With 45 million handsets in circulation in the UK and most users upgrading every 18 months it is estimated that around 15 million handsets are discarded each year. This is the equivalent of 15000 tonnes of potentially dangerous waste.

But while Fonebak is the first scheme in the UK to have the backing of all the networks four major retail outlets and the Government there was no apparent support from manufacturers.

Fonebak seeks to provide an environmentally friendly way to re-use and recycle old phones rechargers and accessories.

As part of the scheme special recycling bins will be fitted in over 16000 network and Dixon Group stores across the country and trade-in deals and charity donations will encourage customers to bring in their old phones. A freepost service will also be on offer.

The scheme was created by recycling company Shield Environment which has 20 years experience in recycling and has worked with all the networks on separate recycling schemes.

Fonebak differs from previous mobile recycling schemes such as Take Back and the ECTEC by placing a much higher emphasis on the re-use of handsets and component parts.

Functional handsets will be sold by Shield to emerging markets in Africa Asia and Eastern Europe.

Shield managing director Gordon Shield says the majority of phones that people hand in are less than two years old but have another five years of service in them.

The scheme is also the first to comply with current and future legislation and pre-empts the EUs WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive.

This sets the guidelines for the recycling of potentially harmful electronic waste and comes into play in 2004.

Said Minister for the Environment Michael Meacher at the launch:

This scheme covers every aspect of recycling that the government wants businesses to be active in. Governments are too slow at creating laws. This scheme is about businesses taking the initiative and about protecting the environment. This sort of activity is what we would like to see in other industries.

In a 12-month trial over one million phones were handed in. Shield is confident that in its first year the scheme will attract three million handsets.

As part of the recycling process material from certain batteries will be made into saucepans irons and new batteries while mixed plastics will be sent to Sweden for incineration (the energy is used to heat a local village). Other plastics are recycled as traffic cones and buckets.

Very rarely do people throw phones out said Vodafone group director of corporate responsibility Charlotte Grazo.

They are usually kept in the bottom of drawers. This scheme allows the customers to feel like they are doing something for the environment. We were involved with Take Back in the past and have our own scheme with recycling bins in our head office.

O2 UK environment manager Helen Wright said:

The thing that we are most happy about is the fact that re-use is so prominent in this scheme. It is by far the most environmentally friendly way of doing things.

O2 chairman David Varneyadded:

Its a win-win situation. Customers win because they are doing something good for the community and at the same time many companies are offering incentives for returning their phones and accessories. We win because we are complying with environmental legislation in advance of it becoming law. And the environment benefits too (see White Lines).

The news is a further setback for the joint venture which initially promised a third quarter 2002 release for the device that integrates phone digital camera PDA and MP3 player.

Following an announcement that it wouldnt be able to make the original launch date SonyEricsson said it was looking at the fourth quarter to be on shelves in time for the Christmas market.

Sony Ericsson marketing director UK & Ireland Peter Marsden said:

It is true we are not going to see the P800 in the channels before Christmas. We had hoped to have some operator samples out in December but that isnt going to happen. We are now looking at it coming out a few weeks later than we had forecast. It would have been nice to get it out before Christmas and it is a little disappointing. But the most important thing is ensuring that everything works.

It is a complicated product that requires a complex integration. It is working on a new operating platform and now it is a matter of making sure everything works. The P800 is so different to anything that is out there that we think it will be able to stand on its own for six to nine months.

The P800 will be available to other markets in Europe before Christmas. More stringent demands from UK operators meant this date was impossible in the UK.

They have to evaluate any bugs that are particular to the networks. The UK networks are some of the most demanding in the world. it means the product will be that much more reliable when it hits the shelves said Marsden.

But T-Mobile says it is the dealers fault for not accurately forecasting their stock requirements.

Dealers had been advised by the network to order extra stock in case of any problems. But many still found themselves short and unable to replace products.

We have a chronic shortage with T-Mobile stock. We have been told it could be as long as another 10 days before things are sorted out. The shortage affects us greatly said Phil Rider managing director of East Anglia-dealership The Digital Phone Company.

One of my staff told me that if she didnt have any handsets she would lose four customers. Thats just a microcosm of what is happening.

