Wheeler was made sales director of the new JWE operation when JWE acquired Networks Direct some 18 months ago

An anonymous tip to Mobile News claiming almost the entire JWE field sales force resigned in April as did the majority of the telesales operation at Sale. Rumour has it theyve all joined the recently resigned national sales manager in a rival operation.

This was denied by JWEs commercial director Mike Walsh who suspected mischief-making.

Its an absolute nonsense. Russ Wheeler left the company four sales people left and thats the end of it. Since his departure internal and external staff have been contacted and it has been suggested they will be out of their jobs by the end of the week. Other malicious rumours including one of JWEs imminent demise have been spread.

It is very unusual for JWE to part company with anyone leaving a bad taste behind. We acquired the business in Sale some time ago and tried to work with Wheeler. He declined to adopt the JWE ethos so there was a parting of the ways and he resigned.

Ive heard hes now gone to another telephone company and told them he can set up a telesales and field sales operation on their behalf. The bottom line is that hes left JWE and taken four field sales people with him out of 41 says Walsh.

Called Take Back the scheme will be operated by the European Telecommunications and Professional Electronics Industries Association (ECTEL) in conjunction with Alcatel BTCellnet Ericsson Motorola Nokia Orange One 2 One Panasonic Philips and Vodafone.

Customers will be able to return old and unwanted handsets batteries and chargers to recycling points around the country at more than 400 High Street and regional locations or by post.

Essex company Shields Environmental will safely dispose of any hazardous substances in batteries and circuitry.

Until now customers who have upgraded their phone or replaced their battery have not been able to dispose of old equipment in an environmentally-responsible manner said Ectel chairman Bill McCartney.

However many of the components can be recycled and put to good use elsewhere. This will be a forerunner of schemes that will proliferate across the industry in the coming years.

Industry estimates are that there could be more than two million old disused and broken handsets in circulation.

Dawe joined 20:20 last August from UniqueAir where he was distribution manager. At Fone Bitz he will be re-united with his old boss Rob Lees an ex-MD of UniqueAir.

Theres no animosity. I decided about a month ago that it was too good an opportunity to pass up Dawe told Mobile News.

There will soon be 25 million subscribers out there who will all want handsfree kits and other accessories. The plan is to expand the operation selling out of small specialist sites such as train stations and motorway service areas. We may also run a trade operation and go into pre-pay but certainly not contract phones.

He reverts to his old role as a non-executive director of European Telecom. Meanwhile ETs chairman Warren Hardy re-assumes the role of CEO he relinquished to Bruegger late last year.

Cole will be the face of Low Costs marketing and TV campaigns. Cole recently launched the Manchester Low Cost shop.

Speaking exclusively to Mobile News Edmonds said:

The four networks say they are interested in producing clear information for the consumer. The evidence suggests that is not the case. Its incredibly difficult for the consumer to work out what the right tariff is for them. And I do not believe that the mobile companies try to help the consumer (cont P2).

The issue is understanding that the consumer wants clarity and simplicity. The consumer doesnt want to be mislead. Thats good business practice rather than regulation. It is fundamental to having success in running a business. The companies that will eventually come out on top are those which give the customer what he wants which is all of the above.

I dont want to be seen as knocking the quality of service of the mobile phone companies. They are offering freedom and value in a way that few of us could have anticipated even a few years ago. But they are not going far enough.

Given the very significant profits that these companies have made and are continuing to make I do think that there is a margin there that they have to revisit and address.

Its the margin of the unsatisfied customer the margin to do with clear information about pricing and coverage and its to do with clear information about the contracts that the customer is entering into.

The five includes a larger licence reserved for a new entrant into the market which will be allowed to roam onto Cellnet Vodafone Orange and One 2 One networks until its own is established. Third generation mobile phones will allow users to surf the Internet download music and pictures and hold wireless video conferences.

Orange and Ericsson have already started trials into the new technology.

The ability to roam onto GSM networks is critical for the success of any new UMTS operator said Ted Beddoes chief executive of mobile radio operator Dolphin Telecom.

Beddoes who was instrumental in setting up Vodafones network in 1985 explained:

With roaming any candidate who does not have an existing GSM or DCS 1800 network will have the opportunity to construct a viable business case for UMTS since they will be able to compete effectively against the incumbents.

The choice of five as the number of UMTS licences is also important for future competition. With four licences it is possible they would be secured by the four existing cellular networks.

