Marsden joined Sony in December 2000 as business unit manager from Panasonic.

He landed the role as head of marketing for Sony Ericsson when the mobile divisions of Sony and Ericsson merged in October 2001. Marsden told Mobile News he was happy to have finally landed the top job at the company.

Ive always had my eye on the MD role. Philip (Rambech) has done a good job but was always prepared to move aside if another role became available for him within the company he said.

The UK is enjoying some good growth with the success of T610 and the new Z600. It should be a good year for Sony Ericsson. We have some good products coming through which should help us to continue growing our market share in the UK.

Meanwhile Sony Ericsson has denied suggestions from analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein that a shortage of components including cameras had hit the companys Q4 sales figures.

According to a Sony Ericsson spokesperson:

We sold slightly over eight million units during the period just beating our forecast. The analyst is trying to justify why his earlier prediction that we would sell 10-11 million phones didnt come to pass.

We never said we would sell that quantity. 2004 will see global shortages of components but we have robust partnerships in place that will see us through.

One.Tel has recently introducd two MMS-compatible camera phones – the Motorola E365 and Sony Ericsson T610.

One.Tel head of mobile services Asif Aziz says customers are being made aware that the network does not support MMS just yet.

Customers seem to be happy buying camera phones even though the service is not live yet he said. We are trialling the service and will launch MMS in the next couple of months. Without it we are not a cutting-edge service. MMS will strengthen our proposition.

According to Aziz it is an important time to be launching MMS because the market is more aware of it now.

Customers are looking to buy and use camera phones now. We didnt lose sales by not having MMS last year. But we could lose sales if we dont introduce MMS this year.

The new store is positioned not just as a place for Orange to sell phones but as a venue that encourages existing users to visit on a regular basis and catch up on new services meet their personal phone trainer or simply top up their pre-pay account and recharge their phone after a day of shopping.

Live phones are available for customers to play with. At the centre of the shop is a table with boxes of information that teach consumers things like getting football scores on their handset.

At the rear of the store are steps leading up to a decompression zone where people can relax with a coffee and look down on the shop floor speak with an Orange phone trainer or connect a new phone in a more relaxing surrounding.

Dotted around the terraces are gaming pods that have games such as Space Invaders or a DJ mixer ringtone creator that lets a user create a truly personal ringtone.

The Orange letters on the back wall are made up of photographs taken by camera phone users.

Orange director of retail Nick Moore said:

Compared with our other stores our footfall has doubled and sales are 65 per cent up. Its a fantastic working environment and our staff turnover is well below the normal retail sector average.

We hope to take these ideas to other stores in the future. We are creating a social environment where people can come in to buy or just relax and play.

According to Moore the new concept is clearly working. The shop is noticeably busier than other retailers selling phones in the same shopping centre he said.

Ali has had his case transferred to the Crown Court. He is charged with using force to rob Sujita Vara of a mobile phone in Great Portland Street central London after picking her up as a fare in Covent Garden on New Years Eve. He was granted unconditional bail and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing at the Crown Court in February.

Corporate Market category at the annual GSM Association Awards held in Cannes two weeks ago.

Launched in April 2003 the Vodafone Mobile Connect Card allows online access via a laptop computer from almost any location that is within the Vodafone coverage area without the need to plug in a mobile handset.

This is a record for any 24-hour period represents a near doubling of the daily average and an eight per cent increase on 2003.

Meanwhile network application provider Sicap highlighted the strain placed on the networks by the seasonal outbreak of goodwill. The company measured the time taken for new years texts to get through on O2 Vodafone T-Mobile and Orange.

Of the four texts sent at midnight on December 31 only three reached their destination. The fastest was through in 16 minutes while the slowest took four hours and forty-three minutes.

The average time taken was two hours and two minutes compared with an average of seven seconds on a day when no special events are taking place.

Sicap believes it has identified Short Message Centres (SMSC) as the culprits and says the survey highlights the problems of using SMS for real-time events such as voting where fast and reliable delivery is paramount (see Webwatch P34).

By becoming a reseller for Avant Nexus gets to broaden the package it offers to clients. Customers can be provided with co-branded contracts and bills.

Nexus Telecommunications was formed in 1999. It has more than a million telephone numbers allocated to it by Ofcom. These consist of 0800 freephone 0870 national rate 0845 local rate and 09 premium-rate services as well as 0700 personal numbers.

We are delighted to be working with Nexus said Avant MD Marc Thompson. The company offers a large and diverse range of telecoms services and everyone at Avant is thrilled to be on board.

Avant was formed in 2001 and has a turnover of 4 million. It sells airtime mobile phones and accessories and offers mobile fleet management least-cost routing for landline customised billing text messaging from a PC and consultancy.

The virtual network says this is one of the longest-standing music sponsorships in the business.

Virgin Mobile will be setting up its portable nightclub the Mobile Red Light Club offering live music and entertainment in an authentic nightclub on site.

A rolling text screen will display festival-goers gags and observations.

Last year the promotion generated more than 30000 messages.

Virgin Mobile has also hired troops of people who will be decked out as Virgin Mobile Angels to help people pitch tents and find their way around.

3 is a small operator. It hasnt done anything to worry us. We refuse to respond. It started as a 3G player and have dropped down to being a pre-pay player so I am not concerned.

