According to financial figures for 2002 released last week Oranges UK contract customer base increased 13 per cent to 4.2 million customers at the end of 2002. Contract customers accounted for over half the total growth during the year.

The pre-pay base increased five per cent during the year to more than nine million customers compared with 8.6 million in 2001.

For the first time ever Orange UK said it achieved a consistent increase in annual average customer revenues during the year and it is now enjoying the benefits of its maturing customer base.

Overall average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 5.7 per cent during 2002 to 259. Within this the average ARPU for both the contract and pre-pay bases increased as did the contribution from both voice usage and non-voice services. Contract ARPU was 557 for the year ( 544 in 2001) while pre-pay ARPU increased from 121 to 125 having passed inflection after Q1 2002.

The voice element of average revenues increased 2.3 per cent to 222 in 2002 while the contribution from non-voice services increased 32 per cent to 37 in 2002.

Non-voice revenues contributed 64 per cent of the growth in overall ARPU.

Orange UKs total revenues increased 12 per cent to 4094 million. Churn fell to 17.5 per cent (2001: 18.4 per cent) with contract churn at 15.5 per cent and pre-pay churn at 18.8 per cent.

Average usage rose during the year to 140 minutes per month (from 138 in 2001) with the contract base averaging 326 minutes and the pre-pay base 56 minutes per month.

The average cost of acquiring new customers increased to 120 in 2002 reflecting the increased focus on higher-value contract segments.

Average contract acquisition cost increased to 254 in 2002 (from 214 in 2001). Pre-pay acquisition costs dropped to 14 in 2002 following a reduction in the level of handset subsidies offered and a higher proportion of SIM card-only connections.

Technical problems forced Garmin to delay the NavTalk handset from Q4 2001. The specification was upgraded and mapping software improved.

The NavTalk finally went on sale in Europe this month. UK versions will not ship until April until new UK mapping software is ready.

Garmin head of cellular sales Peter Hawkins said: We will be shipping at the end of the month. We have been waiting for some enhanced mapping software that will offer better navigation to end users. The handset is shipping in Denmark Germany France Italy Switzerland and Holland.

NavTalk users can send their GPS locations to each other and to location-based service companies. This could be invaluable in emergencies.

Garmin is in talks with networks and handset distributors with plans to ship products to retailers and independent dealers. The handset price has been set at 499 (plus VAT). The final price depends on network subsidy levels.

Hawkins claims Garmins pedigree in producing GPS devices will give it an edge over rivals such as Benefon which launched a similar handset with GPS navigation capabilities. This has failed to sell in any real volumes in the UK.

We know how to integrate GPS into a mobile phone and keep battery consumption low claimed Hawkins.

Priced at 179 with contract the S100 has a 65000-colour display a modem for fax transfers vibrating alert T9 predictive text input smart messaging (EMS) and organiser functions

I have always said that I would leave any job straight away if I stopped being happy he said. The split with Intec was perfectly friendly and I wish them all the best. I just felt I had done all I could and it was time for a fresh challenge.

On the top floor of T-Mobiles luxurious waterfront offices in Hammersmith West London the networks great and good gathered. Among the executives were departing UK chief executive Harris Jones international chief executive Rene Obermann and international chief marketing officer Nikesh Arora assembled for what Obermann described as a special day in the history of T-Mobile.

With it being almost a year since the start of the rebranding exercise that saw T-Mobile replace One 2 One Obermann reflected on the networks successes before moving on to its plan for the immediate future. This according to Obermann is to push wide open the door to the mass market for T-Mobile multi-media.

Central to this is the Europe-wide expansion of the networks t-zone portals for multi-media (essentially T-Mobiles equivalent of the Vodafone Vizzavi and live! proposition).

From mid-April T-Mobile will offer a vastly improved multi-media services via t-zone portals to almost all its European customers. Already in January this year the network has attracted 2.2 million visitors to the portals.

At present the t-zones are updated around three times a day. Arora said that by April they will be updated around 30 times a day.

Other improvements will be to handset usability. From April everything will be ready to use from the box with the right price and the right usability said Arora.

Obermann added: The success of mobile data services depends not only on having exciting content and devices but offering the right tariffs.

According to Obermann the new tariff prices for GPRS will be up to 70 per cent cheaper than T-Mobiles current offering.

The tariffs have often been cited as an obstacle to the acceptance of data services. Although we saw things rather differently we have decided to sharply reduce the prices charged for using mobile data services making these extremely attractive for both consumers and business users.

In doing so we are pursuing our vision of making mobile multi-media applications available to as many people as possible at affordable prices.

The drive to stimulate mobile data is to be backed by a marketing campaign. This will kick-off in the first week of April. The campaign will feature new services an improved user experience and new handsets.

Arora highlighted five key elements identified by T-Mobile in the push to expand data services. These were usability new services partnerships mass-market tariffs and advertising activity.

To improve usability T-Mobile is introducing three new handsets. These will be enhanced with soft access keys to give users instant access to the t-zones – much like the Vodafone live! soft-keys. Later on users will be able to download their own icons and interfaces to create their own personal interface.

Arora says T-Mobile will only brand handsets if it adapts them to accept further services. The first handsets to meet this requirement will be introduced in April and are the Nokia 3650 the Samsung V200 and the Panasonic GD87. The network promises more handsets during the rest of the year.

Arora says new services will focus around three core components: infotainment; entertainment and messaging. T-Mobile also claims it will be first to market with video messaging while video downloads are also being added to the messaging service portfolio.

Another new service revolves around two new entertainment channels. The network announced partnerships with Universal Mobile the mobile subsidiary of Universal Music and MTV mobile. In both cases T-Mobile will use the agreements to offer musical content across the t-zone portals in major European markets. Users will be able to download the latest international and local polyphonic ring tones and logos as well as send songs as a greeting. In future users will be able to access video clips from Universal Mobile and view chart releases via MMS.