Its one of the reasons we have stayed away from T-Mobile. We tried to do a promotion with them back in July and they couldnt provide us with the handsets we were supposed to be promoting. T-Mobile should not be in the business of supplying handsets. They should leave it to the experts. They should stick to running a network said Rider.

The sooner T-Mobile gets out of distribution the better for all concerned. Its not necessary and not helpful. They are trying very hard to promote loyalty amongst the dealer community and then they go and shoot themselves in the foot.

If a customer comes into the store and wants a handset that offers picture messaging on T-Mobile and there is no stock then a lot of dealers are going to churn that customer to Orange rather than lose him. And the shortages are across the board. It isnt as if we are talking about rare handsets.

Its things like Samsung A300 and T-100. We have them in with all other networks. And we have relatively small needs. Its not as if we are asking for 10000 handsets said Rider.

Steve Bellamy of Fleet Communications said: Weve had shortages since October 1 but thankfully theyve been sorted out now.

A distributor who didnt want to be named said:

We have been having problems with T-Mobile stock but we have been assured that they will be sorted out today.

T-Mobile head of external communications Patrick Barrow blamed the dealers saying:

T-Mobile has no problem with stock. Dealers are asked to predict the amount of stock they will need and they receive stock accordingly. If a dealer incorrectly forecasts the amount of stock they require then we are not going to be able to get stock to them overnight.

We carry a certain amount of extra stock. But we are an efficient business and no tight and efficient business carries a massive amount of surplus stock. We have to examine where the problem lies. It is incumbent on the dealers to meet their own requirements. We do have a new accounting system. But that was installed a while ago now and the new system is more controlled than before. Part of the reason behind the new system is to ensure stock shortages dont happen said Barrow.

Joel Manuel Fonseca Dos Santos told the court he found three credit cards in a park in Reading and travelled to London where he bought a 169 phone from Vodafone on Oxford St and 28 of clothing from Nike Town.

He was arrested when the cards he used to buy the clothes with were rejected. Dos Santos had been due to appear at Reading Magistrates Court on September 16 on a shoplifting charge.

In another case a 30-year-old Romanian woman was banned from most of Central London after being accused of snatching a mobile phone from a woman in Paddington. Auricia Mihai pleaded not guilty and was remanded on bail.

E2Work which is aimed at corporates is produced by Gloucestershire company Excelerate technology which is headed by ex-Federation of Communications Services SP Group chairman David Savage.

Using E2Work a mobile worker can upload corporate documentation into a lap-top using a GPRS connection.

E2Work is a mobile data development of Excelerates main product Docutrack which stores digitised documents on a companys server for secure extraction by authorised users on the local area network.

E2Work has been in development for three years. Excelerate will also become a dealer for Fone Logisitics connecting phones to corporates who need a GPRS connection for E2Work. One E2Work system can distribute information to 100 mobile workers.

E2Works potential for networks increasing data revenues is absolutely immense. All the network operators have targets to increase their data revenue streams over the next five years said Savage.

That is not going to happen in the corporate world unless we give corporates remote access to data they need and which helps them runs their business. E2Work unlocks that information for them.

Details of the concept stores are being kept under wraps until the first store is opened in Central London in November.

Orange head of retail Nick Moore says Orange is currently expanding its store portfolio with a new store opening every three days.

We are in the midst of a major expansion program. We have been working on a new concept that we want to release that on a handful of stores before Christmas. We have identified several locations that are suitable for the new concept out of 40 stores we plan to open before Christmas.

We are looking for sites within the countrys top 250 shopping locations minimum shopping populations of 50000 and what he describes as high abc1 shopping population.

The target is to cover 95 per cent of the ABC1 shopping population. To do that we need 275 to 280 stores. Hopefully we will be close to that by the end of this year.

Orange will relocate stores that are no longer in prime positions compared to when they were opened some years ago.

The network hopes the concept stores should be in busy enough locations to require more staff than an average store.

Oranges concept store design is expected to be rolled out to some of the operators other stores next year. Orange will refurbish stores that wont receive the concept treatment.

Moore says the new concept is reflecting changes in the industry.

Mobile retailing has to change. We saw Vodafone and The Carphone Warehouses new concept stores. People have realised that mobile phone retailing is no longer a box shifting exercise. The store format needs to changed to build relationships with customers.

We are bringing the theatre back into retail aiming to make stores a place that customers want to come back.

