Mobile data reseller Crimson Tide has reported a 61 per cent boost to its turnover in the 14 months to December 31 to £1.10 million. Further growth through expansion and acquisitions is on the cards for 2007 it said last week.

Crimson Tide acquired Dublin-based Intelligent Data in December for £220000 and is set to launch its data solutions to the Irish market.
Crimson Tide was listed on the AIM index in August. It said last week it had 1000 data users from 70 customers on its books.

Executive chairman Barrie Whipp said: We aim to further expand the business through a combination of organic growth and acquisition.

O2s appointment of business specialists to its retail stores and service hotlines has irked independent dealers which claim they already struggle to compete with O2s direct sales.

We get on well with O2 but we wouldnt welcome a business specialist in their stores said Matt Chambers of Kent-based The Phone Chamber. It means independents have to become a one-stop solution for all communications not just mobile. It makes it a bit harder but Im sure well get around it.

Faisal Sheikh proprietor of London-based Fone Doctors added it was tough enough for independent dealers to compete with network shopfronts. This will only make it harder he said but we have to work around it and try to offer better value.

Meanwhile O2 has appointed Simon Devonshire as head of SME marketing. He was brand development manager in the B2B division of NTL:Telewest.
Devonshire said: SMEs do not have the time or resources to spend on the best solutions. Business specialists meet this need while saving time and money.

Watford-based Revive Mobile announced last week it had become the first UK mobile operation to be granted a waste management licence.

The Environment Agencys new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive which requires a company to recycle a proportion of goods that pass through its warehouses comes into effect on July 1.

Revive managing director Charlo Carabott said the company can accept any phone before recycling refurbishing or repackaging it.

Said Carabott: Some of our competitors tell a good green story promising to save the planet while donating the proceeds to charity. In truth they pay a flat rate for phones skim off the cream dump the rest and make a very nice living.

We pay according to the phones value to our business. If its worth something well give you top dollar; if its only fit for recycling well be happy to recycle it for you.

The problem of stolen phones being sold for recycling is largely ignored by the industry said Carabott. We dont want our sector to become a magnet for the criminal element. We check every handset and if its barred we reject it. We also try to reunite stolen phones with their owners working with the Metropolitan Police.

Carabott said it is uneconomical for handsets to be repaired in the UK so Revive sends devices overseas for refurbishment.

He said: The public is becoming more aware of the value attached to old phones meaning charity schemes will soon see that £20 handsets arent turning up in their boxes anymore.

Tesco Mobiles customer base increased to 1.4 million on the back of its Q4 results.

It has signed up 420000 pre-pay customers in the past 12 months making it the fastest growing mobile operator and the second biggest MVNO.

Tesco Mobile marketing director Chris Liveing said of the new Asda MVNO: If they follow us theyll be successful. But weve been around for three-and-a-half years and have gained a firm foothold in the market.

Hugh Symons Communications has launched a service to help dealers retain customers and increase their customer lifetime value.

It has set up a data specialist support team a customer retention team and a customer base management team to assist its dealer base.

This follows its appointment of dedicated account managers to work with dealers earlier this year.

The data specialist resource will support dealers on data services and products such as BlackBerry. The retention team will help dealers upgrading O2 customers and help tailor business deals. The customer base management team will enable additional bonuses for porting data connections and 24 and 36-month contracts.

Hugh Symons sales manager Carlos Pestana said: With the pressure on to get more value from customers especially in the B2B market we have already had a great response to the new terms plus weve seen our network churn figures reduce dramatically which will bring us benefits that we can pass on to dealers.

O2 has introduced a limited edition black version of its O2 ice handset.

The new O2 Ice Black slim candy bar handset is 3G and boasts an in-built MP3 player 1.3 megapixel camera with zoom and Bluetooth capabilities.
The O2 Ice Black also features 32MB of internal memory and a micro-SD card slot. It is available only at O2 UK retail stores for £59.99 on pre-pay.

Kent-based MoCo has signed a deal with Cheshire-based fixed line service provider Chess that will see it bring in millions in extra revenue this year.

