Carphone Warehouse has sourced a number of Sim-free handsets that it can sell at cost ( 50) within Fresh packs to overcome the issues of subsidy and box-breaking. Its long-term revenues will be from airtime.

Carphone Warehouse chief executive Andrew Harrison confirmed that Woolworths and Comet are starting to receive supplies of Fresh handsets and Sim cards.

We will offer handsets at 49.99. With our buying power and an oversupply of stock there is lots of cheap kit out there to be bought. We have secured a large number of Motorola T180 handsets.

We are not intending to make margin on the hardware. The return will come on airtime. The deal with One 2 One allows us to monitor the performance of customers. The more that Fresh customers spend the more we and our partners can earn.

Harrison doesnt see Comet and Woolworths as a threat to its business. (Cont P2)

The fact that Comet and Woolworths were involved with us in buying pre-pay stock from the networks helped maintain our presence in the pre-pay market. Woolworths and Comet made a commitment to stay in the mobile phone market said Harrison.

Networks have started to become less interested in pre-pay customers. They created a product with huge demand that economically doesnt make sense. Networks have left a gap in the market.

Although pre-pay products are still available people expect it to be an entry-level proposition. They have come to expect products that cost 30 or 40. People dont want to spend 129.99 on a phone. The networks arent doing enough to develop propositions for people who dont want to pay 13.99 per month on a contract and those that want pre-pay he added.

Harrison hinted Fresh could potentially be sold to specialist independent retailers.

If you require extra entry forms call 020 7704 7440 or e-mail mobilenewsawards@mobilenewscwp.co.uk Closing date for entries is January 25. The Awards will be presented at a sold-out black tie dinner dance at the London Hilton on Park Lane on March 6.

Westcott a former managing director of Ericssons mobile phone division in the UK joins Phones International after just five months at Kondor the Dorset based accessories company.

Says Westcott:

There were no issues with Kondor. It was agreed that I would review a decision to move my family down to Dorset after six months. The opportunity with Phones International came up at the same time. It appealed to me from a personal and career level.

Theres nothing more to it than that. Ive enjoyed my time at Kondor. This opportunity appealed more. It took away the decision to move the family. Kondor has great potential and will do well.

It wasnt an easy decision. I had to weigh up the potential (Cont P2) at Phones International and working with Peter Jones (Phones International managing director). Kondor is disappointed but respects my decision. I wont be diving straight out of the door. I am staying on to finish off some projects.

Kondor chairman Malcolm Bartlett admitted Westcotts defection was a minor setback. But he put on a brave face saying:

We are disappointed. I know Keith was having difficulty with the 180-mile daily commute. We thought it would be alright but he had a good offer come up locally. Keith has done some good work for us here. He will be staying on for a while. We are recruiting a replacement. We dont have anyone specific in mind. It is only a minor setback.

Keith is a good guy and opened some doors up for us. We have had a good year. Sales are up by 40 per cent. Keith leaves on very amicable terms. Its a great job for him to go to and is allied to his past experience said Bartlett.

Meanwhile ex-Kondor sales director John Farwell has joined rival accessories company Online.

Jacobsen and Rich both leave at the end of this month. Jacobsen is moving to a major software company while Rich is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities after only four months. She joined Ora from Mitsubishi Electric as head of marketing.

It is understood she was unhappy at Oras revised hierarchy after Banner Telecom sales director Bob Walker joined as sales and marketing head.

I am leaving to pursue other opportunities in consultancy rather than marketing. My decision to leave has nothing to do with any internal issues at Ora Rich said.

We will continue to produce a wide range of phones. The announcement means our production is being transferred to the Czech Republic. In the meantime we are extending the mobile phone research and development facility at the Thatcham site spokesperson Brendon Gore told Mobile News.

Panasonic continues to manufacture mobile phones globally in China the Philippines and (Cont P2) Japan. A drop in demand for phones in Europe increased competition and pressure from exchange rates means it is cheaper to produce phones outside the UK said Gore.

Panasonics head of business systems Bob Tate added:

The desire to be successful in mobile phones is maintained. We had to react to the difficult market by transferring production out of the UK. As the market declines the cost of manufacture is critical. We need a low cost base for manufacturing.

Tate says Panasonics UK performance is starting to show improvements.

Operators have moved towards contract business. That suits us as a company and the products we want to bring in. Sales are starting to improve. New products have been launched. We are making steps forward.

Two Orange employees have been suspended pending investigation of allegations of misappropriation of company funds.

Orange takes these allegations very seriously and is conducting a full investigation said a statement from the company.

Industry sources hint that information from the Orange dealer database may have been sold for cash to third parties. Some Orange dealers have complained that customers are getting unsolicited calls from third-party companies offering them upgrade phones within a few days of their contracts expiring.

Vic Hockley a partner in East London-based Cellular Connect says his customers have been affected.

Some of our customers have been approached by third-party companies offering them upgrades. We try to provide a good service to our customers and part of that involves keeping an eye on the amount of time they have had their phone said Hockley.

In recent months customers have been getting calls within a few days of their 12-month contract expiry date. It seems like these companies have obtained details from Oranges customer base.

It needs the money to develop a new service platform because Swiss GSM operator Swisscom which provided the Mint Sim cards was no longer going to support the service.

Mint has about 100000 active subscribers and the service continues as normal for the time being. No customers have been cut off yet.

Icelandic mobile phone operator Hallo has a 50 per cent share in Mint. Hallo chief technology officer Larus Jonsson told Mobile News:

Mint has ceased trading. The decision was taken by Mint directors after the company was unsuccessful in raising funds for projects. The directors are looking at all the options. The company will go into receivership in the next few weeks unless finance can be raised.

