Equifax which maintains a database of nearly five million mobile phone accounts has recorded a slight rise in on-time payments by users and drop in long-term arrears. It says 89.6 per cent of accounts are actually paid on time an improvement of 0.8 per cent over the first half of this year.

Perhaps the best news for the industry is the decrease in the number of accounts in long-term arrears ie debts over three months old which fell by one per cent to 5.7 per cent says Equifax.

Said Equifax sales director Noor Hussain:

The mobile phone industry remains very focused on customer acquisition. The latest sales figures indicate sales more than doubled in the the third quarter. Even in the midst of the fastest period of growth the industry has ever witnessed more attention is being paid to credit management. A fall in long-term arrears and a rise in on-time payment performance is remarkable during such an incredible period of customer acquisition.

However one in 10 consumers remain in arrears. As the prices charged for airtime continue to fall profit margins are likely to be tighter meaning greater attention will have to be paid to consumer credit management Hussain added.

The deal believed to be worth 100000 is the largest in the Hull Sharks 132-year history. The JWE logo will appear on the black-and-white team shirts.

JWE expects to get national TV coverage on satellite and terrestrial television for the 30-fixtures expected to attract thousands of potential mobile phone customers.

We are delighted at becoming the official club sponsor of a local team and look forward to building a happy and productive relationship.

This sponsorship will assist greatly in building increased awareness of JWE as we continue our expansion said JWE Telecoms chairman and joint managing director John Weatherill.

JWE has a habit of backing winners and I wish the team all the very best for the 1999.

The Super League teams roster includes Wigan Warriors London Broncos Bradford Bulls Sheffield Eagles Huddersfield Giants Leeds Rhinos St Helens Wakefield Trinity Warrington Wolves Halifax Blue Sox Gateshead Thunder Castelford Tigers and Salford Reds.

The Vodafone demo was run in tandem with Nokia and Ericsson who supplied servers and handset simulation software to access Reuters news and sport information sites.

This is a significant first for Vodafone. The Wireless Application Protocol will be one of the key enablers for delivering customised information to mobile phones. Vodafone intends to be at the leading edge of this new technology said Vodafone managing director David Channing-Williams.

Vodafone expects to launch the first WAP-driven commercial services over its network by the second half of the year.

Further information on WAP and how it works can be found at www.wapforum.org.

The company announced a pre-tax profit of 2.5 million on annual turnover of 11.85 million. This is an increase of 100 per cent on its previous year.

Genesis specialises in the business sector and claims to have 25000 subscribers mainly around the North West and Midlands.

It notches up about 2000 connections a month according to managing director Ian Blackhurst.

Ball will become a senior member of telcos management team. The appointment follows Telcos acquisition by global telecoms company RSL Communications.

Time Computers claims to be the UKs leading PC supplier.

We chose Time Computers because they share many of our brand values said PocketPhone Shop managing director Simon Jordan.

With the growing convergence between PC technology and telephony it is a natural alliance. Working together will enable The PocketPhone Shop to reach a larger customer base. There is tremendous potential for us to work together to offer our customers a wider range of packages and cross-deals.

JWE paid 127000 cash for assets and fixed stock and 200000 for motor vehicles.

The rest of the 1.4 million will be paid over the next three years based on an earn-out agreement depending on the profitability levels of the acquired contracts.

The City liked the deal and JWEs shares rose by nearly 70p on the back of the news.

The network is luring subscribers from Orange Cellnet and Vodafone with the promise of 100 off their second or subsequent bill following suffessful transfer of their number to One 2 One.

At the same time the network has cut the monthly service charge of its Precept 100 time plan from 29 to 25.

Our research shows that many mobile phone users are unhappy with their own network but have not always been unable to switch to another provider becuase they need to keep their number said One 2 One managing director Tim Samples.

We believe number portability is a real boost for mobile phone customers and the increasing number of small businesses who rely on mobile telephony as a main way of communicating.

According to Oftels quarterly digest of UK telecoms statistics the average cost of all calls on One 2 One was 11.2p compared to an industry average of 30.1p a minute.

This acqusition is part of our strategy to expand into areas which provide the greatest opportunity to obtain good quality business said Radiophone MD George Black.

There will be no redundancies and National Telecoms founder Robert Carrington will become Radiophones marketing and creative business manager.

Cable and Wireless Communications was formed from the merger of Bell Cablemedia Mercury Communications Nynex CableComms and Videotron.

We believe CWC can provide the transmission network build we require now and in the future said Vodafone acting operations director Dave Targett.