The claim comes as the market leader unveiled its latest research.

The findings make for positive reading and contradict suggestions that MMS hasnt caught the imagination of the British public.

Networks and service providers will be pleased to learn that the potential of downloadable picture-based services is greater than was previously thought with those polled showing a healthy interest in services such as travel information news games and screensavers. As well as looking at UK opinion the research also examined how MMS has fared in other parts of the world.

Operators will be pleased to learn that instead of eating into the ARPU generated by SMS MMS actually increased total user ARPU with recipients of an MMS message typically replying with an SMS message.

The research into Japanese user trends also showed that there is a market for much richer content than is currently available in this country – an indicator that 3G services will have a market when they arrive.

Commenting on the survey Nokia mobile Internet solutions director Pekka Pohjakallio said:

This will be the year of MMS. Last year we saw the service being launched and at that time Nokia had only two handsets that offered it. Now we have 22 handsets. More importantly MMS is starting to become a standard feature across many manufacturers.

One of the key findings of the research is that the proliferation of MMS handsets is key to the success of the service. Looking at users in Japan and in the UK the research showed that people need to be able to send MMS messages to other MMS handsets as opposed to a computer or to a non-MMS handset that receives a standard text message with a Web link.

We found there has to be an element of immediacy with MMS messages said Pohjakallio. If an MMS is sent to a computer people are not sure if the receiver is sitting at their computer and it could take days before they get the message.

Pohjakallio also said that MMS is more than just the sending of picture messages although person-to-person self-created messages are the most popular use of the service.

Also popular especially in Italy are MMS content services. Pohjakallio noted that once they subscribe to a service users are unlikely to quit while services that have been available across SMS become much more popular once picture images can be offered.

With something like a traffic report I receive an SMS that says the traffic is moving at 55 cars an hour. I have no idea what this means. But if I am able to look at a traffic flow through a camera that shows me how the traffic is moving I get a far clearer message he said.

To ensure the growing popularity of MMS handsets Pohjakallio stressed the importance of advertising that shows MMS as a simple service that is of use to the average user.

We have found that you cannot overload the customer with too much information he said. It is important that users are not overwhelmed by the possibilities. So let them send a picture message then let them add text to that then add an audio clip. People will learn.

The research also showed that keeping pricing clear and simple was important while most people were pleasantly surprised by the high picture quality on offer.

Other findings included that consumers who bought an MMS handset enjoyed a higher degree of customer satisfaction than those who did not.

The Japanese studies also found that users viewed themselves as more likely to send more SMS messages as well as MMS if they had an MMS handset.

In addition the survey confounded suggestions that the success of MMS in Japan was a cultural matter that wouldnt translate to the UK as those polled in the UK showed a similar willingness to use the services as those in Japan.

Pohjakallio also rejected the suggestion that recent user figures in Japan (where networks experienced a sharp drop in MMS ARPU after the first six months) had shown that MMS usage was a fad that users soon lost interest in.

While it is true that people go through a honeymoon period during which their spend is very high they do still have a reasonable spend after the period is over. MMS is definitely not a fad.

FITE was set up at the start of May at a highly-charged meeting of over 400 traders who packed a meeting room at Lancaster Cricket ground to challenge the VAT rules (Mobile News May 6).

More than 250 traders pledged 1000 each towards a fighting fund. In fact barely four traders actually paid.

FITE organiser Frazer Holmes a director at Barnard Atkins VAT Services warned the organisation couldnt go on without funding.

It is very disappointing. It was great being in that room. Everyone was right behind the project. Hands volunteering money were shooting up. Thats no use when nothing else happens. A lot of traders said they were going to wait to see what other people were doing. Others simply left the industry.

Waiting is the easiest way of ensuring nothing happens. The victory of Customs & Excise against Bond House Systems took the wind out of the sails of many dealers. The result is still very disappointing.

The end of the VAT consultation period was June 10. By that time the FITE should have stated its position put a framework and constitution in place and elected board members. Lack of funding meant none of this happened.

Holmes will not try and resurrect FITE. There is no point when you have such little support. I spent a lot of time and expense on the project. When so few people were committed it makes no sense to do anything else.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe complained that four symbols used in the O2 campaign were too close to the registered trademarked symbols that Sony uses for its PlayStation games console.

The two companies reached an out-of-court settlement with O2 agreeing not to repeat the advertisements once the initial campaign ended in May. The campaign consisted of television magazine and print advertisements.

An O2 spokesman said: We had a discussion with Sony and agreed that we wouldnt repeat the advertisements. The ads were tactical and had a finite window of opportunity so the agreement hasnt forced us to make any changes. We havent had to pay any damages or costs. Our ad agency VCCP has been made aware of the objections .

Jones who was responsible for the sales of all Orange products as well as logistics operations and customer equipment purchasing left Orange two years ago. An ex-professional golfer he planned to set up his own golfing academy.

Before joining Orange Jones spent five years at Hutchison and was responsible for integrating the companys UK sales and distribution operations into one unit.

He was also briefly involved with failed Internet handset broking company Mloop.

At 3 Jones will be responsible for marketing sales and distribution and managing 3 stores customer service centres and new products and services.

Jones said he was excited by the challenge and said he would be injecting enthusiasm excitement and passion back into 3.

I want to get people both inside and outside the business excited and believing in what 3 can deliver.

We are moving into an operational phase of the business. This requires people with different skills. This is a similar situation to when Orange first launched. Ive not seen anything going on at 3 that I didnt expect to see. The situation here is what you would expect at any newly launched network.

