Irish network operator Esat Digifone has ordered 10000 touch screen pre-pay card payment terminals made by ITG for distribution to Irish retailers.

Retailers enter the top-up value select the network and key in the users account number from prompts on the touch screen display. The terminal receives an authorisation number that can be tapped into the mobile phone to activate the account top-up. The terminals also support traditional credit debit functions and smart cards.

Channing-Williams was to be chief executive of Vodafone UK but bowed out after the Vodafone merger with AirTouch and left the job to Peter Bamford.

Project Telecom which is seeking a Stock Exchange listing next month sells pre-pay phones to non-specialist outlets such as Spar and Londis.

It also has around 35000 corporate and SME customers for its packaged telecoms services mainly supplied by Vodafone.

The company was set up 13 years ago by chief executive Tim Radford later joined by group finance director Richard Cunningham.

Project Telecom last year reported a turnover of 117.1 million and a pre-tax profit of 3.7 million.

The company plans to use the flotation money to develop electronic pre-pay solutions and to provide funds for acquisition of other service providers to expand its corporate customer base.

This follows the aquisition last October of Advanced by RSL.

At RSL COM Sheppards job will be to strengthen the RSL COM brand and promote the companys customer service and business practices to fixed and mobile customers.

I look forward to working on new initiatives in the year ahead and implementing successes he said.

The youngest network put on an astounding 1.08 million net new customers between January and the end of March.

This was more than twice the number of new connections managed by BTCelllnet who limped in last with just 457000 net new customers.

Even Vodafone the traditional winner in the quarterly connection league was trounced by the two GSM1800 networks.

Vodafone signed up 851000 new users 10000 less than One 2 One who had 861000 reasons to be cheerful and now has a total base of more than five million users with three million on pre-pay.

This is up 123 per cent up over a year ago. Virgin Mobile contributed 200000 more customers to the One 2 One network.

The moves we made with our standard pre-payment service in early February introducing a 5p flat rate and eliminating voucher expiry have paid dividends said One 2 One chief executive officer Kai-Uwe Ricke.

Vodafone connected 851000 net new customers an increase of over 21 percent on the same quarter in 1999. But nearly all (839000) were connected to Pay As You Talk bringing the total PAYT base to over five million. Vodafones UK base for all customers is now almost 8.8 million.

Oranges Q1 growth was three times that achieved in the same period last year. It brought the Orange customer base to over 5.97 million at the end of the quarter including 3.42 million pre pay-users. This is a growth of almost two and a half times over the past year since the end of Q1 1999. Since 31 March the customer base has grown past the six million level.

Orange said overall churn fell from 15.8 per cent to 14.6 per cent for the year to March 31. Contract churn improved slightly to 20.6 per cent while pre-pay churn was 8.2 per cent

It has lobbied MP Brian White (Milton Keynes) to table a motion in the House of Commons calling for such transparency in mobile phone retailing.

Im concerned consumers believe they are getting impartial advice. The regulator should ensure advisors calling themselves independent must be transparent about commission they receive says White.

Virgin Mobile says that rival phone dealers are pushing consumers towards unsuitable expensive deals as a result of influences behind the scenes.

The company hired telecoms mystery shoppers Taylor Nelson Sofrres to visit 210 stores. These included The Carphone Warehouse (50) The Link (50) Mobile Phone Store (50) and Martin Dawes (1O).

Virgin Mobile says the results suggest there may be a link between the type of phone deal sold to the consumer and the commission of sales payment made by networks to the retailer.

Despite different requirements of the mystery shoppers BTCellnet tariffs were the top three recommended deals in DX The Link and Mobile Phone Store where it has large share holdings says Virgin Mobiles report.

The Virgin report indicated only one in five recommendations were for pre-pay deals despite the fact they are often the best value.

This is claimed to be the first announcement of its kind in the world for GPRS inter-operator roaming. The two networks were connected across the internet using GPRS Border Gateway elements.

This important step demonstrates that we can support cross network roaming traffic. GPRS roaming will enable our customers to continue using their regular GPRS access points and services while roaming in foreign destinations said M1 engineering director Patrick Scodeller.

Cable & Wirelesss director of Mobile Networks Adam Wong added:

Roaming is an essential part of GPRS services. Many GSM users have learned to expect continuity of their services while abroad. This successful roaming verification gives us the confidence that GPRS services will meet customers expectations.

We are proud to announce this successful roaming with two front runner operators in Asia a world first for us. GPRS is an essential step for operators in their evolution towards 3rd Generation services as it provides the packet core technology for mobile internet services.