Thats the view of T-Mobile managing director Brian McBride.

McBride was hosting a press conference to discuss T-Mobiles financial results which indicate that T-Mobile increased its customer base last year by 10 per cent to more than 13.6 million (including users of Virgin Mobile).

In the fourth quarter we were the fastest-growing network adding some 1.25 million net new customers he revealed.

McBride is now emphasising a programme of integrating wireless LAN and 3G to differentiate T-Mobiles offerings from its rivals.

To emphasise this shift the press conference was being held in a City Starbucks coffee bar which doubles as a WiFi hotspot giving wireless Internet access to laptop users anxious to get on the information superhighway while slurping a latte.

Our 3G strategy revolves around data on the move. We want to offer one seamless multimedia experience with one billing system said McBride.

Our 3G approach is distinctive – were integrating 2G 3G and WiFi networks. We will launch simple and seamless services tariffs and customer service. Our aim is simple: seamless communications.

McBride claimed T-Mobile leads the mobile industry in WiFi. Across the world it has more than 4500 WiFi hotspots across the group with 300 of them in the UK at locations such as Starbucks and Texaco filling stations.

The idea is that people will be able to drive on to any Texaco forecourt where the T-Mobile hotspot service is available park in a special bay and log in to their corporate network or connect to the Internet at broadband speed.

By the end of this year T-Mobile will also sell a 3G data card that can offer broadband speeds anywhere with T-Mobile 3G coverage.

T-Mobiles vision is to develop a variety of convenient locations for business people to access e-mail or time-critical information while on the move he said.

These currently include hotels coffeehouses and service stations but this is only the beginning. T-Mobiles WLAN access in service stations will be invaluable for those three to five million business people on the road.

Although the majority of T-Mobiles base is on pre-pay McBride wants to dramatically increase the networks penetration into the SME sector. One of the measures he has taken is to appoint Dixons Group service provider Genesis as a T-Mobile SP.

We are reaping the rewards of the innovation in services the service improvements and the substantial network investment we have made since we became part of the T-Mobile group at the end of 1999. said McBride.

T-Mobile UK is now a leading UK mobile operator and we intend to build on our momentum.

It wasnt always so. In 2002 T-Mobile was embroiled in its legal challenge to joint-venture partner Virgin Mobile in a case that nearly precipitated T-Mobiles collapse in the UK.

McBrides first task when he joined a year ago was to pour oil on those troubled waters. T-Mobile is now just a wholesaler to Virgin Mobile and the joint-venture has been dissolved.

So is it right for T-Mobile to count Virgin Mobile subscribers as its own? McBride thinks so.

Im a sure O2 counts Tesco Mobile customer as its own. We understand wholesale better than anyone in this market. I want Virgin Mobile to do well and to succeed. The point about wholesaling airtime is that you are not in competition with your wholesale partners.

So said NEC board director and former trade and industry secretary Sir Richard Needham speaking at a press conference to launch NECs latest 3G phone range (see Mobile News March 8).

NEC has not had the exposure or recognition it should have had which is partly its own fault perhaps said Needham.

He went on: We want to put that right and to show what an important and powerful company NEC is.

3 dealers at least seem to have welcomed the two new NEC handsets and they report that sales have been good.

Suddenly 3 is a contender said Bob Sweetlove marketing manager at 3 distributor Hugh Symons.

3 now has a broader handset range and these are the first handsets it has had that stand up. The e616 looks and feels better and the battery life is good he went on.

Wed seen pictures of the e313 and werent so enthusiastic but in the flesh its light and slim and at 99 very nice. Sales have certainly increased.

Ellis Dunning director of 3 dealer Talksense confirmed this:

At one point we were shifting one a month. Last week we sold 16 contracts on 3. So the network has got the right idea with these new price plans. Were predominantly a T-Mobile outlet but since the new 3 price plans have gone into effect and now with the new handsets its an unbeatable deal.

The e616 isnt the smallest of phones but there isnt a lot in it now with say the Ericsson Z600. So most definitely 3 is on to a winner.

Dunning went on: The NEC menu system is very different from the other stuff. Usability is spot on and the customer has it sussed within half an hour.

Kamil Sayed director at 3 dealer Findaphone was more cautious however. He commented:

It was ambitious to try and get to a million customers so quickly but maybe if 3 had had the e616 from the beginning it would be closer to its target. 3 needs to have attractive phones and to be brutally honest Im not 100 per cent convinced by these new ones.

Sayed went on: 3 hasnt shifted a massive amount – although I dont think everyone actually knows the e616 is out yet. It wont happen overnight but this one is definitely the best handset it has offered.

Size it seems remains an issue for 3. The new handsets represent a leap forward but there remains a customer base that is frustrated that they still cant compete with 2.5G handsets.

The thing is most users are quite vain and want something portable so size is an issue and its been 3s problem from the start said Adrian Foot of The Phone Shop.

Coverage has been a bit patchy in areas but thats to be expected with a new network – and you cant fault the new tariff or the way the product has been marketed.

However Foot appreciated the progress 3 has made.

Overall Im impressed with the e616 he said. It has a big colour screen and lots of functionality and in terms of standby time I get three or four days from it. With the old 606 you were lucky to get 24 hours.