Around 99.7 per cent of the worlds population now lives in countries with GSM technology claims the Association. Most new national adopters are emerging markets in South America Africa and Asia where landline penetration is low or non-existent.

The saga of The Phone Peoples messy demise is revealed in the final report of the companys administrator Baker Tilly which has described the case as very complex and extremely difficult.

It emerged that Hutchison and City Phone had offered 4.3 million and 3 million respectively to buy The Phone People but pulled out during negotiations when they realised the extent of the complications.

A major problem was the 5 Star Warranty scheme which covered theft damage and loss of customers phones.

Former Phone People director Jason Pickthall claimed that the scheme had been transferred to him in exchange for an agreement to give up his shares and resign.

The administrator sued Pickthall who has since been declared bankrupt and overturned his claim. But the administrator later learned that the Financial Services Authority had declared the warranty agreements to be unlicensed and the scheme had to be closed.

Baker Tilly has confirmed that unsecured creditors would not receive any payment.

Although Orange and Phones 4U owe Phone People 1837000 and 141000 respectively both companies are offsetting these monies against debts owed to them of 2750000 and 275000 respectively.

The move brings the number of devices on offer to 17 the most in the virtual networks lifetime.

The new handsets include three Samsung handsets – the C100 M550 and E400 – all due out this month and ranging in price from 99 to 199. Also available are two Nokia products – the 3310 and 3100 – both also available this month and costing 219.99 and 139.99 respectively.

Other new handsets include the Panasonic G50 for 119.99 and two Alcatel handsets the 735 and 332 ( 149.99 and 79.99). These three are all available from October.

The virtual networks most expensive handset is still the Siemens SL55 at 319.99.

The virtual operator is offering 35 free airtime with all phones over 79 when bought direct.

Kidds place is taken by Ender Yavas who moves from Motorola to be head of product management.

Her role at Samsung will be to oversee product launches and manage the mobile phone range. Samsung has also recruited former Vodafone employee James Davis as content manager and Nick Samuels as website content executive.

But Bhupendra Karia (26) is already serving six-and-a-half years in prison for three counts of arson. The sentences for the latest offences will run alongside his time in prison for the arson attacks.

Karia advertised the Nokia 8310 phones on eBay and QXL. Buyers sent him thousands of pounds in cash and cheques.

At Newham Magistrates Court Karia admitted five charges of obtaining property by deception and asked for 10 other charges to be taken into account.

The court heard the phones were advertised at a tempting price.

The scam began on March 5 last year when Karia registered on auction site QXL as a seller.

He gave his real name and address and advertised 100 Nokia 8310s for 50 each.

A student logged on to the auction and entered a bid for 10 phones. He was later contacted by Karia and offered another 30 handsets for 1000 for the first 20 and 1250 for the extra 30.

The student met Karia at Plaistow station and gave Karia 1250 in cash and a 1000 cheque. He told the student he would call his supplier and arrange for the phones to be sent to the students address.

Karia later demanded a further 250 for the phones to be delivered by Parcelforce.

The student agreed but Karia gave him a false Parcelforce tracking number.

He was arrested and interviewed by police. A few days later on April 17 another customer logged on to eBay and found Karias ad for the phones.

This new customer gave Karia his bank account details and then paid 1875 by cheque for 25 phones. When the customer tried to contact Karias bank he was told that the account had been frozen by police who were investigating the con mans activities..

Karias lawyer said:

It was not a scam from the outset. He did have 50 phones initially and advertised 100 because he expected to receive a further 50.

The first 50 were distributed. This was not a sophisticated crime. The victims were making bulk orders to sell the phones on themselves.

Sentencing the crook David Richardson told him:

You were always going to be caught once this developed as it did. You took peoples money when you were in no position to supply phones to them.

The judge also made a confiscation order for Karias realisable assets of 2585 and ordered that victims compensation should come from this.

Ronald McGuire discovered what he thought was the perfect sideline for his Crieff-based electrical business – selling Taiwan-sourced mobile phone blockers.

McGuire started to import mobile-phone jammers which – he claimed – would block GSM signals and give customers No Service on their display forcing them to use a fixed-line phone.

An undercover reporter for a Scottish newspaper met McGuire in the lounge of the Tower Hotel in Perth Road Crieff which had installed one of the jamming devices.

McGuire explained the owner wanted to recoup the investment in a new PABX system and stop mobiles ringing in the dining room.

