Vodafone has signed a licence deal with service provider Timico to offer converged services to business customers across the Vodafone network.

Timico has added Vodafone to its existing O2 offering. Timico is an independent provider of converged communication services to the business market offering fixed Internet VoIP and mobile communication services to SME businesses. Timico offers customers one bill one point of contact flexibility in tariff choices and claims to provide high levels of personal service.

Chief executive Chris Tombs joined Timico in August after he resigned as Vodafones enterprise customer management director. Tombs was one of many high-level executives rumored to have left Vodafone as a result of management differences with director of enterprise business unit Kyle Whitehall.

Tombs said: The agreement with Vodafone provides us with a host of high quality business mobile services that we can integrate with our existing services portfolio. I look forward to providing our customers with the chance to choose all their communications services from one source as our integrated offering adds simplicity to the power of converged services.

UK B2B comms reseller Alternative Networks has announced its strategy of culling smaller customers has resulted in improved Q2 trading figures.

The focus on larger customers has resulted in a net increase in the number of customers spending over GBP1000 a month with a number of large contracts signed. It has also followed a successful cross-selling strategy.

The absorption of acquisition ICB has resulted in the final assimilation of telesales sales and client management functions and the closure of offices in Bracknell and Bristol.

The financial results show ARPU staying constant at around 63. The group claims it will hit its target of 40000 connections for the year end up from 37589 at March 2006.

Churn is up but the comapnz claims this is as a result of the reduction of ICBs zero usage customers.

Fixed line margins rose slightly in July and August while margins for advanced solutions sales were also up in the same period.

Alternative Networks CEO James Murray said: Trading over the past few months has been solid and we are on track to meet the boards expectations for the full year.

The Mobcharger is a credit card-sized battery that is available for the four biggest makes of handset – Nokia Samsung Sony Ericsson and Motorola. A mini USB is also available which is compatible with all new mini-USB connectors such as the Motorola RAZR.

The Mobcharger is available throughout the UK from branches of ASDA WHSmith Travel Stores and One Stop shops.

The unit fits into your handset like your existing charger and is designed to give you power when you are on the move or not near a mains power source. Mobcharger provides up to 90 minutes instant talk time or 480 minutes standby and when empty can be thrown in the bin with your household rubbish.

Instant batteries are also currently in development by Mobcharger for Blackberries and the PlayStation Portable market.

The Mobcharger can also be used a marketing tool – customising the unit with your own logo and contact details is free for orders over 5000 units.

According to company sources handsets include a pale blue version of the Motorola L6 SLVR a 3.5G version of the Motorola RAZR and a purple version of the Sony Ericsson W710 flip-phone for health nuts. Following on from the Siemens Poppy the retailer has secured an exclusivity deal for the florally decorated EF61. It also has exclusive UK rights on a silver version of the Samsung X820 a handset claimed to be the thinnest in the world at just 6.9mm from front to back although boasting 80MB of memory. A Carphone spokeswoman could only confirm that exclusivity deals on the blue L6 the W710 and the X820 have so far been finalised and further announcements about other deals will be made in the next couple of weeks.

Vodafone instructed northeast distributor Fone Logistics last week that its Vodafone distribution contract will terminate on February 1. The move comes as part of a wider review of all its distribution relationships.

Fone Logistics said in a statement: Fone Logistics can today confirm that it has received notification from Vodafone that it wishes to terminate the joint trading agreement.
Fone Logistics is currently in dialogue with Vodafone regarding the implications for the respective businesses.

Vodafone was expected last week to hand down the same 90-day notice to Kent distributor Moco whilst retaining its direct dealer status. But Moco managing director Ian Robinson who has a meeting scheduled with Vodafone head of indirect sales Rob Sandford this week told Mobile News that he has received reassurances from Vodafone that it will review its distribution contract and not terminate it.

Vodafone is also in the process of renegotiating the terms of Hugh Symonss distribution contract which sources claim Hugh Symons has come perilously close to losing on two occasions.

For a more detailed version of this story check out the next issue of Mobile News due out November 6

Avenir saw its turnover in the UK for 2005/6 increase five per cent on last year to 135.2 million euros (GBP91.8 million). Avenir Telecom Group?s UK distribution business represents 18 per cent of the company?s total turnover.