Now that users are beginning to see what all the fuss over WAP was about there is a significant danger of disappointment and backlash against the technology says Michele Mackenzie Ovum analyst and lead author of the report WAP Market Strategies.

WAP was never meant as the be-all and end-all of mobile internet. As and when mobile network improvements allow more sophisticated technologies will take centre stage. But before that happens players will have to work extra hard to get user buy-in and overcome any backlash

As Ovums report points out the development of WAP was never going to be easy given the widely differing interests of the players involved in what Ovum calls collision of the mobile world with the internet world. This has resulted in slow progress and disappointing early releases of the technology.

In fact WAP may end up being squeezed as next-generation technologies catch up during the next three years. In the meantime although WAP has massive industry backing the delays in decision-making are leading some players to hedge their bets. Ericsson for example is backing a dual-mode microbrowser.

Even worse the development of WAP handsets has been out of step with coming 2G+ mobile network upgrades. This means that the early WAP user will need to buy yet another handset to take advantage of the faster speeds. That will cause customer alienation and marketing headaches for the handset vendors predicts Mackenzie.

All of this serves to warn potential mobile internet players that the time to act is now rather than later.

Operators and content pro-viders cant afford to wait for better technology. They can act now by moving beyond the hype and playing to the strengths of WAP. They must become wireless data champions and encourage adoption by delivering really compelling and innovative applications. Only by doing that can they hope to survive to fight tomorrows battles.

Ovum also advises operators to invest heavily in customer support. The operator is responsible for controlling user expectations of the services. So it will be the first port of call for user backlash when the WAP hangover sets in.

Ovum predicts 1.5 billion mobile subscribers globally by 2006 684 million of which will use microbrowser-enabled based on WAP and/or other technologies services. This compares with 500 million fixed Internet users. By 2006 82 cer cent of the installed base will be microbrowser-enabled.

Gateway is bundling for free LexicosLite software by mobile internet applications developer Peremon to enable Gateway.net users to access read and reply to e-mails from a WAP phone by cllicking on the phones Gateway.net link. Gateway customers can have one e-mail address from their PC and phone.

There are two Globalstar handsets the Ericsson R290 ( 1200) and the Telit SAT550 ( 800). Calls within the UK and from the UK to Western Europe and the USA) will be approximately $2.24 per minute. Call charges may be subject to service provider mark-up VAT and fluctuating exchange rates.

Customers can retain their existing Vodafone number and get the same benefits of GSM (voice calls text messaging (SMS) voicemail and roaming with additional services such as fax data transmission and positioning services scheduled for rollout in due course.

Globalstar is now available across virtually all of Europe. Vodafone and AirTouch individually were founding partners of Globalstar and holds a 6.5 per cent share.

The Globalstar system comprises 48 low-earth-orbiting satellites. By next year Globalstar service will be available in over 120 countries. There are now 37 countries in full service

Offering the Globalstar service as part of our existing roaming portfolio gives Vodafone customers even more scope to stay in touch said Peter Bamford chief executive of Vodafone UK.

We already have roaming agreements with 237 networks across 108 countries and Globalstar will ensure that our customers benefit from maximum use of their Vodafone in even more areas of the world.

We anticipate wide-ranging interest in Globalstar from people whose work or leisure interests take them to far-flung corners of the world. The service will also be invaluable in the UK for professions such as the utilities emergency services and the marine community.

Bernard L. Schwartz chairman and chief executive officer of Globalstar added:

Globalstar is now available across virtually all of Europe complementing our existing service on five other continents. Eighty five per cent of the worlds land mass remains unserved by cellular.

This follows the resignation of AirTouch founder Sam Ginn who became chairman last June when the merger between Vodafone and AirTouch was completed. Ginn was previously chairman and chief executive of AirTouch Communications Inc.

An ex-Tesco chairman LordMacLaurin joined the Board of Vodafone in January 1997 as a non-executive Director and was elected chairman in 1998.

When the merger between Vodafone and AirTouch was completed in June 1999 he stepped down to become deputy chairman of the combined Group.

Sam Ginn committed himself to the successful integration of AirTouch into VodafoneAirTouch. That process has now been completed successfully. I thank him for his contribution to the integration of the two companies and the advice and counsel he provided as chairman of the board and I wish him well in the future said VodafoneAirTouch CEO Chris Gent.

Ian MacLaurins re-appointment as chairman is excellent news and this will provide his wealth of experience throughout many areas of business and a degree of continuity through the current period of significant growth and change. This will undoubtedly be a major advantage for the company Gent said.