Pay & Go Talkalot charges are as low as 2p per minute after the first 3 minutes. BTCellnet claims the new tariffs continue to represent the best pre-pay rates in the market. All pre-pay customers will have the choice of switching between the two different tariffs once every 30 days to ensure they are on whichever tariff best suits their calling pattern at any particular time. Existing pre-pay customers are being informed of the change in tariff to give them a chance to choose the new tariff.

Former managing director of Securicor Telecom and Samsung Telecoms Nigel Russell has joined business communications specialist Eurotel

Systems as a main board director.

Additional Vodafone countries will progressively roll out the payment platform allowing Vodafone users to make purchases with their mobile devices across most of Europe using credit cards debit cards or electronic direct debit for larger purchases.

Vodafone customers will be identified by their mobile device in every purchase and confirm and authorise each purchase via a PIN code.

These are two of six novel strategies that the Design Council says the mobile industry should be exploring to crack down on crime.

The other strategies include dedicated phone chargers that only work with a specific phone low-cost mobiles that arent worth stealing handsets that only work in proximity to a trigger chip and more effective communication of existing security measures.

Clive Grinyer director of design and innovation at the Design

Council said:

Manufacturers and service providers spend a lot on advertising and brand communication. But they have damaged their image by being seen to have done too little too late to combat phone theft which has suddenly become a front-page issue.

Clever and innovative design can be used effectively to combat crime but security needs to be built into products and services from the start.

The mobile phone industry needs to learn the lesson of the car makers. Car crime has fallen sharply in recent years as manufacturers have built higher levels of security into their products. The industry and consumers have both reaped the benefits.

In order to stay one step ahead of the criminals manufacturers and service providers have to think more creatively using design to anticipate and neutralise criminal opportunity. If they dont do so the problem of mobile phone theft is set to get worse said Grinyer.

See Comment P14.

Developed by Berkshire-based card supplier Bluefish Technologies and SIM-based software developer VIP Mobile the application will let subscribers create their own sites directories and links.

According to Bluefish subscribers offered the service will be able to post content to a service as well as select from a list of favourites using a normal GSM phone.

While text messaging is the major success of GSM technology and in some regions accounts for 45 per cent of revenues operators and subscribers have cast envious eyes at content services like i-mode in Japan says Bluefish business development director Mark Castle.

With Mobile WriteUp GSM operators can provide a Web experience with content through a simple change of SIM card Castle explained.

The official name for their activity is Device Management.

This is the engineering term for technology that enables service providers and networks to pre-configure phones and mobile devices and install or upgrade software.

The idea is that customers will get a pay and play experience without having to deal with customer support.

Todays wireless devices and network services extend beyond voice communications to a vast array of mobile data solutions.

To promote widespread adoption of these solutions Motorola has been committed to developing and commercially deploying platforms supporting industry standards such as SyncML for mobile data management said Ralph Pini chief technical officer of Motorolas personal communications sector.

Motorola is developing SyncML-based handsets and wireless solutions that will incorporate Device Management capabilities.

During their trials the companies will demonstrate these new capabilities on a prototype Motorola mobile phone.

At the time of going to press no decision had been made. Robson Rhodes partner Simon Bowers said:

We are still in negotiations with interested parties who are going thought the due diligence process to ensure they can take the business forward .

Orange says it is now the leading network in the UK with 12.4 million active UK customers. But Vodafone claims it has 13.1 million registered customers and that 2.1 million of its own 8.2 million prepaid customers were inactive by not using their phone in the last three months.

This reduces Vodafone active customers to 11 million giving the Newbury network 1.4 million less customers than Orange.

Latest Q4 figures show Vodafone has 6.2 million active prepay users compared with 4.8 million contract holders Orange has 3.7 million contract customers and 8.6 million prepay customers Orange says it would have 656000 more customers it if counted them the way other operators did.

Vodafone agreed it would be ideal if all networks reported their numbers equally but that it might not be practical. If these mystery customers were included Oranges would have more two million more customers than Vodafone. Orange excludes anyone not making at least one outgoing call or receive four incoming calls every three months.

Average revenue per user from Orange contract customers is 550 per year each compared to 121 from prepay customers. Vodafones contract ARPU is 530 per year compared to annual prepay ARPU 132.

Thus Vodafones prepay users generate a quarter of its revenues. Oranges prepay customers make up nearly 70 per cent they only generate a third of its revenues.

Under new guidelines from the Lord Chief Justice regarding harsher sentences for mobile phone muggers made in London last week the accused boy could face a custodial sentence.