Dolphin had provided the TETRA radio services network in the UK since August 1999 and remained operational throughout the administration period. The UK operation which Inquam has acquired includes a 45000 customer base a number of offices including the headquarters in Basingstoke the network that covers 93 per cent of the UK population and over 1000 base stations.

Inquam senior vice-president of operations Tony Greaves who has previously worked at O2 and Airwave will lead the team at Dolphin as chief operating officer. He has little doubt that the company can be run as a profitable enterprise:

With the right strategy execution and funding Dolphin can be turned around. We have acquired the assets for less than 5p in the pound and we are not picking up the debts. As a result we dont have the expenditure that Dolphin had which makes it a lot easier for us to make a profit.

We will be sticking to the parts of the market that value TETRA-based services. This will be dispatchers taxi firms logistic companies local councils. Anywhere there are established groups that need push-to-talk services.

We have a much clearer and more focused vision for TETRA. We understand that our business is dealing with specialist business users. We are not going to be advertising on television like the previous directors did. Television is a great medium for reaching the consumer audience but that is not the audience we are targeting.

According to Greaves there is a potential TETRA market of 500000 users in the UK. Greaves says Dolphin wrongly believed it was about three million and built the operation accordingly. Dolphins break-even point was around one million users while Inquam is about 150000 thanks to the low acquisition cost.

Greaves says: The bottom line is that the assets have been bought at a great price. We believe if we run a focused operation we can make a profit.

Before administration the company had a staff of around 800 people. Under the receivers this number was reduced to 60. Greaves says that over the course of this year staffing levels will double.

We will be growing staffing numbers to about 120 over time. We will need more staff to improve the network quality to offer better customer care and better sales and marketing operations.

Dolphins French and German operations are still in administration and Greaves says that Inquam is in discussions with the administrators regarding the companies. But he adds that Inquam doesnt need the European networks and will only acquire them if they are attractive propositions.

Rebuild

We are looking to rebuild the distribution network on a more focused level to achieve sustainable results. We are focused on a well-defined market. At present we are looking for good dealers and distributors to sell into parts of the market where TETRA are strong.

We are a strong business-to-business product and the reaction of existing subscribers has shown that. We have had a number of customers saying thank god something has happened because this is a product that we rely upon.

Greaves is quick to point out that despite the growth of GSM there is still a sizeable market for TETRA.

GSM is a great service but it doesnt answer every problem. If you are a taxi firm and you want to be able to talk to a number of drivers you cant use GSM.

What is more we have 45000 customers who have stayed with the company despite the fact that it has been in administration for 10 months. There is absolutely no doubt that there is a market out there.

Dolphins asset base was miles too big. The operation needs to be focused. TETRA exists for a specialist niche market yet Dolphin was aiming for millions of subscribers.

It had to spend thousands of millions building the network. We bought the entire operation for 25 million. As a result we dont have to worry about making the same sort of profit in order to pay back that size of a loan.

Nick Edwards of Deloitte and Touche was one of the administrators. He says: The acquisition is a good deal as it means the business can be run as a going concern which is much better than if it were sold as part of a break-up. The deal has been seven months in the making.

According to Edwards the old debts remain with Dolphin and the 25 million will be paid down to the relevant creditors.

Nokias new offering is a direct challenge to Sony Ericcsons popular T68i model. The 6610 offers tri-band functionality with colour display Java technology and MMS. It is expected to start shipping in the autumn.

The 6610 is based on existing Nokia technology specially designed for small colour screens.

It offers over 4000 colours and is also able to receive multimedia messages with text image and sound content.

The handset also features polyphonic ringtones and integrated stereo FM radio. The polyphonic sounds can be used as personal ringtones and SMS alert tones. New sounds can be received over MMS downloaded from Club Nokia via WAP or via the internet with Nokia PC Suite.

It also comes with an integrated hands free speaker. Users can download Java applications polyphonic tones and pictures via WAP from Club Nokia.

The phone can also store pictures in a personal picture zone in Club Nokias Photo Zone and send pictures as multimedia messages.

