He joins NEC from global communications specialist Avaya where he held the post of marketing director channels EMEA.

Prior to that he held positions in Cable & Wireless EDS and Lucent Technologies.

GSM network operators last month show an increase of almost 25 per cent on the UK total during the same period in 2003.

Marchs figure shows a daily average of 69 million compared with 56 million a day in the same month last year and 43 million in March 2002.

Phones International founder Peter Jones is to step back into the role of managing director of main subsidiary Data Select.

Data Select managing director George McPherson becomes head of another Phones International subsidiary Wireless Logic.

McPherson has also been made a board director in the Phones International Group.

The announcement was timed to coincide with Data Selects year-end results. Jones denied industry speculation that he was back in the hot seat because trading conditions for Data Select had become tougher.

Market conditions arent tough for Data Select he said. It has had 100 per cent growth in profits and income over the past year.

George has done a magnificent job and this is a promotion for him. Wireless Logic is a key part of the business.

Data Select is likely to be a key distribution partner for Wireless Logic so George is the best person to take it forward.

Jones said he would consolidate McPhersons work at Data Select and pursue new business opportunities.

Ill look at the overall strategy of the business and build on what George has done. I will build key relationships with networks and manufacturers.

Weve identified three to four new channels that havent been tapped yet. They will be entirely new propositions that will bridge the gap between wireless telephony and e-commerce but utilise existing business models.

Meanwhile Jones has regained full control of Phones International after buying back the minority stake he sold to Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) in June 2002.

I wanted to take back a 100 per cent stake in the business so I have full control over the direction it takes said Jones. Its not greed. I want to steer the company in the right direction.

LDC originally bought into Phones International to enable the growth of our subsidiary group Generation Telecom.

Generation Telecom performed very well over the past 18 months. But Generation Telecom took up time and group resources.

We sold it to Vodafone and LDC got a good return on its investment.

LDC director Anthony Bull said of the sale: We are pleased with the way the exit has gone and are delighted that we received a 20 per cent internal rate of return.

Its been in the T-Mobile catalogue for two months but theres still no sign of it said Adrian Foot of The Phone Shop in Kent.

We have the Nokia 6230 in stock on the other networks but not on T-Mobile said Chris Derbyshire of A1 Communications in Ilkeston.

Because we dont have it on T-Mobile customers move to the networks that have it.

T-Mobile is always an absolute nightmare with stock said Ellis Dunning of TalkSense in Borehamwood. The 6230 has been advertised since March and we havent got it yet. Its on O2 and Vodafone but none is available from T Mobile.

T-Mobile has denied that there are any problems with the supply of the Nokia 6230.

We are not aware of any supply problems with the Nokia 6230 said T-Mobile in a statement. We continue to work closely with our retail partners to ensure that supply levels are maintained to meet the demand levels of all handsets.

The NCH recommends that filtering and screening software comes as standard on every handset being used by children.

The NCH has asked that all Internet content is classified 18 in the absence of such a move by the networks thereby barring children from the Internet altogether.

The announcement comes on the back of a NOP poll that finds 73 per cent of parents are worried by the implications of 3G technology.

If the mobile phone operators want these phones to take off in the youth market they are going to convince a lot of parents that they are safe or can be made safe said NCH Internet adviser John Carr.

Significant numbers of parents say their child knows more about mobile phones than they do. This is particularly worrying as most parents say its their job to educate their children about mobiles.

The network operators who worked closely with Carr on a code of conduct that addresses issues such as mobile phone content aim to have restrictions in place by the end of the year.

We will launch a service by the summer that ensures every customer will be automatically opted out of content of an adult nature including gambling and chat rooms said a Vodafone spokesperson.

If a customer wants access to adult content and can prove their age or has a credit card that proves their age they can opt in. But not otherwise.

This is our interpretation of the code of practice that was drawn up by all the operators in January.

Orange has taken a different approach to the issue of content. Orange customers aged 18 years old and over will automatically have access to adult content.

This will include all customers on Orange contracts and those on pre-pay agreements where it has evidence of previous use of credit cards.

Orange will ensure that customers irrespective of age who wish to opt into the content filter will be able to do so easily.

3 the only network to offer commercial 3G services at present does not apply an open-access policy. to content.

We have PIN code protection in place for over-18 adult content services and manage what people look at otherwise said a 3 spokesperson. This approach has been endorsed by the NCH and other childrens charities.

The surveys quite rightly highlight the concerns of parents but the reality is that access to adult content is already available on the other networks with 2.5G technology.

The networks monitor the content on their WAP portals but adult content can be accessed on 2.5G phones by bypassing the branded WAP gateway. None of the networks promote adult material.

