This is one of the inferences from a Manpower Survey of Employment Prospects conducted among 2195 employers from most of the countrys top 100 companies.

Employers were asked if they intended to increase decrease or maintain their staffing levels for the three months to the end of March.

Around 24 per cent of employers in the telecoms industry said they expected to increase levels. Only five per cent thought they may have to cut back.

But although this is the most optimistic forecast of staffing levels of the entire survey and is 19 points above the national average it is still nine percentage points down in the same quarter for last year.

Employment prospects are worse for people in the service sector where most employers said they expected to be reducing staffing levels.

The positive balance of 19 per centage points reflects the strength of the telecoms industry said a Manpower spokesperson.

The new outlets are in Liverpool (St Johns Shopping Centre) Hanley (The Potteries). Hammersmith (The Broadway Centre) Southampton (Bar Street) and Maidenhead (High Street).

The company opened 40 stores last year alone. The Mobile Phone Store started trading in 1993.

1999 is set to be equally as eventful. Our expansion is set to continue into new regions said marketing manager Sarah Burns.

In an effort to find out which toad was supplying accessories to Asda we telephoned our Huddersfield branch. The conversation with customer services went something like this:

Me: Have you got a battery for a Philips phone and can you tell me the make as Ive been told that the Philips battery is the best?

Asda: It will be Cellnet who make them. You do know they are re-chargeable?

Me: Yes I do know they are rechargeable. I want a spare and I want Philips own battery.

Asda: Apparently we sell all sorts of accessories.

They could not find a manager and to satisfy my enquiry they took a battery off a Philips phone and proudly announced it said Philips on it.

Me: Yes it would wouldnt it. Thats what it says on my Philips phone battery.

Asda: Er … we can get the manager to ring you back.

I dont know about other dealers but we have no intention of competing against Asda. In our show room the U phone is 99.99 and we have a waiting list of customers happy to pay 99.99. The phones are snapped up as soon as they are delivered and accessories remain the same price as always.

As if it is not bad enough we get Asda/Tesco/Woolworths/Tandy/Comet etc customers in our show room asking how the phones and the voucher system works.

If I help these customers they will come back to me when they want a proper deal.

We can see Asda returning a lot of faulty equipment due to customer abuse. And of course the phones change so quickly stock soon becomes obsolete. We write our old stock off. Asda will want sale or return or a full credit.

Then of course the time will come when Asda decides it has had enough of mobile phones and accessories then … whoops … the best of British to you whoever you are.

If you are interested to know who the accessory supplier to Asda is we are actually visiting Asda to see for ourselves. They seem unable to provide simple answers to simple questions.

Colin and Gale Alexander

Talk 2 Us Communications

Elland

West Yorkshire

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The network has appointed the Turner & Townsend Group to project manage the roll-our programme and be responsible for administering the contract providing cost control and acting as planning supervisors.

We will be managing an administering the process of microcell installation throughout cities and other built-up areas to improve reception quality and network capacity said John Webb of Turner & Townsend.

Orange has also appointed European Information Technology services group CMP to help design and implement its new GSM network in Belgium.

Tim brings a wealth of proven experience in the marketing of consumer electronics products particularly in opening up new market opportunities. For Philips Consumer Communications a company still in its infancy Tim will be a superb asset said George McPherson managing director of Philips Consumer Communications.

At the same time PCC has appointed Belgian Guy Buyst as the new general manager for its Europe Middle East and Africa operations.

Buyst (44) was formerly executive vice president for Cabletron Systems a manufacturer of networking and management software.

He will he based at Philips Paris headquarters.

Orange customers in Africa can already use their dual-band phones in Ivory Coast Mauritius Morocco Senegal South Africa and Tanzania.

The Zimbabwe agreement brings to 80 the number of countries Orange users can use their (dual-band) handsets in.

We were under-represented on the High Street in Northern Ireland said Byrom Bramwell general manager of Vodafone (NI) a subsidiary of Vodafone Group.

Our 26 million investment programme over the last year has increased coverage in the province he added. Vodafone already has stores in Belfast.

Early indications hint that 1998 was yet another record breaking year for global GSM take-up and that GSM has overtaken analogue world-wide said the GSM Association.

Year end totals are expected to show 135 million customers – exceeding early industry predictions by as much as 15 million.

We believe that around 65 million customers signed up for GSM services in 1998 almost doubling the previous years total taking GSM to 45 percent of the world wireless market or 62 percent of the global digital market said Richard Midgett chairman of the GSM Association.

On the back of this we predict with confidence that the 1999 year end total could soar as high as 250 million.

The GSM Association represents 323 GSM and GSM/Satellite operators administrators and regulators from 129 countries .

GSM impact once again stretched far and wide in 1998. By the mid year point China became the largest single GSM market in the world maintaining its lead to reach more than the 18 million level by close of the year.

It is also important to note that by mid point last year the world GSM total overtook the total for all analogue customers for the first time ever. By end year we saw GSM outstripping analogue growth by one and a third said Midgett.

We also witnessed significant and widespread take up of a host of GSM value added services apart from voice usage in many markets he added.

Both organisations have completed the first phase of a trial. More trials will be carried out based around the W-DCMA system which NEC has been involved in developing with Japanese network operator NTT DoCoMo.

The W-DMA technology has been adopted by the European Telecoms Standards Institute (ETSI) as the air interface for UMTS.

JWEs founder John Weatherill remains executive chairman.

Farmer will be responsible for the strategic direction and operational management.

Farmer joined JWE just over three years ago. He was heavily involved in recent acquisitions by JWE such as the recent purchase of AA Mobile Communications (Mobile News January 11) and Midland Phones.

Meanwhile JWE has followed up its sponsorship of Hull Sharks Rugby League team (Mobile News January 11) with the decision to sponsor with Cellnet a new 1 million Performing Arts Centre planned for East Yorkshire.

The sponsorship will cost JWE 50000. The Centre will host concerts plays debates and conferences.

JWE is keen to help local students develop communication skills and is pleased to have linked up with Cellnet to provide sponsorship for this project said Farmer.