Neal who left Phones 4U nine months ago starts his new role at the end of this month. He will be responsible for the manufacturers channel and content marketing teams including the Samsung Fun Club brand.

At Phones 4U Neal had a wide range of responsibilities including marketing strategy and planning branding advertising and retail merchandising.

Before joining Phones 4U he worked at electrical and computing retailer Tempo Superstores and has also held marketing positions in music video and gaming at WH Smiths and Dixons Group.

We looked long and hard to find the right candidate and immediately realised Julians experience and outstanding achievements in the retail sector said Mark Mitchinson director of Samsung Mobile UK.

Said Neal: Its an exciting time to join Samsung. I look forward to being part of a successful team and building on the companys achievements to date.

MonsterMob provides content including ringtones Java games wallpapers videos and competition products to Vodafones live! web portal. The company supplies content to a total of 25 carriers across the world including Vodafone China Mobile and Verizon.

Ghillebaert replaces outgoing executive vice-president John Allwood who is moving to the Telegraph Group as executive director after four years at Orange.

Sanjiv Ahuja CEO of the Orange Group (see above) said Ghillebaert would be a more than capable replacement.

Under his leadership Mobistar has become one of the leading telecom businesses in Belgium with a strong presence in both the business and consumer markets he said.

Allwood 53 had high-level posts at News International Sky Television and Trinity Mirror Group before joining Orange. His first taste of telecoms followed 11 years at News International where he became finance director of all Rupert Murdochs Wapping-based newspapers before moving to Sky.

Between 1991 and 1992 he was finance director of Microtel – then a mobile telecoms start-up but now part of Orange.

Ofcom is investigating complaints by Vodafone about O2s TV ads which claim O2 gives the best ever mobile network performance.

Vodafone originally complained to the Broadcasting Advertising Clearance Centre (BACC) which approves ads for transmission.

An O2 spokesman said:

Vodafone went to the BACC and raised some issues that it had about our ads. We had already bought the advertising space and the ads have now run their course.

The claim in the ads is entirely accurate. The last published Oftel finding from December 2003 found that we had the highest score ever by a network operator said the spokesman.

In another advertising showdown O2 is due in the High Court following an injunction against 3 for alleged copyright infringement and inaccurate claims about O2s pre-pay tariffs mentioned by 3 in its advertising.

O2 issued a writ against 3 and a High Court hearing is scheduled for next Friday. O2 alleges 3 infringed 17 O2 trademarks and made unfair comparisons with its tariffs.

In a statement 3 said: Our comparative ads are a bit of fun as we are the new guys in the market. O2 is claiming trademark infringement over the bubbles. O2 is upset because weve got some of its bubbles. But the only thing weve got of O2s is its customers.

This is part of the cut and thrust of the industry. Obviously its rattled by the pace weve set and wants to slow us down.

A spokesman for O2 replied:

We filed complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority against 3s ads which compare its prices with ours.

Eight of the nine complaints were upheld. Separately we filed a claim to stop it using bubbles in its TV ads.

We believe this is clear trademark infringement and passing off. Oxygen bubbles are a standard look and theme in our marketing. 3 is not entitled to use them in a way that evokes O2 without our permission.

3 is simulating our ad or a

T-Mobile ad and making claims about how expensive it is compared with ThreePay.

We think the information is highly misleading and confusing because it is comparing apples with oranges.

Ironically it wasnt that long ago when O2 itself was accused of passing off in its advertising.

Last June the network was forced to end its 4 million cross-network advertising campaign after Sony 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.

That row was eventually settled out of court.

The crusher was called in after complaints from drivers that the equipment melted when plugged into the dashboard.

The imitation products were seized in a joint raid with Nokia from a wholesaler in north London. They were crushed by Trading Standards officers last week in an attempt to raise awareness of fake items for sale on the high street and the risks of purchasing them.

Trading Standards chief executive Ron Gainsford said:

Counterfeiting is a problem that affects everyone in the community. In the case of the hands-free mobile phone kits seized in Camden it is easy to imagine that a kit melting on a busy road like a motorway could distract a motorist to such an extent that it could lead to tragedy.

A Trading Standards spokesperson added: The Camden office received complaints that consumers had plugged the kits into the car and they had begun to melt. Potentially they could have set fire to the car or the user could have received serious burns.

Trading Standards also chose to crush the fake mobile car-kits to highlight National Consumer Week which urges the public to get real and say no to fakes frauds and scams.

Trading Standards lead officer for counterfeiting Bryan Lewin commented:

Corners are cut in producing copy products which means they will not only be substandard but may also be unsafe or even in some cases dangerous. The general rule of thumb when buying anything is that if it looks too good to be true – it almost certainly is.

Ruth Orchard director-general of industry lobby body The Anti-Counterfeiting Group added: We urge consumers to boycott counterfeits – its the only way to foil the global network of criminals that controls this hugely profitable trade in fakes.

Group Telecom refurbished Nokia phones installed car kits and dealt SIM-free handsets airtime contracts and accessories.

Manchester accountancy firm CLB which is handling the liquidation refused to discuss details of the case but a CLB spokesman said:

The directors have approached us to place the company into liquidation. We are collating all the information now.

A formal statement from CLB partner Diane Hill said:

The directors of Group

Telecom Limited have consulted this firm in connection with the companys present financial situation. After due consideration the directors have formed the opinion that the company is insolvent and have decided to commence liquidation proceedings.