He told the reporter: Youre meant to have a licence for them but these things are not enforced to any great extent.

His advice was not to tell anyone about using the gadget blaming any lack of coverage on the mobile networks themselves.

It appeared the Tower Hotels investment was wasted however as its close proximity to all the main network transmitters made the jammer struggle. At one point a tourist was seen talking on her Nokia handset while a couple received two incoming calls in five minutes.

As the public areas were largely unaffected the device was probably located in a bedroom on the first or second floor.

McGuire said he has done nothing wrong and did not fear reprisals from the authorities.

They mention inciting someone to break the law but where do you stop with that? he said. If I sell a car to someone I cant be blamed for their drink-driving.

He added:

Jammers are illegal to use but there is a place for them. Mobiles are intruding into every aspect of peoples lives.

McGuire concluded: Im no shady dealer or crook. They should be made legal. Its almost like a peace protest.

Orange dealers and distributors could get an extra 95 commission between them over the next two months.

But the network denies this is a reaction to net losses in Q2 figures due to non-activity on pay-as-you-go.

Orange has also abolished its 50 upgrade fee. The move aims to appease dealers angry that Orange waived the fee for customers who threatened to port to another network to get cheaper handsets.

Extra commission on camera phones rewards the channel for up-selling customer to these devices which promise to deliver greater revenue to Orange in the future.

Oranges new accelerator bonus means distributors will get a maximum of 75 extra commission per connection if they exceed Oranges targets for September and October by 50 per cent. Lower commission payments per connection will go to distributors who exceed the targets by a lesser amount.

The lower threshold payments are:

15 (20 per cent over target)

25 (30 per cent over target)

50 (40 per cent over target).

Most Orange distributors are expected to mirror the incentives to their dealers. Orange is also offering dealers 20 extra commission for connecting new customers to a selected range of camera phones. The theory is the MMS revenue will repay the extra commission outlay. This does not apply to upgrades.

Dealers can also earn extra commission by selling bundles of roaming minutes. The new packs are designed to allay customers fears of big roaming bills while abroad.

Before travelling customers can buy an airtime pack for 10 25 or 50 which will give them 12 30 or 60 of roaming call credit. Only one pack can be registered at a time. Once credit runs out roaming calls are applied to the customers bill.

Dealers commission rates are:

85p ( 10 pack)

2.13 ( 25 pack)

4.25 ( 50 pack).

A confidentiality agreement prevented many distributors from talking openly about the moves. However many distributors seemed uncertain as to how they would pass bonuses to their dealers.

One southern Orange distributor said:

This is a positive move from Orange but it took 40 out of the commission packages at the beginning of the year. This is a way of giving us something back.

The other networks have found ways to give us back reduced commission. Orange had fallen behind which is probably reflected in its Q2 performance. But we dont know how we will offer the extra cash to dealers.

Another distributor said there could be a problem:

If half our dealers meet the targets and half dont we still have to pay out to the qualifying dealers. But we may not meet our own target. So we would be paying the commission ourselves. It is quite a gamble. We will wait and see what our competitors do.

A third Orange distributor was concerned that some distributors desperate for connections would offer the full 75 to dealers. He said: I dont know why Orange couldnt put the money directly back into the package.

Orange sales boss Stuart Henry commented:

Dealers and distributors are finding it tough. This rewards them for their continued support. We didnt put the money back into the basic package because we wanted to see something extra for it. Adding the cash back into the package would mean paying people more for the same level of business. We want extra business. The targets are reachable. Its up to distributors to set targets for their dealers as we have set targets for them.

The manufacturer entered the market in February with the T919 but failed to find a network to back the handset. It is now to bring out a further two models which will both feature built-in still and video cameras.

Tel-Me chief executive Manfred Jahn said that the company was currently looking for a network partner for the handsets and has merchandising activity planned for October.

Tel-Me had originally worked with Fone Logistics and Unique Distribution while its predominant partner was Xtratel. Xtratel subsequently folded however.

Called Yours the new offering is carried on T-Mobile and is available from Your Communications business partners.

The deal offers no connection charge and line rental of 9 a month. Calls are charged at 9p a minute to landlines 5p a minute to other Yours users and 18p a minute to call other mobile networks.

The service also incudes an e-mail address and personal assistant service that lets users dictate e-mails or reports.

All billing is managed online.