The deal completed at the end of April but not yet made public sees OpenAir fully disclose its subscriber base to Opal Telecom a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Carphone Warehouse.

The terms of the deal will remain confidential for the moment said OpenAir managing director Tony Lloyd-Weston.

It means OpenAir is working as an agent for Opal. There are a number of areas of common interest including mobile communications. Opal has aspirations in the mobile space and sees the deal as a meeting of minds. It is an opportunity for both parties to expand their reach.

Opals acquisition of OpenAir will involve no changes to personnel.

The others are Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) Verne Troyer (Austin Powers) and Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill).

They follow Carrie Fisher Roy Scheider Spike Lee and Alan Cumming who have all starred in previous Orange cinema commercials.

Orange filmed four new cinema adverts in New York for the 60-second gold spot that appears before the title credits on the main feature.

We talked to a number of actors who wanted to do it but werent available said Orange brand marketing manager Jeremy Dale. It was a matter of timing because the shoot lasted only four days.

In the first advert Astin who starred as Sam Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings pitches ideas to the Orange film board which rejects them all out of hand as it bids to typecast the actor in a new feature called Lord of the Ringtones.

In another commercial Patrick Swayze volunteers to be an action hero in a revenge story The Silent Hunter only to have the Orange film board twist the proposed script and rename it The Chatty Hunter.

In a comic aside Swayze says: Was mine the funniest? Dont let mine be the dud one.

Patrick Swayze was very keen that his commercial was the best of the four especially as the actors in this series are so widely known. said Dale.

But the joke is on the Orange film board really. Its self-deprecating humour and it adds meaning to the message of the advert: dont let a mobile phone ruin your film.

The adverts show that Orange is a confident brand that can ask its customers to stop using its product when necessary. We ask our customers to use our product in a respectful way and turn it off when the film starts.

The commercials will each run in UK cinemas for three months.

The popularity of the adverts has grown and grown so that people really look forward to the next one said Dale.

We had a tremendous response from our partners in the cinema industry. One film distributor thought the ads were better than the trailers for forthcoming films.

MoCo managing director Ian Robinson said he was looking forward to working with the network.

MoCo Distribution is pleased to have T-Mobile on board. T-Mobile has put the most investment in this channel and a lot of dealers have been asking about us to supply their products he said.

Its a network that offers good propositions for us and dealers alike. The contracts are signed and we are raring to go. We will be out there recruiting stockists and getting everything in place.

Nearly 44 per cent surveyed did not have a camera phone. A further 17 per cent said they dont know how to send an MMS.

The survey also revealed consumer confusion over the cost of sending an MMS. Of the sample 27 per cent thought it was 25p.

Orange has abandoned its controversial downward migration policy that enabled it to claw back commission when customers downgraded.

From next month Orange customers will no longer be able to downgrade the initial contract they sign for at least six months thus ring-fencing the commission earned by the dealers.

The migration policy has been a bone of contention among Orange dealers for several years.

Downward migration and clawback have clearly been an issue within this industry for a number of years now said Orange commercial manager Adam Clarke.

We recognise that the intelligence of the customer has changed and downward migration is penalising the independent reseller. On the plus side of course it has meant that upward migration pays the dealer extra.

The announcement was met with a round of applause from the 150 Orange dealers that attended Oranges dealer conference two weeks ago (see report P18).

Jake Atkins of London-based dealership Busby Communications had 258 clawed back recently after a customer went to Orange directly and downgraded from a Talk 400 to an Anytime 60 plan. The customer walked away with a free Panasonic X70 on a 19 monthly contract.

Im glad to hear Orange has finally decided to stop robbing the small independent dealers he said. Its long overdue.

Its about time added Kamil Sayed of Findaphone in Accrington. It means the dealer can be confident hes selling the right tariff for the right margin. Before this it was a bit of a lottery.

There are a lot of smart customers out there. They come and ask what contract they can get a certain phone on and the alarm bells start ringing.

You could cover yourself to an extent by getting them to sign a contract which makes them liable to pay you back if they decide to downgrade and we suffer clawback. But in practice getting the money back is easier said than done.

Its brilliant news and its about time said Lee Edwards of The Phone Inn in Gravesend.

Every dealer has suffered clawback from Orange. Its an absolute nightmare if youre working out your margins at the point of sale and then find a month later that the carpet has been pulled out from under you.

In another move Orange pre-pay customers can now call the UK from abroad without dialling the prefix 044. Pre-pay roaming on Orange now works in 40 countries on 71 different networks bringing it in line with roaming services offered with Orange pay-monthly phones.