EFR connections will start with people signing to One-2-45 and the All In One Pack.

EFR takes advantage of the latest chip speeds and power to handle more complicated voice processing techniques.

One 2 One started deploying EFR earlier this year. It now offers nine EFR-compatible handsets in its Nokia and Ericsson range.

EFR is the most significant advance since the launch of the digital phone and we are taking the leadership in its deployment so that One 2 One customers can be the first to benefit. EFR-compatible handsets are only now becoming widely available said One 2 One managing director Tim Samples.

With the penetration of EFR handsets in our customer base set to increase steadily the time is now right to start making EFR more widely available he added.

Orange introduced EFR about the same time. Vodafone is rolling it out on its network. Cellnet recently brought out a speech compression feature called Clearcall which suppresses background noise and boosts volume. This service works on any handset.

One 2 One says non-EFR phones will also get improved call quality because of another upgrade programme being undertaken in parallel.

The company is aiming to sign up at least 50 independent retailers in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland market is about nine months behind the mainland and massive growth is anticipated says MoCo head of sales Bill Wilson. He says the Sony deal should provide a 10 per cent increase in connections.

The company is to donate 10 to the RSPCA for every new connection as well as one per cent of the customers monthly bill.

The promotion will be featured in the RSPCA members magazine this month and December.

Holders of the RSPCA credit card will be sent an insert detailing the agreement and giving them the opportunity to pay their airtime bills with their credit card.

The new free service is called Vodafone Personal Call Identifier. Customers pre-define whether personal or business calls should be identified. When making these calls they press the asterisk key after the number dialled. These calls then get highlighted on bills.

Vodafone Corporate is aiming the analogue and digital voice call service at large organisations which operate a large number of handsets as well as self-employed people who need evidence to avoid tax for personal use of phones.

And in a similar move to help big businesses BT has launched a new administration service it has called MobileAdvantage.

It enables corporates with more than 500 phones to pass responsibility for management of their mobiles to BT who will handle the daily running of the account.

Corporates give BT a database of their users. BT also runs a dedicated help desk service for each user within the organisation and can also carry out customised training.

Priced at around 49 the Ora Call Kit boxes are designed for use with the relevant model of pre-pay phone.

The Call Kit box contains a leather case charger power cord and a personal hands-free headset.

Over half a million new pre-pay connections were made during the last three months said Ora marketing manager Ian Davies.

There are a tremendous number of users who must want the flexibility of hands-free operation easy recharging and a case for their phone.

Pre-pay is an easy route to access the mobile network and our Call Kits have been designed to be an equally easy way to buy a set of popular and useful accessories said Davies.

Ora says that as far as it is aware it is the only accessory company offering ready-packed accessory product to pre-pay users.

The network is now building a new call centre in Birmingham to beef up its level of customer support.

Vodafone also expects to bring out a fully-automated system for topping up call credits which will triple its current capacity. The network says between October and March it will have spent 20 million on improving PAYT customer service.

JWE will immediately pay 6 million for the company and a further 2.5 million or more depending on Midlands final results for its year ending next March up to a maximum of 9 million.

This purchase price is based on a multiple of six-times Midlands pre-tax profit for the year ending March 1999.

The acquisition which is expected to add more than 30000 subscribers to JWEs base is due to be completed by the end of this month.

It also gives JWE a presence in the West Midlands region. The number of JWE employees goes up from 400 people to nearly 500.

JWE floated on the Stock Market in May at a share price of 1.03p and is now capitalised at around 25 million. At the time of writing the shares were 1.51p.

Under the terms of the acquisition Midland Phones and its 14 outlets will operate under the JWE brand name.

The deal is a major landmark in the groups development and an important first acquisition following on from our flotation said JWE joint managing director Tony Farmer.

JWE started talking to Midland in July about a takeover.

JWE has been operating in the mobile telecoms market since 1986 and was last year number 30 in Price Waterhouses list of fastest-growing companies in the country.

It is a leading BT Communications Centre and distributes mobile phones and airtime through a dealer network of more than 200 dealers and 30 business centres and High Street shops.