Convergent will also provide Costain with a Mobile Extension VPN service to save costs on mobile and fixed-line calls made from the groups UK offices.

Convergent chief executive Tony Farmer said it was positive news and underlined Convergents strategy to win corporate business.

We are always looking for corporate deals. Costain will become one of our top five mobile customers he said adding that the deal had enabled Convergent Telecom to bounce back from a disappointing period in which the company suffered a 1 million loss and the departure of former MD Mike Walsh.

Meanwhile Farmer confirmed that police are continuing to investigate one of Convergents former dealers which connected large volumes of handsets but suffered high levels of early disconnections causing a loss of 1 million.

Industry sources say the same company or individuals could also be linked with similar problems at Fone Logistics and EBS.

Fone Logistics boss Ian Gillespie would not divulge any information on any alleged fraud but confirmed he had been talking to police.

The withheld messages ranged from the risque to the obscene and were pulled out of the service by key word searching. Wizcoms anonymous Valentines messaging service ran as a special three-week promotion and pre-empted the trend for multiple Valentines messaging by offering two messages at a market leading cost of just 1.

Another four per cent of the messages uncovered by the companys screening were duplicate messages presumably sent from unfaithful lovers to more than one Valentine.

Love expressed via the mobile phone reflects many aspects of todays more hedonistic and faster-moving lifestyle said Wizcom director Ian OReilly.

People are less prepared to invest the time in wooing a secretly admired one by crafting poetic lines. Text messages are harder hitting – even hard core – more opportunistic direct and impatient in their demands.

The top prize of a Mini Cooper was won by Mohammed Sahfiq of Total Phone Warehouse (above).

Howe was one of the founding members of the Orange management team working as financial director alongside Hans Snook and Colin Tucker (now head of 3). He had been tipped for the top job.

Graham has indicated his intention to leave the company after he has ensured a smooth transition period because of his commitment to Orange said an Orange spokesperson.

Trujillo 51 has been member of the Orange board since 2001. He began his professional career at Mountain Bell Telephone and was appointed president and CEO of USWest in 1995 and chairman in 1999. He retired from this position in June 2000 when the merger between USWest and Qwest Communications was completed. He has been on the Chairmans Council at Alcatel since 2000. He is also on the board of Pepsi Co.

Meanwhile Orange financial officer Simon Duffy has quit and been replaced by Belgian Wilfried Verstraete currently chief financial officer of Wanadoo.

Thierry Breton chairman of France Telecom and Orange said:

I am particularly delighted with this choice. Ive personally known Sol for many years as a great manager and a recognised leader of the telecommunications industry.

Sol agreed to fully dedicate himself to Oranges future bringing his operational and innovation skills as well as a broad management expertise. In the interest of Orange shareholders and customers I know I can count on him with the Orange people and management team to bring the Orange brand and vision to another level.

The technology is enabled through the SIM card using either SIMToolkit or SIM browser technology.

Users are presented with a special customised menu which can be authenticated using a PIN number.

Payments are made over a direct connection between the banks and clearing houses the transaction server and the operator billing system.

For the mobile payment market to take off all parties involved have to go through a learning curve said Zaryba managing director Geert Hilbrandie.

It is important to start with straightforward payment applications that make sense to both the mobile operator and the user.

In allowing consumers to use their phones to pay their phone bills or for recharging their pre-paid account an operator takes the first step and gains valuable experience.

Subscribers will become familiar with the phone as a payment device and the mobile operator can then move forward with more advanced m-payment services such as third-party and peer-to-peer payments.

The number of GSM subscribers globally has increased 10-fold since 1997.

McPherson has more than 15 years experience in telecoms. Before joining Philips Consumer Communications in 1997 he held top positions with Bosch Telecom Talkland and BT Mobile.

He left Philips a few weeks ago after Philips relocated its Europe Middle East and Africa sales and marketing organisation to Paris.

McPherson did not want to relocate and no similar senior role could be found for him in the UK.

McPherson called Phones International chief executive Peter Jones to ask if Jones knew of any opportunities in the industry generally and was invited to take the new post of MD of Data Select.

The Phones International Group has the aspiration to be a big player in the market. It has a very credible management tean sound financial backing and an opportunity to grow over the next 18 months. Its a challenge for me and a chance to contribute to Data Select he said.

What we are putting together is a one-point spot where dealers can get solutions generated within the group he added.

We have a new division called Wireless logic which produces value-added solutions. For example we can offer an e-mail client packaged for xdas and other equipment that offers low-cost solutions for the small and medium-sized enterprise market and which is a good package for dealers to sell.

Phones International Group chairman and CEO Peter Jones said:

We are delighted George has joined the senior management team at a very exciting time in Data Selects development and I have every confidence in his ability to take the business to its next level.

Other Phones International Group MDs are Keith Westcott (Generation Telecom) and John McFarnon (Phones International).

He is Dave Williams who joins from US company Cingular Wireless where he was vice-president for strategic planning.

Before re-locating to the US in 1996 he had worked for both Orange and Vodafone.

The mass-market version temporarily code-named SPVx has a different menu structure focused on consumer services such as the Internet games music applications messaging services and Windows Media Player.

The SPVx includes a joystick for gaming and menu navigation and will be offered with accessories such as entertainment memory cards (complete with games songs and video clips) and a camera link cable that gives customers even more flexibility when sending MMS.

Orange will offer special SPV and SPVx retail packs which will include the phone plus specific accessories or accessory discounts for different market segments.

OrangeWorld and worldwide brand executive vice-president Richard Brennan said:

We will not be neglecting the original SPV. We will be announcing new applications further software updates and business-focused accessories including a soft keyboard a Bluetooth solution and a fully integrated car kit.

Codetoys games include the mobile version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

In 2001 the companys games brought in revenue from more than 50 million individual paid transactions.

This number more than doubled in 2002 to 100 million individual paid transactions.

Codetoys designs and develops interactive ready-to-play mobile games and services for all types of mobile devices and technologies.

Games are currently offered by more than 50 mobile operators in 40 countries across Europe the Middle East Africa the Americas and Japan.

Other Codetoy titles include Trivial Pursuit Zobmondo! ET and Subbuteo.

This milestone is a sign of the growing maturity of the mobile gaming industry said Codetoys chief Matti Hamalainen.