Distributors claim connections to Vodafone tariffs have continued to falter over March since the network decided to pull up to 100 out of new contract commissions just before Christmas.
Consumers seem to have migrated to similar offerings from O2 such that one distributor said he didn t expect any consumer revenues to go to Vodafone through the indirect channel after the next 12 months.
Vodafone is very plainly not in acquisition mode said a spokesman for Fone Logistics. The new connect model is non-existent and consumer business is through the floor. Even on B2B Vodafone appears to have reached its budget threshold. There won t ever be the same amount of money from Vodafone in consumer as there was in the past. That part of the business may be non-existent within 12 months.
A spokesman for Anglia Telecom agreed that business through Vodafone had been noticeably bad since the reduction in commission and that customers had been favouring comparable O2 tariffs through March.

The new tariff has been far and away the most popular choice for consumers throughout March.
T-Mobile is giving a 25 per cent discount on all Flext tariffs and slashing prices on handsets through its stores and online.
One dealer observed that the tariff discount meant a consumer could make a saving of 300 over three years on Flext 35 one of the most popular variants.
Every connection is costing T-Mobile 100. There s no chance of getting that back. Why is it devastating the market? he said.
Another dealer admitted that one of his London stores had been suffering. T-Mobile has launched a great tariff and it is devaluing it straight away he said.
A spokesman for T-Mobile denied the network was undermining its dealer channel.
It isn t unusual for networks to offer great deals direct he said.

The network managed to increase the global base to 10 million in line with forecasts but a spokesman confirmed that once the sale of the Japanese business to Softbank goes through the live! 3G base will fall by 2.7 million. This does not include business 3G customers.
Vodafone chief executive Arun Sarin said: This is an important milestone for Vodafone and I am very pleased we have achieved our target ahead of time.

The Samsung D600 goes on sale at The Carphone Warehouse on April 1. It is unclear when supply of the product will be made available to independent dealers through Carphone distributor Hugh Symons.
We are happy with the level of commitment on both sides said Samsung director Mark Mitchinson.
We expect the exclusivity period to last quite some considerable time. It is not a short-term project.
A Carphone spokesman added:
Samsung is manufacturing the chrome D600 just for Carphone across Europe. The deal is for an indefinite period. We will take a large supply to meet demand.

The supermarket will offer to connect customers to network contracts in two specialist Telecoms Centres from April. It will open a third Telecoms Centre in the next few months and roll out contract connections to around 120 stores over the next 12 months.
Dextra/4U has extended its existing contract with Tesco to handle the new airtime connections.
Vodafone Orange O2 T-Mobile and 3 contracts will all be available at Tesco stores.
Tesco will roll out the 10 best-selling handsets alongside selected monthly network tariffs. Handsets include the Motorola PEBL Motorola RAZR and Samsung D600.
Tesco Telecoms CEO Andy Dewhurst said: Customers don t feel comfortable in traditional phone shops. They feel pressured and find the process complicated and time consuming. They want someone to edit the hundreds of tariff options.
Customers will receive up to 300 Clubcard points a month which are redeemable for air miles meals out and holidays.
Asda confirmed this month that it had also started offering contract phones in selected stores through Dextra/4U.
l Tesco Mobile claims its new Extra pre-pay tariff offers the cheapest cross-network rates on the market. A 15 monthly gives a flat rate of 10p a minute to any UK landline or mobile and texts for 5p.

The figures lodged at Companies House concern trading to the end of 2004.
As well as its remit to promote 3G technology the chain bid to provide bill payment facilities and retail PSTN equipment when it paid 32.5 million for a number of outlets from former state-owned monopoly Eircom in May 2003.
Sales of 13.6 million were reported for 2004 but it made a loss of 1.7 million in its first seven months of trading. 3G s accounts noted that shareholders have agreed to continue supporting the company.
The chain has 21 outlets in Ireland and the directors statement indicates further expansion is planned.
The majority shareholders are Tony Boyle and Michael McGinley better known for their involvement in Dublin-based Sigma Telecom.
While the company retails product for Eircom Meteor 3 Ireland and O2 brand leader Vodafone is absent. It makes up for this by selling wired and DECT handsets along with lifestyle products such as digital cameras and MP3 players.