Other partnerships announced last week include Cambridge-based 3G LABS for customising handset interfaces and Research in Motion to bring the first consumer version of the highly successful BlackBerry device.

T-Mobile will use a 70 per cent reduction in GPRS prices to push data services. We believe our new pricing levels coupled with the exciting services we plan to offer will play a significant role in accelerating the adoption rates of mobile data said Obermann.

We are pricing mobile data for mass-market uptake and we are setting new standards for price transparency.

The price reductions are set to begin in Germany from mid-April and then roll out across Europe. Exact pricing of the new tariffs will be announced at CeBIT.

Arora concluded: The shaping of the mobile data market is a marathon not a sprint. We have developed critical mass in the past two years and we have been cautiously optimistic and above all sensible. Our partnership approach with a consumer-centred strategy will ensure we are the market makers and shapers. All pre-requisites are in place – the industry is ready for the acceleration in take-up of data services.

Companies using GSM gateways offer consumers and businesses cheaper fixed-to-mobile call rates than BT. They use equipment that connects to the mobile phone network using a bank of up to 30 SIM cards.

A fixed-to-mobile call using a GSM gateway costs as little as 5p per minute as opposed to 14-16p per minute using BT plus the operators interconnection fee.

Orange claims some companies using GSM gateways are sucking up network capacity to the extent that ordinary customers cant make a call.

We have suspended the service of a GSM gateway supplier confirmed an Orange spokesperson.

The use of GSM gateways for very high volumes of calls from a static location can occasionally generate a variety of customer-affecting and operational problems for mobile customers and operators.

She added that Orange could not allow operators of GSM gateways on the Orange network to impair the quality and enjoyment of Orange services by its wider customer base.

Where we have evidence of customer-affecting problems operators of GSM gateways are in breach of their contract with Orange and we will take the necessary steps to resolve the problems in accordance with Orange UKs terms and conditions she said.

These measures include suspending gateway operators from the Orange network as would happen with any Orange customer who is in breach of the terms of their contract by causing a nuisance annoyance or inconvenience to our customer base or who impair the operation of our network she added.

We will continue to act in the best interests of our wider customer base.

This latest action comes weeks after the operators tabled their response to the Radiocommunications Agency (RA) consultation as to whether companies that run GSM gateways should be licensed or not.

The RA warned last summer that unlicensed GSM gateway equipment was illegal under the obscure 1949 Wireless Telegraphy Act. The RA is proposing to amend the law which came into force decades before mobile phone networks came into existence.

A decision on a change in the law is expected within weeks. The RA has said it wont prosecute anyone using GSM gateways until a decision is reached.

All five operators disagree with the view that public GSM gateways should be allowed to remain unlicensed citing network capacity problems as one of the reasons.

However companies in favour of GSM gateways argue that network operators are just angry to be losing out on fixed-to-mobile termination charges. Oftel is forcing operators to lower interconnection rates by 15 per cent by July and by a further 15 per cent each year for the next two years.

The subsidy reduction is a result of the Competition Commissions decision to force networks to reduce interconnection rates. In January O2 said it would cut handset subsidy and delay 3G until 2004 because of the ruling.

But O2 sales director Mark Stansfeld denied the move was a reaction to cuts by O2s rivals.

This was not an easy decision. We take note of our competitors but we are focused on our own business. Decisions like this not only have an impact on our revenues but have implications for the channels.

A new business initiative called Best For Business is aimed at attracting high-value customers. It will launch on April with a national TV advertising campaign. A new Best For Business tariff replaces the Business First tariff.

The Best for Business tariff has a similar low monthly line rental but incorporates a 20 per cent discount on calls made to five UK fixed or mobile numbers.

Call Tagging will enable businesses to identify personal calls made on company mobiles. Bill Manager lets companies produce analyses of mobile phone spend.

O2s international traveller discount scheme is included so international GPRS usage can be shared between business users.

New tariff promotions include a 400-text bundle for 16. New customers connecting to selected O2 tariffs or purchasing O2s Calls & Text Bolt On tariff between April 1 2003 and June 30 2003 can claim an extra 100 minutes a month on some O2 tariffs for their first three months.

A lot of people are switching and churning between networks said Stansfeld. We are trying to keep customers for as long as possible. The re-aligning of our propositions and commissions aims to help everyone drive to that common goal.

Uniting the two leading titles and two teams of experts will help What Mobile play to its strengths as the best consumer magazine in the market. The sale has been necessary because Ive moved to work for Motorola. But at least the pain of parting with What Mobile has been cushioned by knowing it is going to the best possible home. Its a fitting time to hand What Mobile over to where it can be nurtured and built upon.

When What Mobile started the most optimistic network forecasts were for eight million mobile phone users in the UK. Today there are 45 million users.

By the time the May issue comes out What Mobile will have tested measured and reviewed around 400 handsets.

The network has done a deal with

Zeppotron the comedy and entertainment arm of Endemol UK to provide comedy content for its third-generation mobile multi-media and communications services.

Zeppotron will be providing 3 with content including video audio text animation and graphics.

Its the company he previously snubbed to take the job at 20:20.

Whellams joined 20:20 barely weeks ago and was made associate sales director (Mobile News March 10) with responsibility for developing new business with the networks for the distributor.

He had been set to join Unique but opted for 20:20 after he was made an offer he couldnt refuse.

Unique Distribution confirmed last Wednesday that Whellams had in fact now joined Unique in time to join other Unique executives on the companys stand at CeBIT.

Whellams was made redundant from Trium in February when Mitsubishi pulled out of the UK. His last deal for Trium was to sell thousands of handsets to Unique.