Hyde insisted that T-Mobile valued its channel relationships and that it was committed to third-party distribution in the long-term.

We continue to be focused on third-party distribution as a very important channel for us he said As long as Im here you will never hear T-Mobile in the UK saying we no longer want to do business with third-party distribution.

Hyde acknowledged that there had been some concern from dealers and that regaining trust that had been engendered over the last few months might take some time but he said that any channel players that the network was keen on continuing relationships with any dealers that were prepared to embrace T-Mobiles customer values.

We have to make sure wherever you see the T-Mobile brand it stands for the same thing he said. Those partners who are willing to help us deliver that experience we are absolutely happy to have a relationship with them long-term. Those partners who arent as interested in aligning goals well thats not really a partnership.
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The decision means that low-end handsets which were previously protected with software encryption will now have hardware encryption fitted. Essentially this means the only way to unlock the handset is by requesting a key from the manufacturer to unlock it. It is hoped the move will clamp down on the problem of box breaking by making the whole process more difficult.

Marcus Dacom head of product marketing at Nokia said: Essentially we are constantly looking to improve our security platforms. Also we are now putting a lock that was previously only on our top-end 3G phones into low-end handsets.

Dacom explained: By changing our security measures on low-end phones we hope to make the phones safer. Now hard-coding will be built into the architecture of the phone. Basically this means that the user will need to re-programme the phone to make it work.

Mark Squires head of communications at Nokia said: This move is a direct response to retailers and operators. Box breaking is a big concern and this should certainly help to combat it. It is good news for the whole market. We have already extended our warranty so it is now only active in the country the phone was purchased in. This helps break the cycle of people box breaking and then selling handsets abroad.

Squires adds: The operators have welcomed this move and Im sure the public will too.

Thousands of mobile phone and CPU traders have been informed that their bank accounts will be closed by September 15 because of pressure from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). More traders are expected to go out of business as a result.

The First Curacao International Bank (FCIB) based in the Dutch Antilles was a last resort for UK mobile phone traders after all major UK high-street banks ended their relationships with the trade late last year. But the FCIB has now also handed notice to customers involved in the trade of mobile phones and CPUs.

Up to 300 traders in the UK and EU received e-mails from the FCIB earlier this month which stated that their accounts had been suspended following service on the FCIB of a court order relating to the seizure of documents in connection with suspected criminal activities.

Last week an e-mail was sent to all other CPU and mobile phone traders which gave notice that their accounts would be closed on September 15 and that they had until August 31 to make any wire transfers out of their accounts.

The FCIB said in the e-mail that the processing of wire transfers for the telecoms and computer trader market has become increasingly difficult if not impossible. The move was also put down to the position of HMRC in the UK with respect to this particular market segment. However traders have so far been unable to transfer funds out of their accounts ahead of closure. Wire transfers have been blocked by the FCIB. Traders have been requested to supply further documentation to enable the transfer but even the provision of the relevant information has not seen their funds released.

The FCIB will not release the court orders relating to the bank accounts voluntarily. Birmingham-based Dass Solicitors is in court in the Dutch Antilles this week to get the court orders and traders funds released. Cassandra Moore legal executive at Dass Solicitors said: The limited banking options now available for trading companies will most certainly result in a significant number of companies becoming insolvent.

The advertisement in question was listed in the Carphone Warehouse Buyers Guide for the Fresh mobile phone network. It stated it was the UKs cheapest pay-as-you-go network and then listed a table for cross-network calls per minute for a number of networks including Tesco Mobile Standard with Fresh the cheapest package shown.

Tesco challenged the advertisement however saying the claim The UKs cheapest pay-as-you-go network was misleading because it believed other tariffs offering better value for money were left out.

A Carphone Warehouse spokesman said: Tariffs were excluded from the comparison chart where there was a requirement for a customer to take additional steps such as a minimum monthly top-up to benefit from prices cheaper than or equivalent to those offered by Fresh.

However the ASA upheld the Tesco complaint and ruled that from August 1 it would no longer be able to run the ad in its buyers guide. Instead The Carphone Warehouse was forced to change the wording to our best value pay-as-you-go network.