Running costs were higher than profits. Mint experienced technical problems with credit top-up. Customers couldnt refresh their call credit without calling the call centre. A big problem has been the failure to provide post-paid services (Cont P2) to corporate customers. Both problems would have been addressed with the new service platform but Mint has been unable to raise funds in time.

Profitability per customer was not as high as calculated. The corporate market was an essential element to the business. Corporate customers want post-pay services added Jonsson.

Elite Mobile Accessories which distributes Mint Sim cards and vouchers said the failure of Mint would not hit the company badly.

Elite managing director Ajay Gokani told Mobile News:

We still have some stock here. But Mint isnt a big seller. None of our customers have complained that the service is not working. We are not able to get any new stock at this time. If it does go into receivership it wont be a big loss to our business.

He retains the position of FCS honorary president. This leaves chief executive Jacqui Brookes with the top role in the FCS.

Ora Telecom directors and investors called in receivers RSM Robson Rhodes last week after it became apparent that the companys debt and borrowing were spiralling out of control in the face of a shrinking handset market.

Some industry insiders have put the level of Oras shortfall in many millions with any profits having to be ploughed into debt servicing.

Ora sales and marketing director Bob Walker said:

The board invited RSM Robson Rhodes to safeguard the ongoing trading position. This was a difficult decision to take but necessary under the current trading and market conditions. Our current situation makes the company an attractive proposition for the right partner or investor.

Robson Rhodes partner Simon Bower told Mobile News:

Our role is to keep the (Cont P8) business trading with a view to selling it as a going concern. Weve spoken to all of Oras major customers such as Orange BT The Carphone Warehouse and Vodafone. They have all been very supportive and are keen to see the business survive said Bower.

Weve also seen interest from a number of parties interested in buying the business. Im hoping for a positive outcome in the near future. There has been response from all parties. Suppliers still want to continue supplying the business. Were in the busiest period of the year but it isnt as busy as last year.

Bower said the main factors behind Oras failure were a downturn in the marketplace and a high level of debt. Ora directors considered a number of options to refinance the business but ran out of time.

Whether or not current creditors get any outstanding invoices paid depends on how the business is managed. But it is unlikely that a trade buyer will want to inherit the companys debt.

Bowers added: Hopefully we can give the business some protection from creditors so it can be sold going forward. All Ora staff are still there.

An industry insider who knows the accessories market said that Ora could no longer trade on its reputation of being a respected supplier of quality product.

These days anyone can go on the internet and order 35 containers of batteries for 10000. The problem is these are not the quality Panasonic product supplied to the OEM market. Ora founded its reputation on quality but had to move down the lower-quality sector and sourced lower-quality product from Taiwan in order to stay competitive. It started boxing inferior product under its brand name.

This was clearly a mistake. There is a niche market for OEM-quality accessories. But the manufacturers have realised that and are doing it all themselves.

Oras founder and non-executive director Malcolm Hanson admitted there had been some poor management decisions about product.

Add that to the low cost of products which allows anyone to go to the Far East and bring them back to a much more price-oriented market and you suddenly get a problem Hanson told Mobile News.

Hanson sold his share of Ora three years ago for 10 million to a management buyout team led by Tim Helstrip and John Whittle but had to leave a substantial portion of that money invested in Ora. The new team blundered and within a year Hanson was brought back as chairman to hire new management and save the business.

Ex-Nortel director Ken Edmonds was appointed managing director but left a year later to be replaced by Ken Jacobsen who announced earlier this month he was leaving (Mobile News November 12).

Former Kondor managing director Mickey Priman said:

It is sad news. Ora is paying significant amounts of interest on debts accrued from a couple of years ago as reported in Mobile News. Ora MD Ken Jacobsen tried his best to turn things around and the company was making money. Ora had strengthened its position on the high street. It gained some very good accounts with BTCellnet and Orange which is an asset to the company. But huge debt payments ate up the profit and the company suffered a loss.

Ora has high overheads. The warehouse is under-utilised and the call centre operation is expensive to run. Had there been a merger with Kondor one of the warehouses would have had to go and there would have been redundancies Priman explained.

I am surprised they didnt go ahead with the Kondor merger last year. Kondor was a profitable business. Ora shareholders found it hard to accept that they would have a smaller share in the new company because of Oras debt problems. But the joint company would not have been in debt.

Oras situation is a reflection of the industry. In accessories you have to work harder to make the same profits or less than you were making last year. Retail prices have gone down because of cheaper Far East imports. Everyone is selling accessories cheaper but costs remain high. It is very easy to start losing money Priman added.

All 13 stores in Berkshire Hampshire Somerset and Wiltshire were closed on January 2.

Callers to the shops are met with an answer phone message that says:

Mobile Communications has ceased trading to undergo a full company review and hopes to reopen shortly.

Its understood the company may go into receivership or re-open the stores under a new trading name. City-based insolvency practitioners Antony Batty & Co confirmed it had been in contact with Premier Mobile about possible receivership. Partner Antony Batty told Mobile News:

We have been in talks but we have not been officially appointed yet.

The company does have other options. It could reopen the stores under another holding company.

Premier boss Alan OBrien purchased the 13 outlets from dealer Mike Buckland last year. At the time of the sale the stores turned over around 4.5 million a year and did 1500 to 2000 connections a month.

Buckland went on to launch his new venture Gr8 which (Cont P2) involves selling pre-paid scratch cards to enable people to customise Nokia phones with personalised ringtones logos and picture messages (Mobile News February 5).

Buckland says he has heard nothing from OBrien.

They wont confide in me. We had a legal dispute with Premier last year over payment of the stores. I have only heard that the shops have closed he said.

OBrien was unavailable for comment.