The two Siemens products are targeted at the lower end of the market.

The C55 is a mass-market handset with an expected price comparative to the existing C35 while the A50 is aimed at first time buyers.

The C55 comes with polyphonic ring tones and allows consumers to record sounds and gives them access to Wireless Java(TM).

It also features EMS (Enhanced Messaging Services) extended SMS messages of up to 760 characters and Instant Messaging. It weighs 80 grams.

The A50 features extra-long SMS and EMS messages. It also allows users to insert images and sounds into text messages.

It comes with Siemens calling faces feature allowing a picture to be attached to each phone book entry. The A50 weighs 95 grammes and optional accessories include a MP3 player.

Sharp Telecommunications Europe managing director Stephen Bold said Sharp and O2 had agreed to delay the launch of Cyclops but that this was not down to technical reasons.

There were issues on how O2 will handle the transmission of pictures from one handset to another. But this has not been the reason for the delay. We have been delivering handsets to other operators globally. In Japan we have taken a 10 per cent market share with our J-Phone SH51 handset. NTT DoCoMo wants to sell our new SH51 camera phone.

We have also been fulfilling orders for handsets from US operator Verizon Wireless.

The GX-1 is based on a range of camera phones Sharp has launched in Japan since November 2000. The GX-1 is Sharps first GPRS handset resulting from the purchase of Kenwoods Bracknell-based GSM research and development centre (Mobile News May 30 2001). It features a 110k pixel built-in digital camera with a two-stage digital zoom and five exposure levels and storage for up to 80 pictures.

The dual-band handset has a 65536 LCD colour display 14 chord polyphonic ringtones WAP GPRS and multimedia messaging (MMS). It weighs 110 grammes. The launch of the handset will coincide with the mmO2s launch of MMS services across all its European networks.

Meanwhile O2 finally launched the XDA last week in O2 stores and selected retailers. XDA is a combined PDA/GPRS handset running on Microsofts Pocket PC 2002 operating system. Applications include email internet access instant messaging organiser music and video player and a large contacts directory. The Link says initial sales have been encouraging following unconfirmed reports that one branch of Dixons sold eight XDAs on the first day of sale.

A spokesperson told Mobile News:

I cant comment on individual store sales. Initial feedback suggests demand has been high. We are encouraged by the sales because it is a complicated and expensive product.

It has been brought to our attention that the article may have conveyed the impression to readers that Nasa Khan managing director of The Accessory People (TAP) instigated or was otherwise involved in the assault.

Mr Khan has vigorously denied any such involvement. While we stand by the factual accuracy of the article the implication of Mr Khans involvement was not intended.

This is a win-win situation for dealers and customers. The dealer will earn more ongoing commission from a contract customer than a pay-as-you-go customer. The customer keeps their phone number and qualify for perhaps a free upgrade as well as the benefits of contract said an Orange spokes person.

All Orange contract tariffs are included as well as those connected under the Orange value promise. No commission is paid if customers transfer from prepay keep their existing handsets.

Vodafone has had a similar arrangement whereby dealers who switch Vodafone customers from pre-pay to contract earn between 120- 180 depending on the tariff.

We have had such a system ever since we have had pay-as-you-go and contract. We see movement all the time from customers who are trying to find a system that works for them said Vodafone.

The CEO Interim Board comprises CEO-level representatives of Vodafone Orange T-Mobile NTT DoCoMo China Mobile SingTel Group Cingular Wireless TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) Telefonica Moviles Sonera and AT&T Wireless.

Rahamin says the IP address system is 30 years old. It was designed at a time when it was inconceivable that there would be the current demand for addresses.

There are four billion IP addresses in the world of which 70 per cent have been allocated to the United States. The US bias means that The University of Stanford has more IP addresses than the whole of China.

When someone logs into the internet they use an IP address. When they log-off someone else uses that address. When they log on again they take up another address Rahamin explained.

3G services mean people will always be connected to the internet. An IP address will be needed for every user. By 2005 there will be over a billion mobile internet users. These people will be always connected and are going to need the equivalent number of addresses. But there is no way that the current system can support the new number of users.

