Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila also said it would be possible to reach net sales growth of 30 to 40 per cent in the year 2000 which would exceed Nokias long term target of 25 to 35 per cent.

Ollila anticipates that the first third generation (3G) network orders will be received in 2000 and that there will be continued emphasis on increasing market share in the mobile phone business with Nokias target being to grow faster than the market.

Nokias intent is to create the Mobile Information Society by combining mobility and the internet and stimulating the creation of new services. In mobile phones Nokia sees new product segments emerging through convergence of the internet multimedia applications and connectivity.

The money has been put up by a group of international investors led by American telecommunications pioneer Craig McCaw.

McCaw and Indian media entrepreneur Subhash Chandra are providing the new financing required by ICO.

McCaw and Chandra will provide up to 62 percent and 38 percent respectively of the equity funding required for ICO to escape bankruptcy.

McCaw is chairman of Teledesic LLC which is building a global Internet-in-the-Sky satellite communications network.

McCaw and Microsofts Bill Gates are the companys two primary founding investors. Chandra is chairman of Essel Group a leading Indian conglomerate.

These two entrepreneurs share a common vision of the benefits that ICO can bring to the world said ICO chief executive officer Richard Greco.

Both Craig McCaw and Subhash Chandra contribute tremendous strengths to the ICO effort in their respective parts of the world.

McCaw and his affiliated companies Teledesic and Eagle River Investments will lead a group of existing ICO investors to provide $225 million in debtor-in-possession financing as well as $275 million in a second financing round expected to be completed by the end of January 2000.

The balance of the first tranche of $225 million and the second tranche of $275 million has now been approved.

McCaw and his affiliates also agreed to commit up to an additional $700 million for exit financing expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2000 dependent upon court approval and implementation of the ICO reorganisation plan.

This portion of the financing plan will be open to participation by ICOs existing creditors and shareholders. the total investment of $1.2 billion will enable ICO to complete build-out of its system and will provide working capital to the company up to the launch of its global mobile satellite services in the second quarter of 2001.

Talking Ads is an interactive call response business set up four years ago and generates 2.5 million a year in call revenue.

PNC Tele.com will pay 1.4 million cash on completion and 1.4 million in shares ( 2.20) with a further 100000 two months later and another 4.1 million paid half in shares depending on future profit performance.

PNC Tele.com is also buying for 50000 cash the customer services base of Arena Online Services a subsidiary of Arena Leisure (subject to a one-year earn-out).

Both acquisitions are effective businesses that complement our existing operations and have substantial scope for further expansion said PNC Tele.com chief executive Geremy Thomas.

Our partnership with ITIS demonstrates our commitment to providing a comprehensive range of wirefree multimedia services to meet the needs of our customers said Orange chief operations officer Bob Fuller.

However Orange has been criticised by shutting off access to many other web sites from its own portal (see P40 P54 P56).

Orange is selling the 7110e for 129.99 with no charge for access to multi-meida services until the end of January.

After that access to WAP will be part of a customers monthly call allowance and 5p a minute after that.

ITIS was set up in 1997 as a provider of telematics services and travel-related information.

It provides real-time information updated every 10 minutes for specified routes.

Personal mobility has always been high on our agenda and the launch of the new handset has enbaled us to provide this service. We are delighted to be working with Orange and look forward to further developing and enhancing the range of services offered through the network said ITIS chairman Stuart Marks.

The company Red Message has been set up by two ex-executives of Swedish mobile phone operator Telia.

The idea is for businneses to link customers to their own web site or call centre to hand sales and service transactions via a GSM phone.

Users log into www.redmessage.com register and add and delete the web sites they want to retrieve information from.

Red Message is operator independent so the service works for any GSM subscriber on any network as long as their phone supports text messaging.

Increasing mobility among the European market has led consumers to demand information is sent to them wherever and whenever liberating them from their PCs said Red Message marketing director Steven Yurisich.

The potential value for any business with an online presence to gain access to almost half the UK adult population through an immediate effective and mobile medium is explosive he added.

Red Message will develop services based on WAP phones when they reach the mass market.

They are Somchul Rashid (Which Mobile 23 Green Lane Ilford Essex) and Peter Kubis (The Phone Inn 21 Crewe Road Sandbach Cheshire). Rashid and Kubis have undertaken to comply with the Rules of the Scheme. The FCS says it has been satisfied that steps have been taken to do so. Anyone in the industry is now free to trade with Rashid and Kubis subject to the Rules of the Scheme.

Ericsson will own the majority share of the new company and will provide its Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology to Microsoft and adopt Explorer for future WAP phones.

The joint company will focus on solutions that use Microsoft Windows NT Server and Exchange platforms and Ericssons infrastructure and mobile Internet technologies.

The mobile Internet is part of Ericssons vision of convenient and user- friendly information access and wireless e-mail said Ericsson president Kurt Hellstrom

Bringing together Microsofts strengths in Internet and enterprise messaging software and our leadership as an open communications solutions provider of mobile voice and data will offer tremendous ease of use for consumers all over the world.

Microsoft president Steve Ballmer added:

Mobile Internet access and services are crucial for realizing Microsofts vision of empowering knowledge workers and consumers through software any time anywhere and on any device.

This partnership is a strong confirmation of our commitment to help the industry deploy new mobile products and services worldwide. Microsoft and Ericsson will also collaborate to support WAP and Bluetooth applications.

Nokia will implement Java technology in the Psion EPOC operating system based smart phones and communicators.

The first products to support Java technology will be available next year and will offer additional mobile internet features. Users will be able to retrieve Java applications over the mobile network using WAP.

Woolworths is improving its customer service performance on mobile phones with a new service to give staff access to network information.

Called The Central Hub the service is based in Woolworths distribution centre in Castleton near Rochdale.

Around 30 operators have access to a database of product information made available to 30000 staff in Woolworths 800 British stores.

In the first week of its operation more than 1000 enquiry calls were made by Woolworths staff with 45 per cent of these calls from sales staff needing more information on mobile phones.

Consumers have always found choosing mobile phones confusing and difficult so we are not surprised that such a high proportion of calls have been on the subject said Central Hub general manager Richard Walmsley.

Before information was available on the Hub staff had to rely on finding someone in the store who knew about mobile phone tariffs and networks (see P40).

Orange won the Award for Wildfire the voice-activated service that can take messages place calls and store contact details. WIldfire is a product of US-based Wildfire Communications and claimed to be Europes first intelligent voice-activated mobile phone service.

It was launched by Orange in mid-July following trials with over 5000 Orange customers.

Orange also won the category for Best Use of Company Website Award and was one of only two companies to win two awards and the only company to be nominated for four categories this year.

Orange CEO and group managing director Hans Snook commented:

In the future many services will be operated by spoken commands and keypad entry will seem old-fashioned and cumbersome.

Wildfire is yet another step on the road to Oranges vision of a wirefree future when your voice will be the keyboard and mouse Snook added.

Wildfire has also been activated in France by Bouygues Telecom.

The Awards were presented at the Telecom 99 show which took place in Geneva earlier last month.