available in Q1 2005.

However the company denied that it is trying to create a name for itself in the fashion industry.

We are not trying to be a fashion house said Nokia UK & Ireland corporate communications manager Claire Backhurst.

Its a celebration of style design and innovation. It is something we have always done.

We had the banana phone which everyone remembers and the 7610 similar to the style of phone used in the Matrix movies. These new mobile phones are inspired by 1920s fashion and celebrity and are a fusion of art and technology.

Vodafone has confirmed that it will not follow T-Mobiles example of building its own network of WiFi hotspots.

Vodafone has done a deal with BT to allow Vodafone users access to more than half of BT Openzones 2400 UK public wireless access points at BT payphone kiosks motorway service areas cafes pubs airports and hotels.

Paul Stonadge Vodafones data solutions and international executive said Vodafone was happy to work with existing providers.

The billing is the same even the customer services is the same number they would normally call he said.

Vodafone Mobile Connect card owners are likely to be the main users. But any Vodafone subscriber can download free software that allows them to use the hotspots without a Connect card.

The Vodafone WLAN service is not subject to a monthly fee. Customers pay for a time-based session.

Vodafones approach differs from that of T-Mobile which is building its own network of hotspots. There are currently 600 T-Mobile hotspots in locations such as Starbucks Coffee houses Borders bookshops and airports.

Brian McBride managing director of T-Mobile UK said:

Our hotspot offering is a key building block of T-Mobiles delivery of simple seamless communications. We are building a multi-speed network for a multi-media world which will integrate 2G 3G and WiFi.

Stonadge claimed that wasnt the direction Vodafone wanted to go in. The prime difference between our offering and that of T-Mobile is that we dont want to build our own network he said.

The WiFi market place is fragmented. We prefer to aggregate over a number of systems. Our first link-up is with BT but thats just the first of many. Our hotspots will be in locations where a number of other networks will already be located. Our approach is the better option.

City analyst Bena Roberts of Current Analysis also believes Vodafone has made the correct decision to align itself with existing WiFi providers.

The market for mobile data provision is really heating up with service providers positioning themselves to capitalise on the revenue opportunities involved said Roberts.

By bundling WLAN services with 3G mobile services Vodafone will provide the sort of connectivity expected from a market leader. Vodafones roaming deal with BT OpenZone has given Vodafone a head start.

Realtonemix R has been developed by Hampshire-based ringtone provider Symbios Group.

It will allow record companies independent labels and individual artists to showcase and sell Realtones direct to the consumer.

Symbios said the product also shows that there can be distribution of any music industry-approved track from any artist or record catalogue across any genre to any Realtone playing handset anywhere in the world.

Orange has partnered with production company Somethin Else and Woolworths music chart Hit40uk to provide access to chart ringtones truetones full-track downloads and video through its Orange World WAP portal.

Orange users can also interact with the studio by texting questions to bands that are interviewed during the show or by viewing a studio webcam on their phones.

Orange UK director of multimedia Mark Hird said:

Its an interactive hook-up between the live radio broadcast and Orange World. Tracks will appear on Orange World as the Top 40 is announced and can be clicked on for a number of options including ringtones and track downloads. It is an interactive model that will be more fully fleshed out with 3G.

Orange users can follow the chart countdown on their mobile phone taking advantage of various downloadable and interactive services while listening to it on their radios.

Listening to the radio is the preferred situation for using WAP mobile services according to Hird.

This will become a powerful mechanism. We are aiming at the audience that tunes in to the Top 40 on Sunday afternoon and then uses their mobile handset. The Top 40 is the biggest music chart show in the UK.

Research shows that most customers use WAP services in that downtime.

He concluded: Were looking at a very broad market in the run-up to Christmas who are already familiar with these types of handsets and services on 2.5G. Hopefully well be introducing them to some new services.