East also accused Maxon of failing to honour its duties as a manufacturer to replace faulty goods and supply warranty information within the handset packaging.

East said there was a 50 per cent returns rate on a batch of MX7920 handsets he bought through Fone Logistics. East claimed the model was so bad it should never have been allowed on sale in the UK.

This handset was clearly not of merchantable quality. To say they were problematic is an understatement. Half were faulty. Maxon is refusing to exchange the handsets. It insists on repairing the stock.

East said Fone Logistics was prepared to replace or credit him for the faulty handsets. But it then withdrew this offer after receiving so many faulty handsets back.

How can a manufacturer get away with offering so little support. Should it not be mandatory that all companies selling product in the UK deal with any warranty complication direct with the customer?

All goods sold should have a warranty booklet containing helpline numbers and companies should arrange uplift and repair or swap out the goods concerned.

Maxon UK sales manager Robert Johnson admitted there had been a software glitch on the MX7920 but he said Maxon has done all it could to honour warranty claims through its UK distributors.

We suffered a 20 per cent return rate with the MX7920 due to a software glitch. We identified the fault and replaced the MX7920 with an improved MX7922 he said.

Any dealer who has suffered faults with MX7920 has been offered MX7922 exchange handsets through our UK distributors Phones International and Baillies.

We dont have an agreement with Fone Logistics. If the dealer contacts us we will be happy to deal with the problem.

Fone Logistics boss Ian Gillespie commented:

We bought the Maxon stock in the UK. We have a seven-day returns policy. Outside that we will only exchange a handset if the replacement will be honoured by the manufacturer.

Maxon has told us it would only repair the units. We are trying to resolve the problem.

Newings task is to develop marketing campaigns that will run across the region.

The global restructure of Siemens mobile operation allows the newly created regions to deliver more relevant local marketing campaigns which will increase awareness and demand for the Siemens mobile brand he said.

Newing has worked in the Siemens mobile marketing team for three years. He reports to Jonathan Bate vice-president of Siemens mobile Northern Europe.

The investigation and suspensions follow an internal audit.

Phones 4U managing director Peter Green said:

I can confirm that our internal auditors detected that in an isolated incident the correct procedures for processing new contracts were not being followed at the Inverness branch.

He went on: We treat this kind of incident extremely seriously and a thorough investigation is in progress to ensure it does not happen again.

This episode also demonstrates the effectiveness of our auditing system which immediately brought this situation to the attention of our security team.

One independent dealer who is familiar with the Phones 4U regime said:

Staff are under a lot of pressure to make connections. When a customer is persuaded to sign up they are asked what proofs they have on them. If the customer has only one proof they proceed with the connection but ask the customer to bring in a further proof.

This rarely happens however so I have heard that staff are tempted to create utility bills using computer software.

Meanwhile a male ex-Phones 4U employee is expected to appear in court on June 3 charged with various offences relating to contract fraud.

T-Mobile is the third UK operator to officially switch on its network behind 3 and Vodafone. Orange and O2 have not yet confirmed when their 3G services will go live.

T-Mobile says a group of corporate users will be trialling high-speed mobile data services using dual-mode 3G/GPRS PC cards.

These offer broadband data speeds of up to 384kbps within T-Mobiles 3G coverage area. Outside this area the PC cards switch over to lower-speed GPRS.

A shortage of handsets means the network doesnt expect to launch commercial services before the summer at the earliest.

A T-Mobile spokesman said: We will be launching commercial services in the next few months once handsets become available. At the moment we have no handsets.

T-Mobile UK managing director Brian McBride added: Making our 3G network live is a major milestone in the evolution of the UK industry.

Ashley Simon 25 of Playfield Crescent East Dulwich will be sentenced on March 12.

Rival suitor Cingular Wireless paid $15 cash per share valuing AT&T Wireless at $41 billion. Cingularwill have some 46 million subscribers after the deal.

Vodafone will now have to take a longer-term view in the US. Cingular could have afforded to pay every single AT&T wireless subscriber over $1000 to switch allegiance and sign with it (see Business Watch P10).

Scott left Vodafone last April and has been doing consultancy work for networks advising on warehousing and logistics.