With five there will be at least one new entrant. This will encourage new entrants to participate in the auction and stimulate competition to the benefit of the user.

However this report has been funded and published by a Swindon-based company called TecnoAO which is marketing for 29 an oscillator which emits a magnetic signal that boosts the bodys ability to overcome the harmful effects of non-thermal radiation.

TecnoAO chairman Anthony Fraser told Mobile News his company had funded a paper by Dr Gerard Hyland (senior lecturer in the department of Physics at the University of Warwick).

Hyland argues that the current safety guidelines on mobile phones are fundamentally flawed and in need of a complete rethink. He says it is wrong to only consider the heating effect of microwave radiation on body tissue and that exposure to magnetic fields can disrupt ions contained in human body proteins.

TecnoAO claims cellular phones are a major source of chronic electromagnetic stress for their users and that Chronic stress related to electromagnetic pollution manifests itself depending on the individual through a variety of ailments headaches memory loss insomnia irritability back pain decreases in concentration and alertness even including compromising immunological and hormonal states.

TecnoAO says its magnetic oscillator works because its magnetic oscillation acts as a tuning fork for the brain and maintains normal ion-protein links.

TecnoAO has also funded a Mori poll which said almost half of all mobile phone users are concerned about health risks from electromagnetic radiation.

The poll which was conducted among 2012 adults last month found 62 per cent of users questioned expressed interest in obtaining a product which might reduce potential health risks.

The Federation of the Electronics Industry (FEI) continues to maintain that the consensus among scientists is that there are no established health effects from using a mobile phone.

We continue to support quality peer-reviewed research openly shared with the public. It is important that anyone concerned about mobile phone safety considers the totality of the science rather than drawing conclusions from individual studies said the FEI.

Phones sold in the UK operate well below exposure guidelines which are set by the National Radiological Protection Board. The safety of mobile phone users continues to be supported by scientific evidence. Even though scientific consensus has not established cause for concern over the use of mobile phones on health grounds the industry willingly accepts its responsible to continue to add to the substantial body of knowledge. We are doing exactly this.

The crisis has been sparked by Cellnet re-considering its position on continuing its 200000 contribution after September. BT is apparently demanding that Cellnet justify the costs and says its own fraud investigators can do the same job.

The other networks all support the CPI but are unlikely to continue on their own. Cellnet and Vodafone contribute the lions share of the costs.

The Crime Prevention Inspectorate is currently funded until September 1999. But it requires financial commitments by all four networks to be in place by the end of June if the Scheme is to continue beyond that date.

The Scheme is very close to folding said a source close to the FCS.

If even one network pulls out there will be a massive dilution of its standing and efficacy. And anything that breakaway network was to go on to do on its own would not have a fraction of the weight behind it that the FCS Crime Prevention Inspectorate commands.

Cellnet spokesman William Ostrom said:

Speaking for Cellnet alone we were reluctant to commit significant additional resources to the FCS without having a stronger understanding about how the FCS would structure itself and deliver against the objectives that would inevitably accompany increased resources. Our only current involvement is in the FCS Crime Prevention initiative confirmed Ostrom.

Our commitment to crime prevention continues. Indeed we are committing more to it than ever before.

We will continue to give money to the Crime Prevention Inspectorate so long as it flexible and continues to be relevant when it comes to tackling the types of crime and fraud with which we see confronting all of us in the industry; networks SPs and dealers.

FCS manager James Malcolm said: As far as we are concerned the Crime Prevention Inspectorate is doing an excellent job and will continue to do so with valuable by-products in addition to the headline grabbing news.

But if the Scheme was to fold for whatever reason it would be disastrous for the industry.

The company will be run by John Gardiner and is currently in discussions with the networks about the technology. Trials of the system are currently taking place.

The idea is that dealers and retailers will be able to handle pre-pay voucher transactions through a PDQ-type terminal rather than having to stock the vouchers.

Over the last two years Banner has built up a strong management team and has given me the opportunity to look at the strategy of the group Gardiner said.

As the distribution of pre-pay vouchers has become a major headache I looked first at the problems and then the opportunities it offered. I felt it to be a major opportunity to the shareholders of Banner Telecom should that opportunity turn into a successful business.

Mike Sharpe and myself did not want the team at Banner to lose their focus on what they do very well which is the physical distribution of comms products (full story next issue).