Unlike The Carphone Warehouse and Tomo Moore is not concerned with increasing store size but he agrees demonstration areas will be included.

The average size of our stores is 800 square feet. We are not looking to increase that. We want the space in stores to work harder for the customer. More space costs more money. The phone is a sexy bit of kit that drives customers in store. Our job is to demonstrate how to get the best out of it. You can only do that by demonstrating products in-store.

Moore says Orange Retail will become the best place for consumers to purchase Orange.

Customers have a choice to buy from Orange retail or buy Orange products elsewhere. There is a place for people like The Carphone Warehouse because people always want a choice.

They will always want advice from respected retailer. If you want to be on Orange we do it best. We offer the best service and the best advice on orange. Youll go in to the store and learn more about Orange than anywhere else.

Customers can go in and queue up at The Carphone Warehouse. Our in-store approach will appeal to a different kind of person concluded Moore.

We have been told by our supplier that there might be shortages and these are most likely to be in November said Unique Distribution director Angus Dawe.

There has been a rumour regarding shortages for some time now. I have heard its to do with component shortages.

Dawe is sanguine however. I dont think its going to be as desperate as people have been saying. We have normal stocks and havent been collecting speculative amounts. We are just going to take it as it comes. Everyone on the high street is expecting deliveries. For the moment we are still getting deliveries so it isnt a problem just yet.

At the time of going to press a Nokia spokesman was unavailable for comment.

They join Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U on the roster of 3 stockists

Hugh Symons and Avenir Telecom will themselves introduce customers to 3s services and will also select dealers and third parties to act as approved stockists for the network package and to stock equipment distributed by Hugh Symons and Avenir Telecom.

As dealers approved by 3 Avenir Telecom and Hugh Symons will be responsible for training supply chain management and logistical support.

John Barton sales director at 3 said: As we scale up our operations ahead of the roll-out of commercial services were very focused on ensuring that independent stockists are able to play a part in bringing the excitement of 3 to mass-market consumers. Hugh Symons and Avenir are both perfectly positioned to help us achieve that aim.

Geoff Walters managing director of Avenir Telecom UK said:

Avenir is delighted to be one of the two distributors chosen by 3. This is another part of our long-term strategy to support independent dealers and maximise their business opportunities in this exciting phase of the market.

Hugh Symons Communications business manager Bob Sweetlove added:

The success of 3G technology is a fundamental part of our long-term strategy. In choosing us 3 is endorsing our strategic aim of providing complete choice and support to the channel. We welcome enquiries from both existing and new resellers who are interested in driving 3s sales.

Meanwhile 3 has opened its first Italian store in Milan. The network will eventually have 1200 retail stores all over Italy.

(see analysis P16)

There was a 26 per cent growth on profit before tax to 12m a 10 per cent growth in like-for-like retail revenue and nearly five per cent in growth of lik- for-like gross profit.

There was also a 25 per cent growth in connections and a four per cent growth in subscription connections. Recurring revenue which accounts for 48 per cent of group contribution was also up by 20 per cent.

The company has set up a link to the networks blacklisting database so any phones stolen from their stores before will be blacklisted immediately.

Mobile phone crime will now start to decline as stolen handsets are rendered useless.

Today represents a breakthrough in the work of the Government police and mobile phone industry in the crack down on mobile phone theft said Carphone Warehouse chairman Charles Dunstone.

Eurocall Platinum follows Eurocall Vodafones single-rate European price plan which was launched in January 2001.

Under the new scheme customers pay k10 a month for a maximum flat roaming rate of 65 cents a minute.

The rate applies to Vodafone partner network customers who originate calls when roaming to any country within Western Europe.

The existing basic Eurocall tariff rate is currently charged at a maximum of 80 cents when the participating Vodafone partner network is used.

Vodafone customers in Germany Greece Ireland Italy Netherlands Portugal Spain and Sweden will today be able to register for Eurocall Platinum. The service will extend to SFR in France from tomorrow (October 15) and to Vodafone UK customers by next month.

The Eurocall Platinum option comes with a free upgrade to an assisted roaming SIM that automatically seeks to connect customers to the local Vodafone partner network.

The Eurocall Platinum price like Eurocall will be single rate and have no peak and off-peak periods.