The solution says Rahamin is for networks to upgrade the hardware that operators use from the current IPv4 system to the newer IPv6 system. This will create enough addresses to solve the problem.

Hitachi is currently talking to Vodafone Orange and O2 about upgrading their hardware to handle the demand.

Every network provider we speak to is aware of the problem and have IPv6 initiatives. Some are setting up their own evaluation studies. Others are running field tests before the end of the year.

But Rahamin warns some operators arent doing enough.

The deadline is around 2005. It seems that the smaller the operator the less concerned they are. The big operators are taking the news very seriously. If the operator doesnt have an IPv6 system it will not be able to offer its services and will be at a massive disadvantage to its competitors.

Hitachi is a founding member of the IPv6 Forum.

Katie Bennet (30) admitted obtaining the vouchers at a WHSmith shop on Kings Cross station using a stolen credit card.

WHSmith shop staff became suspicious when she tried to buy 100 of vouchers because she had already purchased some earlier.

A report that the service is being delayed appeared in The Guardian (see Prime Cuts this page).

We have always maintained that we would launch in the second half of the year a H3G spokesperson told Mobile News.

All we have said is that we will launch in Q4. We never stated that we would launch in September.

The spokesman agreed sources within Hutchison 3Gs largest shareholder Hutchison Whampoa had mentioned September as a possible launch date but maintains that Hutchison 3G has never taken this position.

Meanwhile former One 2 One sales director John Barton officially took up his position as Hutchison 3G director of sales and distribution last week after an extended period of gardening leave following his departure from One 2 One in

January.

Barton who has held senior positions at Phones 4U Talkland and Cellnet will be responsible for developing Hutchison 3G sales channels with distributors dealers and H3Gs own flagship stores.

The used line starts at 5 for handsets including the Motorola Flare Graphite and Memphis and rises to include the Motorola V66 which Intec offers for 159 new 150 14-day and 125 quality used and the Nokia 8850 which is offered at 208 new 195 14-day and 170 quality used.

The range consists of handsets between three and 12 months old. The line runs alongside Intecs existing 14-day new phone range.

Charlo Carabott business development director says:

We had been exporting these sorts of phones for months. Then we noticed more dealers saying they needed cheaper handsets.

Dealers are finding more and more pre-pay customers whose handsets have started to fall apart. They bought their phones cheaply when handsets were heavily subsidised and they already have a Sim card. They dont want to pay 99 for a new handset. They dont want an expensive phone they are just looking for a handset that gets them connected.

Carabott says dealers also want cheap phones for replacement handsets during repairs.

He says the new line will not affect sales of existing 14-day stock:

Consumers who buy 14-day stock are generally new connectors. They want 14-day handsets for 20 cheaper and prefer to save the money. This customer isnt going to buy a quality used. It is a different market.

By introducing a used line we are allowing traders to satisfy a new market. The customer gets his cheap phone. The dealer makes the sale and we get a bit of money too.

Carabott also says that in many cases it would cost Intec more to return substandard 14-day phones than it does to sell them on as quality used. Demand is such that where Intec would have exported over 90 per cent of its quality used that figure is now down to 60 per cent.

All used handsets are checked by a qualified engineer.

The memory is cleared and reset to factory settings. The units come complete with battery charger and a three-month guarantee.

Meanwhile Intec has been appointed by Vodafone as a

Preferred Service Supplier to provide the networks retail aftersales programme with full handset repair and servicing support.

Intec has appointed a dedicated management team to handle all reporting procedures on Vodafone customer repairs in process.

Intec which repairs over 30000 handsets a month in its North

London service centre calculates that the Vodafone deal will mean a workload of at least an extra 6000 handsets a month.

Says Intec managing director Harry Ramis:

We impressed upon Vodafone not only our accreditation by all leading handset manufacturers but our ability to deliver a 24-hour turnaround on most repairs.

Intec says it will recruit at least another 150 engineers and support staff during the next few months.