During his 10 years with Vodafone he coordinated the purchase of some 25 million handsets across 29 countries and managed global supply contracts with many major manufacturers including Nokia Siemens Motorola and Sony Ericsson.

The 40 Selfones handsfree-kit uses a low-frequency radio band to link an earpiece with the phone which sits in a cradle on the car dashboard. Scott claimed the device was compatible with 95 per of mobile phones.

We were looking for something we could launch in the market that was car kit-related he said.

We looked at Bluetooth but we didnt think the old Bluetooth chipset was that good. Also Bluetooth phones are only 10 per cent of handset sales in the UK he added.

The product we have caters for most mobiles. You just plug the base station into the cigarette lighter plug the handset into a dashboard-mounted cradle and put on the light wireless handset. The radio band is similar to that of remote control cars. So its a well-tested and very safe standard.

Scott is talking to networks and retailers about the product. A direct marketing campaign is on the cards once motorists start to be prosecuted for breaking the ban on using a phone while driving.

Virgin Mobile said it would change the not to be sniffed at strapline but would continue with the name Glue which it says is a well-known marketing term that refers to attracting customers.

A Virgin Mobile spokeswoman apologised saying: Solvent abuse is a huge problem and we did not mean to cause any offence.

The Glue promotion rewards Virgin Mobile customers if they persuade friends and family to sign up to the service.

Two weeks ago anti-solvent abuse groups picketed Virgin Mobiles Tottenham Court Road shop with signs that criticised the company for its wording of an offer not to be sniffed at.

Demonstrators gathered to display placards outside the shop that read: Virgin on the disgraceful and Branson you ought to be ashamed.

Paul Smith vice-chairman of the Solve It pressure group said the group was objecting to the promotion because five kids a month die in the UK from sniffing solvents.

Warren Hawksley director of the Society for the Prevention of Solvent and Volatile Substance Abuse added:

There have been many objections some from parents who have lost a child through glue-sniffing. They agree with us that the Virgin campaign trivialises the dangerous practice of glue sniffing to the extent of giving it a green light.

Al Digital claims cyberthieves could clone Bluetooth phones steal identities and gain access to bank accounts and says that confidential information could be downloaded from certain other Bluetooth phones without the owner even being aware.

It was our work identifying system vulnerabilities and securing and encrypting systems that led us to uncover two specific security breaches said AL Digital director Adam Laurie.

Confidential information can be obtained anonymously from some Bluetooth phones. Normally this is only possible if the device is in discoverable or visible mode.

This safety net can be bypassed however he claims.

The memory of some mobile phones can be accessed by a previously paired device that has since been removed from the paired list. Not only can data be retrieved but WAP and GPRS gateways may be accessed without the owners knowledge said Laurie.

We also want to put pressure on the manufacturers to rectify the situation. Consumers should expect that their confidential data is not compromised by poor protocols

It is alarming to think of the consequences of a single Bluejacker gathering an entire corporate staffs contact details by attending a conference or camping outside their office with a Bluetooth device.

Urmen is charged with stealing a Sony Ericsson T610 valued at 177 from The Orange Shop at Whiteleys shopping centre in Queensway Paddington between June 22 and June 28 last year. He was also charged with dishonestly obtaining a telecommunications service – making calls costing 123.36 with intent to avoid payment. He was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing on February 6.

On the same day former Carphone Warehouse salesman Thando Made 26 from Kilburn London was fined 500 plus 55 costs for stealing a Nokia handset and a credit note which he used to buy goods from CPWs Oxford Street branch where he had been working for two years.

Made pleaded guilty to amended charges of stealing goods valued at 199 at around November 14 last year and a 200 Nokia handset around December 2.

The theft was discovered after an internal audit at the store which revealed Made had dealt with a customer who had returned a faulty phone and had been given a replacement.

The transaction was registered on the till as a zero transaction for 199 in respect of which gift vouchers were issued. Made kept the vouchers and used these to purchase goods. When the till issued the credit note it was like finding a 50 note on the floor and he was tempted to use it said Mades lawyer.

The stolen Nokia phone was found at Mades house when police searched the premises after his arrest. Made told police the handset was unlisted stock and he took it because he though it would not be missed.