MoCo is the first member of the new Chess Millionaire Club which Chess group sales director Chris Morrisey describes as a multi-million pound opportunity for its partners and their dealer bases.

Morrisey said: It is a multi-million pound opportunity for MoCo and its partners. We are giving them access to all Chess products services and commissions. A Millionaire Club member can earn £1 million in 12 months based on sales volumes and revenues. Were offering enhanced commission for selling Chess products.

The deal will see MoCo sell Chess fixed-line and broadband services via both its own direct sales arm and its dealer base. The MoCo brand will appear alongside the Chess brand on customer bills for direct sales although Chess will manage all billing procedures itself. Chess has extended the co-branding offer to MoCo dealers too.

MoCo sales and marketing director Harvey Alexander said: The industry has moved away from spinning customers and this is a way for dealers to upgrade customers on the same network and to make additional sales with extra upfront commission payments and monthly ongoing revenue. Plus its an easy sale.

Morrisey added: This deal is a massive opportunity for us to build our dealer base in the South. Lots of mobile dealers are missing a trick by not selling fixed-line it brings stability to their commission payments and a recurring revenue.

As part of the deal MoCo will have a dedicated Chess account manager that will join its sales team in customer meetings.

MoCo is expanding its dealer help desk and increasing its number of account managers from six to 12 in the next three months.

Chess founded in 1993 is a wholesale service provider for BT and resells all the tier-one UK fixed-line carriers. It has its own broadband and data networks and is rolling out VoIP sales.

Its turnover has increased from £3.5 million in 2004 to £17.8 million last year. It expects to turn over £25 million this year.

Chess said it could strike similar deals in the mobile sector but described MoCo as its strategic partner in the South.

European Telecom chairman Nico Dervisaj met with 3 last week to resolve a £2 million clawback on contract connections.

Dervisaj told Mobile News ahead of the meeting on Tuesday (April 3) with 3 sales director Marc Allera that European Telecom had been landed with a multi-network clawback for £2 million which involved connections dating back to 2005.

3 said it had clawed back commission payments from European Telecom but that it was nothing out of the ordinary.

A 3 spokesman said: It is business as usual. European Telecom is a partner of ours and we continue to work with it.

Following the meeting with 3 Dervisaj told Mobile News that everything had been resolved.

He said: It was a misunderstanding. I have met with Marc and everything was very comprehensive. It has been resolved.

Meanwhile European Telecom parent company Emblaze last week reported operating losses of $45 million (£22.8 million) for the year to December.

It put the loss down to provisions and reserves taken in consideration of more than £8 million in VAT refunds withheld by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Chief executive officer of Emblaze Guy Bernstein said: We are not happy about the HMRC issues but it is truly an industry matter that is beyond our control.

ET has unveiled its direct sales arm ET Business solutions.

Motorola UK director of sales and distribution Dan Cuffley left the business suddenly last Friday (March 30).

Cuffley who has been with Motorola for more than a decade had meetings with channel customers lined up Mobile News understands.

Motorola confirmed his exit. Cuffley was unavailable for comment.

Its a surprise. Ive known Dan for a number of years. He is one of the industrys good guys and he had meetings lined up said a source.

Cuffleys exit follows six departures from Motorolas marketing department. Motorola is committed to cutting five per cent of its 70000-strong global workforce. It also comes on the heels of its appointment of Jim Michell described as a shrewd operator by rivals as general manager in March.

Its Q4 profits fell by half and its margin fell by £53 million.

Gwent-based dealership Get Connected is to open four new stores in the next fortnight following an invitation to acquire outlets by Storm Communications and Zone Cellular.

The deals take the number of stores in the chain to 37. Get Connected managing director Damian Cole is aiming for 40 outlets by the summer and 50 by the end of the year.

The three Storm stores are in Welshpool Newtown and Wellington in Shropshire. Zone Cellular is in Cardiff.

Cole said: Well speak to anyone that would like to sell their business regardless of how many stores they have or the location.

Storm managing director Alan Thorpe-Downey will continue the Storm brand as a B2B dealership. Zone Cellular chief Shaun Shah will continue to run a Nokia service centre in the city.