The network said that UK net service revenues grew by 12 per cent in the three months ending December 31 last year compared with 2004. UK customers increased by 895000 new connections taking the total UK customer base to 14.2 million. 12 month rolling churn fell to 27 per cent from 30 per cent in the same period the previous year.

O2 also revealed how its management structure would be affected by the takeover. Peter Erskine has been appointed as chairman and chief executive while Sir David Arculus has stepped down as chairman to become a non-executive director.

Telefonica general manager of coordination business development and synergies Julio Linares and executive chairman Cesar Alierta have also become non-executive directors.

David Chance Judy Gibbons Stephen Hodge Rudolf Lamprecht Patrick Lupo and Kathleen ODonovan have all stepped down as non-executive directors.

O2 was keen to stress to its channel partners that it was still committed to an indirect strategy. UK sales director Mark Stansfeld said: The overall pie is growing and the direct channel is only a part of that. We need all channels to be successful.

The e-mail read: 4.99 line rental per month for up to 12 months 30 thereafter 12-month contract. The ASA upheld a complaint that customers would actually have to pay 30 each month and then claim a redemption credited to their network.

The ASA ruled that the headline was likely to mislead as the redemption wasnt fully explained.

The ASA has also upheld a complaint over a T-Mobile press ad picturing a woman in a car.

The body ruled that the ad was irresponsible as it could encourage motorists to engage in other activities while driving.

The device which features a full QWERTY keyboard in a new sleek lightweight design will be available from T-Mobile from early February with a recommended retail price of 189.99.

However the handset will be available for just 79.99 on Relax 200 – an 18-month contract with 12 months half-price line rental.

In addition to standard BlackBerry functionality the BlackBerry 8700g was completely re-engineered to boost performance and features an Intel processor as well as 64 MB flash memory and 16 MB SRAM.

Maker Research in Motion (RIM) claims the improvements means the handset delivers faster Web browsing attachment viewing and applications. It also allows users to view common attachments such as PowerPoint Excel and Word.

The warning came following a series of disrupted handset shipments throughout the end of 2005 and a cancellation of major marketing events in Dubai following the death of the countrys ruler.

This was compounded by delay in the manufacture of its JAM PDA affecting markets world-wide.

The company said it had taken steps to meet the shortfall in supply for this handset by bringing forward the launch of the JAMIN due to commence shipment next month in most markets outside the US.

It said: The directors continue to expect to report significant year-on-year increased in revenue and profit for the year to March 2006. However the cumulative effect of the factors detailed above is expected to result in sales and profits for the year to March 2006 being lower than analysts expectations.

Former BT Cellnet manager and i-mate founder Jim Morrison was set to become a multi-millionaire when the mobile phone developer he created four years ago floated in London late last year.

I-mate supplies own-brand handsets for a number of UK networks including Orange O2 and Vodafone.

College student John Bogle (19) was bailed to appear at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court on May 4.

His bail conditions include staying away from the Edgware Road in Paddington London – the scene of the alleged robbery.

Cellcom had sought to overturn Oftel director general David Edmonds ruling that Orange and One 2 One could bypass independent SPs if they wanted to.

The Judge Mr Justice Lightman said Edmonds only had to make sure telecoms services were available to meet demand in general.

These services are available from Vodafone and Cellnet. There is no suggestion that Vodafone and Cellnet do not have ample airtime to meet demands. There is no obligation on the part of the (Oftel) director general to maintain or make available to the Applicants the telecommunication services also of MPCL and Orange.

Commenting on the outcome of the case Cellcom chief executive Paul Cohen said:

We are grateful that Mr Justice Lightman has clarified the position as regards the continuity of supply of airtime services to independent service providers in the future. To maximise competition and choice for our customers it is desirable that we obtain airtime from all the networks.

Whilst this may not be possible mobile number portability will allow all mobile users to obtain our services irrespective of the network that is supplying us at the time.

Oftel director general David Edmonds said he warmly welcomed the judges ruling.

I am committed to promoting competition in the mobile sector and safeguarding the interests on consumers. We believe our licence amendments furthered this aim and were a step towards removing unnecessary regulation. The Judge agreed we were acting within our powers.

The licence modifications which removed the obligations on Orange and One 2 One to provide airtime to service providers was aimed at giving the two networks more freedom in choosing how to mar-ket their products and compete effectively.

The network says it also has the fastest growth in customer usage up by just under 20 per cent from 96 minutes per month to 114 minutes over the last year.

Increased annual revenue per customer is 2.5 per cent up from 376 to 385 on the comparable half-year period last year.

Market share is claimed to be up from 14 per cent of net new connections last quarter of April to June 1998 to 27 per cent the last quarter of July to September 1998.

Churn has reduced from 31.6 per cent to 28.5 per cent on the same comparable half-year period last year. Turnover increased by 104 million helped by 850000 people signing up to the First scheme.

Around 65 per cent of all connections go through Cellnet service provision division with BT handling the corporate sector and providing High Street presence. Vodafone posted a pre-tax profit increase of 476.9 million up 60 per cent for the six months to September 30.

All the networks are based in North America. These figures compare with 165 million UK text messages in just the first 24 hours of 2006.

According to Informa Telecoms and Media senior research analyst Kester Mann the continually glacial take-up of MMS is price. The average price of a 30K MMS message is $0.37 (21p). This is over four times the average global price of an SMS.

Mann said: Pricing is fundamental to the success of MMS. Subscribers are still unwilling to pay the comparatively higher tariffs for MMS – until the price ratio with SMS narrows traffic volumes will remain low.

Duarte will be responsible for strategy formulation and implementation responsibility for market research and analysis.

Formerly a partner in the Paris office of management consultancy Arthur D Little Duarte worked on business strategy issues in the telecoms industry.

The move comes just a month after the departure of 3 chief operating officer Gareth Jones who has yet to be replaced.

A 3 spokeswoman said that the network has yet to decide whether the role would be filled.

The service rewards new and existing dealers with an extra 10 towards their marketing fund for every new business connection they make – taking the total to 25 per connection. In addition Mainline is offering 5 marketing fund rewards on every B2B upgrade.

Included in its new Blueprint for Business menu is an option for dealers to convert part of their marketing fund into cash to be used as sales incentives for staff.