Group sales for the year came to 746.1 million euros a like-for-like increase of 21 per cent.

The increase was largely down to the strength of its retail operation overseas which recorded a sales jump of 40 per cent to ?253.5 million euros and comprised 34 per cent of its overall sales. Wholesale distribution was up seven per cent to ?492.6 million euros.

Operating income for the group rose 48 per cent to ?19 million euros. Retail contributed ?6.7 million euros compared to 400000 euros last year and wholesale contributed ?12.3 million euros.

Avenir Telecom Group chairman Jean-Daniel Beurnier said: Our results for the year are remarkable easily exceeding our objectives for 2005-2006. We will continue our development strategy with a view to strengthening our leadership in Europe and to increasing our critical mass in retail distribution.

A T-Mobile spokesperson said: T-Mobile absolutely rebuts all claims made by the CWU that employees have been refused their statutory rights for accompaniment through formal procedures.

Last week the CWU claimed that T-Mobile managers were deliberately misinforming staff of their union rights in order to discourage them from seeking union representation. It said that T-Mobile had a track record of union-busting having used US employment consultancy the Burke Group to discourage union activity in 2003.

CWU organiser Peter Morris said: T-Mobile is up to its old tricks again by actively discouraging its staff to seek union assistance. In recent weeks we have received reports that a number of team managers have been wrongly suggesting that members cannot have a union representative of their choice to accompany them to grievance or disciplinary meetings. The legal right of union representation is not dependent on whether the union is recognised or not.

T-Mobile said that it had 75 democratically elected staff representatives trained in employment disputes by conciliation service Acas and that it operates a Union Companion Scheme in with trade union Connect that gives training and support to staff and staff representatives.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined The Carphone Warehouse GBP245000. The judgement follows a probe by the body into telephone sales of general insurance.

The investigation found that between January 14 and October 24 2005 The Carphone Warehouse failed to send a Statement of Demands and Needs (SDN) in written form to 118000 customers who had bought mobile phone insurance through its telesales channel. Of these 56000 also did not receive a summary setting out the policys main features.

The Carphone Warehouse Ltd failed its telephone sales consumers by not giving them all the information necessary for them properly to understand the insurance product they had bought said FSA director of retail firms Sarah Wilson.

The FSA claims Carphone Warehouse became aware of the non-compliance issue in March 2005 but continued to sell the insurance until October when the FSA stepped in.

In a statement however Carphone Warehouse rejected much of the FSAs argument.

We find the FSA fine surprising and disproportionate it said. We believe that customers have suffered no disbenefit. The fine is the result of our volunteering to be regulated by the FSA which we need not have done. We would have expected more tolerance from the FSA instead of being heavily fined for a matter that took place within the first few months of being regulated.

Carphone Warehouse CEO Charles Dunstone said: We take every aspect of service and administration very seriously. The FSA response does however feel a bit like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Following the investigation Carphone Warehouse carried out a retrospective mailing of both documents to the affected consumers.

Dealers appear to have done well by Orange as customers responded well to the expanded segmented tariffs but a reduction in money flowing into the channel means that demand for its propositions may fall away throughout this month.

Harvey Alexander Moco Cell Link director of communications and operations noted that business was unseasonally good over the last two months.

?August hasn?t been like previous years where things have been a bit wafty. This year we?ve just done our two best ever months? he said. ?T-Mobile has dried up even though they put in some additional funding to try to get the business.?

Bob Sweetlove Hugh Symons business manager agreed saying Orange seems to have picked up business that T-Mobile has lost.

?Business has been strong around volumes it?s just that the flavour of the networks has changed? he said. ?T-Mobile was big in March April and May but it appears they?ve overconnected. Orange seems to have been the main beneficiary.?

Fone Logistics head of marketing Julian Parven confirmed that Orange has done well in the channel for both customers and dealers. However T-Mobile?s business has gone to O2 for the Newcastle-based distributor.