The conference which features keynote addresses from Carphone Warehouse founder Charles Dunstone and 3 CEO Bob Fuller will examine how 3G products and services will make the transition to mass-market acceptance.
Conference topics include drivers for successful 3G handset design and marketing and how to interpret customer insights and transform them into relevant service offerings.
O2 sales director and keynote speaker Mark Stansfeld who will speak about i-mode in the UK said: Understanding customer needs is imperative. And this is an ideal opportunity to look at the way customers are going to use data services and content areas.
Another conference speaker LG sales head John Barton added:
Given the current and growing emphasis on 3G products and services from both manufacturers and networks it is an ideal time to review what the customer truly wants from the 3G experience.
This Mobile News conference comes at the right time and I look forward to hearing the views of leading figures on these crucial issues.
Full agenda and booking form on page 43

Yes managing director Keith Curran told Mobile News that the Yes management team had put together a detailed business plan over the past 12 months that wouldsee the Manchester service provider align itself even more closely with Vodafone. Its relationship with its MVNO partner T-Mobile will be reviewed and possibly curtailed.
Curran said: We are not turning red. Vodafone is not going to suck us in. Vodafone wants Yes to continue doing what it is already doing and what it does well. We can look our business partners in the eyes and say that now.
According to this five-year plan we have ring-fenced their customer bases. Everything stays the way it is now in the Yes Telecom environment. Nothing gets sucked up.
He added: For T-Mobile the future of the MVNO depends very much on the management team here applying sufficient focus to it. T-Mobile has told us that if the management team s time is taken up with the new project then it will respect that but that it has to look out for its own interests. T-Mobile has said that if the right input and drive doesn t go into the MVNO project then it will look to re-evaluate the situation.
Yes Telecom sales and marketing director Simon Howitt predicted that Yes Telecom s active dealer base would rise to around 300 from the current level of 220 over the five years. Growth will be split 50:50 between traditional voice and mobile data solutions.
Curran said: The faster we grow the more investment everybody will be required to put in to sustain the growth. But the support from Vodafone isn t just about the money. It s about access to information and certain Vodafone products and services.
The five-year plan dubbed Project X was put to Yes dealers at its business partner forum in Northampton last week.
The deal with Vodafone is expected to be finalised in the next three months.
See feature page 22

The integration process will take place over the next 12 months. SpinVox intends to retain its own brand.
SpinVox CEO Christina Domecq said that SpinVox did not control SMS delivery itself and blamed aggregators for any latency issues involved in delivering voice messages to customers inboxes.
With today s standalone system we have very little control over SMS delivery said Domecq. It is because we are working with aggregators. The delivery of SMS is down to them.
SpinVox partners with aggregators mBlox Mobile 365 and WIN to deliver voicemail in SMS form.
Domecq said: Over the next year the service will be deployed so that the aggregators are cut out and the service resides on the network itself. That process will be moved to the networks in the future. The customer will get a better service. So it will make delivery more seamless.
This will require the adoption of a different business model.
SpinVox will become a service provider to the networks in the future she said. At the moment we retain and manage the customer relationship.
The Carphone Warehouse has recently taken a 17 per cent stake in the company.
SpinVox claims trials with The Carphone Warehouse the operators and across its own managed base found SpinVox increases text and call traffic. Domecq said that the uplift in voice ARPU is between 6.5 and nine per cent and the uplift in SMS ARPU is 15-20 per cent.

The Carphone Warehouse is roughly 60 per cent of the way through integrating Hugh Symons IT system into its own system. That process is expected to take up to three months.
Once that process is completed Carphone Warehouse will put its SIM-free distribution arm Mobile Phone Express and airtime distributor Hugh Symons on the same sales ledger. At present Hugh Symons is required to purchase stock from Mobile Phone Express itself and bill dealers separately.
Hugh Symons will become Carphone Warehouses distribution brand for both airtime and SIM-free in the dealer channel from July 1.
It is unclear what will happen to the Mobile Phone Express brand but Carphone Warehouse director of indirect distribution Steve Fraser said he had no plans to retire the brand and that it would continue in some capacity.
Fraser said: "We are putting the Mobile Phone Express and Hugh Symons businesses on to the same sales ledger. We are combining all the products of the two businesses. Dealers will be able to buy Carphone Warehouse SIM-free stock as well as other services such as Fresh and TalkTalk and connect airtime against those products."
He said no decision had been made on the Mobile Phone Express brand.
"I dont want the two businesses competing with each other but at the same time were not going to just kill off the Mobile Phone Express brand. We have people that work for Mobile Phone Express and they will continue to work there."
Speaking at Hugh Symons Unity seminar last week Hugh Symons business manager Bob Sweetlove said: "We are integrating our business into the Carphone Warehouse system. Were 50 to 60 per cent of the way through that. Thats when Hugh Symons and its customers will have access to all the Carphone Warehouse product set."
See feature page 28