Due in 2002 the third-generation will provide high bandwidth multimedia services to mobile phones anywhere in the world.

KSCL says until now forum members have come from network operators network vendors and handset manufacturers.

Not only are we creating software that conforms to UMTS standards we are playing an active part in creating and shaping those standards said Kingston-SCL head of product development Richard Brand who is a regular speaker at UMTS seminars.

Kingston-SCL reckons that more than 15 million cellular subscribers worldwide have their bills processed by its software which generates more than 180 million bills a year in 30 countries.

Called the SGH-800 the phone provides push-button internet and email access through an Unwired Planet browser installed in the phone.

The SGH-8000 will be available to end users in the fourth quarter of this year.

As people become increasingly dependent on e-mail and access to internet-based services wireless telephones providing mobile access to these resources will become a vital tool according the Samsungs general manager for telecoms Jonathan Bate.

Samsung is also beefing up its dual-band range with the launch of the new SGH-2100 and SGH-2200. The SGH-2100 weighs in at just 115g and comes with voice-activated dialling. The SGH-2200 is even lighter at 95g which Samsung says makes it the lightest dual-band on the market.

The new Samsung mobile phones will be marketed in a range of metallic colours. An optional soft data modem kit allows connection to a laptop or PC without the need for a PCMCIA data card.

Korean-owned Samsung claims it is the worlds third largest electronics company and the worlds leading supplier of CDMA systems.

Nokia launched its first WAP phone the large-screen 7110 at the GSM World Con-gress in Cannes in February.

Messages cost 18p each. England captain Alex Stewart has done a welcome message for customers the first time they dial the service. Vodafone is the official sponsor of the Cricket World Cup.

Also a new business development director has been hired. he is Ross Caldwell who joins from Nortel. Ora has taken on a new operations director Duncan Sproul who has worked at Filofax.

I intend to distance Ora from the competition said Ora founder and chairman Malcolm Hanson.

My primary objective is to further develop the companys highly-successful call centre by working with our key customers on tailored promotions.

Ora says its sales are more than 50 per cent up since its new financial year started. The comany recently hired a new managing director New Zealander Ken Edmonds who moved from Nortel.

Carphone Warehouse co-founders Charles Dunstone and David Ross have bought the controlling interest of Tecno from Pizza Express chairman Luke Johnson and Richer Sounds founder Julian Richer after the four businessmen together bought Tecno in November 1997.

We already partly owned Tecno. What became increasingly apparent was the synergy between retailing mobile phones and photographic equipment said Dunstone.

Outstanding customer service and independent partial advice are as important in the photographic market. We look forward to developing Tecno alongside our existing UK and continental European operations.

Tecno has 28 stores in most major cities in the UK and employs more than 150 people.

Also The Carphone Warehouse has hired WH Smith merchandising planner Fiona Perera as its new visual merchandising manager.

Perera who has also worked in a similar role for Safeway and Wickes will be in charge of ensuring all 180 Carphone Warehouse outlets conform to a consistent identity.

As competition on the High Street intensifies and the company continues to grow it is vital we maintain a consistent identity. But we need to also be flexible enough to adapt to the range of products and services on offer while communicating our approach to the customer said group marketing director Lesley Angus.

The health and safety of our customers is paramount. Promoting the safe and responsible use of GSM equipment by customers and operators is fundamental to our core aims and objectives in the future.

We are supporting independent and objective research under the auspices of independent internationally respected bodies such as the World Health Organisation.

We will continue to promote the safe and courteous use of GSM equipment by customers as well as responsible integration of GSM equipment into the environment. We are also coordinating the supply of information concerning health and safety matters with and between the Associations members.

Stocks is currently general manager for Legal and Regulatory Affairs with MTN. His involvement in the Association has included work on a number of Ad-Hoc Committees and membership of the Legal and Regulatory Working Group.

He has been secretary deputy chairman and chairman of the Central and Southern African Interest Group and deputy chairman of the Association for 1998/1999.

Stocks said that under his chairmanship.spearheading the Association would continue to develop the GSM standard as the best technology option and leading system for evolved Second and Third Generation services.

The GSM Association will continue to specify and drive our members needs with regard to both current Second and Third Generation standardisation development regulation and spectrum allocation Stocks announced.

He said that the Association will step up its role in leading the world-wide promotion of GSMs roaming capabilities.

Key to this is the push to enable development of tri-band phones and their free movement around the world. We also aim to continually extend and improve the range of roaming features and services opening up new and emerging GSM markets as we go. The introduction of the Voluntary Certification Scheme for GSM handsets ensuring high technical quality levels will be a major factor for continued customer confidence and GSM success.

High on the Associations agenda is also the promotion and universal adoption of the GSM world standard the TAP3 standard for the transfer of billing information for early 3rd Generation services; such as General Packet Switched Radio.

The Association is also taking a leading role in the technical accomplishment of inter-standard roaming and the elimination of fraud within the GSM roaming environment.

Stocks also states that a wide range of communications methods are vital to ensuring effective operational and promotional communications.

Among these will be the ongoing development and modification of internal member communications via the internet.

We also see the maintenance of regular and direct dialogue with a broad range of relevant external organisations to further the aims of the Association and its objectives as a vital ingredient he said. As of course is communicating effectively with our public.

The announcement in 1998 to establish an Associate Membership Category for suppliers is considered essential for the success of the Associations mission and objectives. The Association is already talking with a broad range of manufacturers and suppliers to bring this about in the short term.

The establishment of Associate Membership crystalizes much of the joint effort through cooperation between suppliers and our members that has existed at working group level for some time. The formalisation of this category will create a more dynamic environment for on going evolution from Second to Third Generation GSM services to the ultimate benefit of our customers.

The exchange and sharing of network operator experiences of GSM data and text services is also an area on which the Association is focused. The recent formation of a Data Task Force is designed to push the development of data standards to promote interoperability and better customer experience in the non-voice GSM world and to promote data roaming.

New Wave will be in charge of delivering around 20000 phones a month. The company will also store SIM cards and be responsible for assembling the boxed units ready for sale.

The organisation will use electronic serial number scanning to provide an audit trail for each phone including details of which customer has got each card and phone

Before winning the contract from Samsung New Wave Logistics had to pass stringent security checks by Vodafone.

This new operation involves a great deal more than straightforward storage and distribution. With such small but high value product security is paramount said Samsung logistics manager Kevin Grubb.

New Wave Logistics also distributes other Samsung products such as fixed phones fax machines computer monitors printers TVs and domestic appliances to around 800 outlets.

The stipulation is being made on an Oftel consultation document which contains Oftels proposals that if Vodafone BTCellnet Orange or One 2 One want to bid for a third generation licence they must accept a condition which would allow users of a new network to roam onto their own system.

The right to roam will be limited to the time it takes for the new entrant to build its network and will only be granted after the new entrant has already built much of its own network.

There will be a fifth network operator. However until they have their own network up and running they will be at a disadvantage. That is why the Government has decided they should have the right to use an existing network said Oftel director general David Edmonds.

This is because of the growing convergence of telecoms and computers and the rising number of joint venture partnerships (such as the Symbian Group binding leading handset manufacturers with Psion).

As the number of PCs installed both at home and in the office rises it will spur growth on the market for wireless handheld devices says Frost & Sullivan.

The real struggle in todays marketplace mainly involving the three giants 3Com Microsoft and Symbian is for the dominant operating system rather than hardware market share the consultancy adds.