?Orange have made a leap forward in our business with the extended segmentation offers that are delivering customer value and the money that they?ve put back into the proposition? he said. Business revenues are tending to be well spread. The boom of T-Mobile?s Business 1 Plan was pretty much dead in August with a lot of that business going to O2.?

September may not be such a good month for Orange however with cuts in commissions dampening demand especially in the business market.

Money has come out of Orange? said Alexander. ?Last month our sales of Orange were up 60 per cent. Now they?ve reduced commissions across the board. My business guys are getting really hurt at the moment.?

Fone Logistics also noticed the bite in Orange business deals but felt that the strength of the consumer proposition from the network would tide dealers over.

?Orange reduced commission across the business sector? said Parven. ?Upgrade commissions were decreased and connection commissions have been cut. It may have an impact but on the consumer side it still looks like a relatively strong package. After all any volume commission reduction can be offset by handset price reductions.?

While Orange T-Mobile and O2 appear to be jockeying for the same business 3 has seen a period of steady growth. Alexander noted that with an enhanced handset range 3 is beginning to experience a steadily more positive response from consumers.

?3 has really picked up? he said. ?The most popular tariffs are Video Talk and Text 700 and 1100. Now 3 has got the Nokia handsets it knocks over 50 per cent of the objections to the network. We think 3 is going to be strong in September because the demand for T-Mobile is not coming back.?

Parven agreed that 3 has become a more difficult proposition for customers to ignore over the summer.

?3 has been very strong in August and our partners have really come through to deliver good volumes on tariffs like Video Talk and Text 700 and 1100? he said. ?The extended half-price line rental and double minutes have made the network an easy proposition for customers to buy into.?

Parven forecasted that September looks like business as usual for Fone Logistics with no real change from August. In a month?s time however he thinks propositions will be shaken up.

?We see October being a landscape change. We can see 3 looking to the proposition with new tariffs? he said. ?We think it may be looking for a strong acquisition term for the fourth quarter. We can?t see any way T-Mobile will be coming back in any big way.?

Nokias latest sponsorship of The X Factor its third in succession eclipses previous deals and represents its biggest marketing investment in three years. It coincides with the key sales period running up to Christmas. It also sees a succession of exclusive deals on content and handsets passed down to network operators and multiple retailers.

Nokia has agreed for 3 to have exclusive rights to all mobile content related to the show. Vodafone has an exclusive on two The X Factor branded handsets available only via Phones 4U and Vodafones direct retail chain (see below).

The TV campaign which features buffer advertising of handsets before and after the show and either side of the commercial breaks will highlight one handset per month as the show runs through to December 16. Nokia said that last year the handset advertising significantly increased footfall to stores but that it failed to supply the featured handsets and attendant POS material to the channel in the correct volumes.

Nokia UK senior trade marketing manager Simon Randall told Mobile News:

We missed a trick last year. The sponsorship itself was very effective but we didn?t push the stock through to channel and flag the products in store as effectively as we could have. There is a big correlation between the products advertised during the breaks and what people come into store for. We have taken steps to ensure that the materials are available across all channels this time.

Randall said that 3 was the hungriest for the content deal. He said: Content is useful to most operators and we invited them to pitch to us and made the decision based around which operator has the best activation plan. 3 was best positioned to make the most of it in retail and was also the most hungry.

Nokia also invited operators to pitch for deals on pre-pay product variants based around the show. Vodafone will launch two different pre-pay handsets through its own retail outlet and through Phones 4U in the next two weeks.

Both handsets will be packaged in The X Factor-themed gift boxes and feature digital content around the show. The handsets will also give away tickets to the live show and for free makeovers on first activation.

Said Randall: In the first year we saw it as a bit of a risk. It was an unknown quantity and we werent 100 per cent. Mass-market platforms normally alienate youth opinion-forming groups and we wanted to be sure that we didnt turn parts of the market off. While The X-Factor reaches 20 per cent of the population it doesnt register negatively with those niche groups – and other parts of our marketing strategy appeal to those particular groups directly at the same time.

He added: It has proven extremely successful. It runs during the whole of the key gifting market through Q3 and Q4 and develops from being almost car-crash TV into a credible music TV show which means we can develop our product advertising with that. Nothing else gives the same media value.