A Tesco Mobile spokeswoman said: The Carphone Warehouse was claiming its Fresh mobile tariff was the cheapest UK pay-as-you-go tariff and conveniently didnt mention our Tesco Mobile Value tariff which offers the same prices for calls and texts. The ASA adjudication will not allow it to continue advertising its Fresh tariff in this way or make this claim.  

She added: We are very pleased that the ASA has upheld this complaint and that consumers will not continue to be misled.

The new application means Nokia users no longer have to send their handsets to Nokia service centres and network operators no longer have to recall handsets when they go awry to install updates. It represents potentially huge logistical savings for operators and financial savings to Nokia not to mention convenience for Nokia customers.

At present the software updater works with the Nokia N70 N72 6131 6630 6680 6681 and 6682. It will be made available across its Series 60 handsets during the autumn.

Nokia UK head of communications Mark Squires said: The first thing is customer satisfaction because customers can now flash their own phones with software updates. It means theyre not wasting time and money.

There is an operator benefit too and it also means staff in our repair centres can spend time on repairing phones rather than flashing new software on to them.

Orange said that fixes were implemented on August 14 following earlier difficulties and that new fixes will be applied to the system this week.

A spokesperson said: This is being treated as a high priority and the Orange technical team is currently investigating the problem. The full extent of the resolution will depend on the outcome of ongoing investigations.

We also recognise that there are long call waiting times for registering customers. We have allocated extra staff to handle these calls and so reduce the waiting time. We are aware how frustrating this is for our dealers and customers and are taking urgent actions to improve the position.

August appears to have been a bumper month across the board for the channel. However September looks like marking the start of a dark autumn for T-Mobile while 3s star may be rising again.

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

MoCo Distribution director of communications and operations Harvey Alexander noted that business was unseasonally good over the last two months. August hasnt been like previous years where things have been a bit wafty. This year weve just done our two best ever months he said.

September may not be so good a month for Orange however with cuts in commissions dampening demand especially in the business market. The real beneficiary from the fall in T-Mobile contracts will be 3 said Alexander.

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.

For an extended version of this story check out the next edition of Mobile News

The permanent technology installed by Swiftpass will enable the charity to save money reduce paper ticket waste and reduce queuing time for visitors.

The Eden Project is leading the adoption of mobile ticketing technology with the UKs first permanent installation said Swiftpass CEO Oliver Seal. To be able to improve the visitors experience while simultaneously making cost savings is an exciting prospect for the attraction. The reduction in paper ticket waste is an added bonus.

Swiftpass delivers a secure digital ticket directly to the consumers mobile phone. The ticket is then scanned and validated at the entrance enabling fast entry.

Eden Project head of ICT Jon Curry said: With school holidays upon us the Eden Project is entering its busiest time of the year. Mobile ticketing will help us relieve the pressures of queuing and in so doing greatly improve our overall customer experience.

He added: It will also help us to streamline ticket distribution and redemption. The reduction in paper waste also supports our commitment to becoming waste neutral.

PrizePlay titles include Monopoly Snakes and Ladders Triple Towers Mah Jong Star Trek Poke Battle and Goldenballs.

UK content manager Neil Holroyd said: The games are extremely addictive and provide great entertainment for the casual gamer. The opportunity to win merchandise just by playing is a breakthrough in mobile entertainment.

To encourage trial T-Mobile users playing a PrizePlay game between August 14 and October 2 are entered into a daily draw to win an Apple iPod Nano.

Dealers signing up to Shebangs Sellfone 3G electronic retail management system can now connect 3 airtime contracts. It is the first time Shebang has been awarded official distributor status by a network.

Shebang managing director Iain Humphrey said he was in talks with the other UK networks about further airtime contracts.

It is the first network we have been officially allowed to distribute he said. We are allowed to distribute 3 to online Sellfone users which total over 400 dealerships. We would like to provide airtime connections on all networks and are involved in ongoing talks to achieve that.

We are only interested in building distribution relationships with Sellfone users. That is what makes us different from other UK distributors. We can offer a more technologically advanced service.

Humphrey is gearing up to launch new versions of the Sellfone 3G software for web retail call centre sales and the B2B market in the next few months.

(See feature)