Jones claimed that launching a network required people with technical skills.

Then once you have launched it needs people with operational skills who can move things forward he added.

Im comfortable working here. I have known some of the people at Hutchison personally for many years. They are hard taskmasters but that is part of the challenge.

There has been an immense period of excitement and enthusiasm in building the network and launching. The organisation is going through a flat period. My job is to push things on again said Jones who was quick to point out his role would not come into conflict with that of 3 sales and distribution director John Barton.

Im happy to work alongside John Barton. Im glad he is here. John has done a tremendous job here and I look forward to helping him address operational issues.

Joness arrival could explain the departure of 3 marketing director Lisa Gernon who has left for a six-month sabbatical. It was no secret that Gernon and Jones did not always see eye-to-eye when they worked together at Orange.

Called Talk Me Through It the operation will run from a customer support centre set up on Thomass 16-acre estate in Somerset.

The service aims to provide answers to most mobile phone technical queries.

The idea is for distributors to insert a card into every handset pack bearing a premium-rate customer support number.

Unique Distribution is the first distributor to handle the cards.

Calls will be charged at 1.50 a minute. Also TMTI will sell support service packs through shops.

The packs will offer 30 minutes of support for 14.95. Crispin Thomas said he was in talks with some manufacturers to offer a 30-minute support card with handsets.

We have been talking to some wholesalers that sell in to very big chains. They have a huge need for this kind of thing he added (see full story P36).

Perth-based Scottish Communications Systems (SCS) will concentrate on developing T-Mobiles services for the SME market.

Central to this will be the development of tailored services for the business sector with packages and incentives including free services and quarterly health checks to ensure customers are getting the best deal available.

Horseferry Road Magistrates Court heard Adel Mohmed Radwan went into a Carphone Warehouse shop in Marylebone with a faulty loan phone that staff had given him.

Radwan demanded a replacement phone and threw the loan handset on to the counter in a rage.

The court heard that supervisor Deirdre John-Baptiste offered him a different phone. But he refused and started to become abusive. She refused to serve him and he turned on store assistant Natasha Ravenueau. She also refused to serve him because he was being abusive to her colleague.

John-Baptiste told the court:

He just got worse and said I am going to kill you. I said: This is pathetic all this over a phone.

Radwan is alleged to have refused to leave the store. He was then asked to take a seat while the police were called which he did.

Radwan denied making racist remarks or being rude and aggressive. He denied being angry towards the two women but was found guilty of two charges of racially-aggravated threatening and abusive words.

He said he felt the company ran a good service as he had been back to the store five times over the previous year with a faulty handset and it had always been repaired without charge.

In a separate case an Algerian-born man faces jail after trying to steal a womans mobile from her handbag while he was drunk.

Mourad Magroufel a jobless waiter from Hammersmith London pleaded guilty to attempting to steal a 300 phone from student Esther Clarke at Waterloo Underground station on May 18.

The court heard how Magroufel who had been drinking wine and beer had just lost his own phone. Magroufel was bailed until June 13 for probation reports.

The WiFi service is already live in 27 hotels across Europe.

Swisscom Eurospots service claims data ransfer rates of up to 11Mbps and says it operates at up to 100 times the speed of the fastest dial-up modem BlackBerry or GPRS device.

The FCS Mobile Independent Reseller (MIR) group will focus on and promote the interests of independent mobile resellers selling fixed and mobile solutions and services.

Cellular service provision has long been the traditional independent route to market for the mobile networks and provided the original mobile resale model said MIR group chairman Jason Halsall of ED Communications.

But following the recent extinction of some SPs there has been some unfair negativity concerning the resale market sector.

He went on: This attitude needs to change and we perceive the emergence of the virtual service provider to be a good and natural evolution of the SP market.

Halsall rejects the suggestion that VSPs are a dying breed and that the failure of SPs such Anglo Communications was because of a reliance on VSPs.

The failure of Anglo was because of bad management not because of VSPs. All the service provider has to do with the VSP is carry out a thorough credit check and then take a percentage of the profits. VSPs have very low churn levels and high customer retention.

He went on: They can be valuable partners. VSPs have a bad name in some quarters of the business and we want to address this. We want to show that we are a serious and upstanding organisation and we want the industry and businesses in general to know that we can do a lot of good business.

Halsall is also confident that the MIR group will not go the way of other defunct FCS groups such as the Crime Prevention Inspectorate and the Q quality assurance scheme which were wound up within a year or so of launch.

We have a lot of passionate people involved in the group who take their business very seriously. Already we have had a good response and our members are keen to make the group work.

FCS chief executive Jacqui Brookes added:

The FCS was founded to provide a voice for the independent mobile communications sector and our cellular service provider group has been one of our most outspoken and high-profile groups. Our new FCS MIR group has been formed to highlight the value of customer service provided by the independent reseller sector to UK business both corporates and SMEs.

The total number of chargeable person-to-person text messages sent across the four UK GSM networks in April 2003 totalled 1.66 billion taking the cumulative annual total to 6.5 billion for 2003.

Aprils figure takes the daily average to 55 million compared with 44 million in April 2002 and 30 million in April 2001.

As Aprils figures continue to show texting has become the premier communication tool for the millennium. Around 65 million text messages were sent on the last day of this seasons football Premiership as football fans relied on friends or football alert services to receive up-to-the minute news from Premier League grounds said MDA chairman Mike Short.