I have been nominated as liquidator of the company and I am currently in the process of assisting in the preparation of a statement of affairs and report for presentation to creditors.

A copy of this report will be sent to all creditors following the creditors meeting.

Virgin Mobiles Lobster handset is the first fruit of the virtual manufacturing operation.

The Lobster 485 is the smallest flip handset available in Europe according to Virgin Mobile. It features a 262k colour screen and an integrated VGA camera. It will retail for 89.99.

The phone is made by Bellwave which has manufactured or developed devices for a number of other brands such as LG and Bird.

Bellwave has a turnover of $450 million ( 247 million).

The Lobster sub-brand is aimed at 16- to 30-year-olds. Data Select will manage the product sourcing packaging logistics distribution and fulfilment of the entire Lobster range for Virgin Mobile.

Unique was originally scheduled to handle the operation before it went bust.

We are buying all the Lobster range in from Data Select who sourced it said Virgin Mobile product controller Jim Powell.

According to Powell Data Select is looking to represent UK networks and retailers as a go-between with different manufacturers on different continents and in different time zones.

It takes care of all the servicing and logistics involved and our impression is that it appears to have been doing it for years.

We are in discussion with around 30 different brands that arent so familiar in the UK yet. Our expectation is to introduce very attractive products when the end-user is ready for them.

It is a great opportunity for these manufacturers to bring their products to market under the Lobster brand instead of their own.

Powell claimed there are always a dozen or so phones released each year that the industry gets really excited about.

Most products by unknown manufacturers are looked on with great scepticism. But everyone who has seen this device so far has responded well and our sales forecast has gone up as a result he said.

Peter Jones chairman and CEO of Phones International Group said: Data Select is well positioned to support Virgin Mobiles focus on customer service and delivery of innovative products and a variety of services.

Graeme Hutchinson sales and marketing director at Virgin Mobile added:

The Lobster 485 marks the beginning of a new portfolio of phones for our customers.

The products emerging under the Lobster brand will all complement the excellent products coming from the established mobile phone brands

Lobster phones will feature a Virgin Mobile-branded red shortcut key to the virtual networks entertainment portal BITES.

Virgin Mobile expects to bring two new Lobster phones to market before Christmas.

It will also launch a series of promotions merchandising and advertising campaigns around the Lobster brand from July.

The men hijacked corporate phone lines of companies such as BP to dial premium-rate numbers on mobile phones reports James Blackman.

Jonathan Rees 23 and Mark Rebeiro 25 had set up the premium-rate lines themselves and racked up a profit on the calls of 63000 and 12500 respectively.

They were found guilty at Truro Crown Court on September 7 of conspiracy to defraud and were each sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The total combined cost to the victims is estimated to be 250000- 300000. Vodafone fraud risk and security manager David Morrow said:

This must have cost the victims at least 250000. A content provider only gets about 20p out of 1 charged to the caller.

DC Rob Williams of Penzance CID who led the investigation for two-and-a-half years put the fraud even higher at around 300000.

A Mercedes and a Porsche have been confiscated as proceeds of the crime.

Rees and Rebeiro used contract Vodafone mobiles to make the calls. Some of the switchboards that were attacked belonged to Vodafone clients. Vodafone successfully tracked the locations of the calls and identified the handsets and accounts belonging to them.

Evidence supplied by Vodafone showed that Rees and Rebeiro tapped into Vodafone private wire numbers used by businesses to enable employees to re-direct a mobile call via the company switchboard.

They then phoned the premium-rate numbers that they had set up. The premium-rate calls were billed to the victims of the fraud.

Rees and Rebeiro obtained a total of 75500 in fraudulent revenues between December 1 2001 and April 30 2002.

Companies hit included BP Zurich Newbury District Council and United Utilities. Rebeiro insisted on his innocence until he entered a guilty plea. Rees changed his story continually said DC Williams.

The premium-rate network operators will retain the revenue because they were not involved in the scam.

DC Williams said: It was a nightmare. Im not a specialist and the combination of technical information and the sheer volume of data involved was very daunting.

Operation Venison collapsed after the defence successfully argued that information crucial to the defence had been withheld.

Customs must now pay part of the costs incurred by the defence as these costs were incurred as a result of an unnecessary or improper act or omission by the prosecution.

The total costs incurred by the defendants through the legal aid system are estimated to be around 6 million.

Barrister Anthony Barnfather defence counsel in Operation Venison said his firm Pannone & Partners decided to make the application because defence costs had spiralled through no fault of the individual defendants or their lawyers.

See Our Shout page 22

Hore said: Im head of the UK for mobile phones. From the end of December that role ends. I am one of three people in the UK who are being redeployed or ultimately made redundant.

The other two UK employees affected are sales development managers Andrew Kidd and Robert Hughes.

Philips has two major centres of operation for marketing and sales in Paris and Hong Kong. But as part of a refocus on the Far East and eastern Europe it will close the Paris centre by the end of the year.

We are not doing a huge amount of business in western Europe but we are doing a substantial amount of business in China and Russia particularly and this closure is about concentrating our efforts so we can continue and try to grow that said Hore.

Paris closing means that the operator field sales teams in western European countries including the UK Italy Spain France Portugal will also close by the end of the year Hore said.

Hore said the news hadnt come as a shock. Its been obvious for the past few months that something needed to change but the formal announcement has only just been made in the past week.

If there are suitable jobs within Philips they will be put to us for consideration added Hore. We are also looking at opportunities outside the company. In the next few weeks we will make our decision.

See Whats Out page 18