Based in Briggate Street the new store is said to be the largest mobile phone store in the North of England and follows the design of the companys Oxford Street London store.

It showcases the latest mobile technologies allowing customers to see live product demonstrations as well as a wide range of mobile products and service.

We are tremendously excited about the opening of our new format experience store in Leeds said chief executive Charles Dunstone.

Oxford Street has been a huge success and I am convinced that the premier location and the proven success of the new format will mean we enjoy similar growth and success in Leeds. I look forward to the new year when this concept will roll out across a number of other locations in the UK and many of our European markets.

The new store has a staff of 20 including the store manager 17 sales consultants and three specialist engineers working in the stores repair centre.

As with the Oxford Street store there are demonstration areas a discount zone a Nokia concession store and a repair centre as well as pre-pay voucher vending machines and express tills.

In another move The Carphone Warehouse also officially re-opened its store in Ealing which was demolished by an IRA bomb in August last year. The store had been shut for restoration since the explosion due to extensive structural damage.

The stores five employees were seconded to other stores and have now returned to a refurbished shop with more floor space and offices.

The directory enquiry market this week was opened up to competition. Last year more than 700 million calls (worth 400 million) were placed with BTs 192 service with only 110 million coming from mobile phones.

The deregulation of the service means fixed and mobile consumers can now choose to use any service offered by the networks as well as that of BT.

Orange claimed it would offer a quicker service with all calls answered within seven seconds. Orange UK commercial director David Taylor said BT answered 80 per cent of 192 calls within 20 seconds.

Oranges service also promises a live operator carrying out the entire call rather than passing a call to a computerised number reader.

At first we will be offering a simple service that concentrates on an efficient service he said. We believe people want to speak with an operator all the time and our service will provide this.

Orange is offering a very compelling service and we will be spending the next year educating people and advertising this fact.

We were first to offer text numbers to mobile phones as well as connecting callers to the numbers they were looking for. Other networks might have followed suit but we are constantly looking at ways of improving the service. With existing Orange offerings such as Wheres My Nearest we believe we offer a sophisticated service.

Banning the use of hand-held mobiles by car drivers will be seen by the public as an attempt to restrict their lifestyle and just wont work said Jane Stanley managing director of handsfree installation company The Chameleon Group.

The Government should have recognised the need for an education campaign a long time ago she added.

It should know by now that the words ban and legislation have negative associations.

According to Stanley the emphasis should be on showing people that safer handsfree communication kits wired into cars not only save lives but allow people to multi-task and to make the most of the benefits mobile technology brings.

Stanley cites psychologist David Lewis to support her argument. According to Lewis:

To convince the public to adopt safer attitudes to driving the Government should have highlighted the visible lifestyle benefits that it brings. Without this incentive the ban will take years to implement and lives will be lost.

He added: We live in a high pressure society. The benefits of using a mobile phone outweigh the likelihood of being caught and facing a fine. Few of us know anybody who has been injured through a driving accident from mobile phone use.

Until people are certain that one course of action is better than another they will continue doing what they have always done.

Recent accounts show Kondors turnover dropped to 9.7 million in 2001 from 11.1 million the year before. Pre-tax profits fell from 4 million to 2.5 million. The overall trading loss of 8.2 million was caused by a 7.4 million reduction in the value of the companys goodwill which was valued at 27 million in May 2000 when 25 per cent of Kondor shares were sold to London investment firm Friends Ivory & Sime for 7 million.

Kondors finance director Andrew Wood said this was a standard accounting practice and did not accurately reflect the companys profitability.

When Kondor refinanced two-and-a-half years ago the company was valued at 28 million based on a seven-fold multiple of its 4m profits plus 1m in assets. The value of 27 million was added as goodwill to the companys balance sheet.

He added: The goodwill is normally written down over 20 years. We have been reducing the value by 1.4 million per year. That causes overall trading figures to look lower than they actually are.

Wood claims reduced turnover and profits in 2001 were caused by margin pressure and turning away unprofitable business. So a further 7.4 million had to be wiped off the goodwill value on top of the annual 1.4 million write-down.

The total write down of almost 9 million is a non-cash figure that caused an overall trading loss. However our trading performance was good. We made profits of 2.5 million before tax and interest equating to around 600000 in net profit.

Kondor chief executive Malcolm Benson says 2002s figures will show a recovery in turnover and profits.

We have had a record quarter. This month we invoiced the largest amount in the companys trading history. This years figures will see a recovery in turnover and profits with an improved performance next year he claimed.

This said the Mobile Data Association took the daily average to 50 million compared with 38 million in October last year and 21 million in October 2000.

Octobers figure took the UK text messaging annual total to more than 13 billion against a 12-month MDA forecast of 16 billion for 2002.

The UK mobile communications trade body has launched the Radio Quality Council Silver Award Scheme. This programme certifies mobile dealers and installers who can demonstrate adherence to the industry vehicle installation Code of Practice MPT 1362.

The scheme is a reaction to recent Radiocommunications Agency concerns said an FCS spokesman.

A number of unscrupulous dealers and installers take short cuts and install mobile communications equipment in a temporary and unsafe fashion often leading to unpredictable consequences in the event of an accident.

Membership of the new Silver Award Scheme is open to all mobile communications vehicle installation companies and dealers.

The first recipients of the its Certificate are Stewart Gent of The Chameleon Group and Mike Rawlings of London Communications.

The Silver Award Scheme is being operated on behalf of the Radio Quality Council and continues the FCS tradition of helping the mobile communications industry through self-regulation said FCS chief executive Jacqui Brookes.

It will also boost consumer confidence at a time when the Government is seeking to outlaw the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving; though it should be noted not when using correctly installed hands-free communications systems.

The service will send a text message to subscribers every morning before the first prayer with all the prayer times for that day and a quotation from the Koran.

The service has been set up by MS Wireless Marketing together with the Islamic Cultural Centre (Central Mosque of UK) and number of UK-based Islamic charities.

Messages cost 25p each. Profits will be donated to Islamic charities in the UK – a first in the world.

With more than two million Muslims in the UK this is an excellent service for those who wish to receive valuable Islamic information – and donate to good causes at the same time said Saadi Hussain of MS Wireless Marketing.

The acquisition will make Centurion the worlds leading engineering designer and manufacturer of antennas for the wireless communications industry.

We wish all our readers and advertisers a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Blue-I the company formed by Jay Pau went into voluntary liquidation on September 30 18 months after Blue-Is former parent company Paragon (ex-Fonerange) also started by Jay and Vimal Pau went into liquidation.

Blue-I managed to continue trading after Paragons creditors agreed to release its shares in return for deferred goodwill payments totalling 300000.

Blue-I purchased licenses to produce Warner Bros and Coca Cola branded fascias and accessories for mobile phones.

But it was hit by growing competition and lack of demand for handsets with changeable fascias. The liquidator says that these were the primary reasons for the Blue-Is demise leaving it with a debt of over 650000.

More than 350000 is being claimed by Warner Brothers.

There is little chance of creditors getting any payments. The Inland Revenue & VAT have put in claims to 55000 leaving 66200 for the remaining creditors.