Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin said: We have a good business in Sweden but the industry structure and regulatory environment mean it makes more sense for our customers our employees and our shareholders for a player like Telenor to own the company.

The sale is expected to be completed by the end of 2005.

The sale follows Vodafones acquisition of 10 per cent of Indian mobile phone giant Bharti Tele-Ventures for 820 million. The deal means that Vodafone is able to tap into a largely nascent market in the fourth largest economy in the world.

We are entering a relationship with a major company which shares our vision and values and understands the enormous potential of mobile telephony in society said Sarin.

See Business Watch page 16

Vodafone has struck a deal with Universal Music Group International which includes Eminem U2 and Gwen Stefani on its roster.

3 said it would premier Madonnas latest single Hung Up on the back of its tie-up with Warner Music.

3 CEO Bob Fuller said: 3G mobiles mean that record labels can make money from videos which were traditionally only promotional material.

Vodafone said it expected to make over 100000 new audio downloads available from its Vodafone live! portal within a matter of weeks boosting the overall catalogue to over 600000 tracks.

Vodafone global terminal and consumer marketing director Guy Laurence said: We know our customers will enjoy the benefit.

From this month new customers signing up to Video Talk &Text 350 700 and 1100 will receive 10 worth of downloads for the first three months of their contract compared with the previous offer of 5.

Customers can choose to spend their 10 a month on whatever they want. For example 10 would buy 20 Barclays Premiership highlights videos two games to download and keep or four ringtones or wallpapers.

As part of the networks Christmas pre-pay promotion all new customers will receive 30 of pre-loaded credit on their handset with 60 days to use it. Pre-pay customers who port their number to 3 will also receive a 10 top-up voucher.

3 is also introducing two new all-cash vouchers worth 10 and 20. Once activated customers can use them on any of 3s communication entertainment and information services. The vouchers also have no expiry date but must be activated within 90 days of purchase.

3 UK COO Gareth Jones said: Our new pay-as-you-go vouchers mean for the first time on 3 you can top up just 10 and use the all-cash value whenever you want. With double downloads were offering contract customers the best of our entertainment services when they sign up to a new contract.

Jones said 3 would continue to offer three months half-price line rental on selected price plans throughout November.

The move follows a spat with the Advertising Standards Authority over adverts directed at children (see Mobile News issue 349). The Jamster First service allows parents to cap spending to 6 a month. It has also established a hotline for parents to get help on organising their kids budgets.

The service is based on individual purchases and is not bound by a subscription. Jamster First is an extension of the companys Guardian service which allows parents to block downloads to a specific mobile number.

Jamster COO Markus Berger-de-Leon said: Our products appeal to individuals of various ages and we recognise the need to help bill-payers control how much their family spend on mobile content.

Many dealers have yet to break into the B2B market said Mainline head of marketing Gail Hollinshead.

Mainline deals with 46000 SME customers and sells around 185000 handsets a year. Mainline Business Mobile dealer account manager Jo Love said: We want to specialise in B2B and this helps spread the word to dealers.

Workshops are free although there is a refundable 100 deposit.

Orange Film will be available in 34 cinemas across 23 different cities. Partners already signed up include CinemaPRO Hollywood Multiplex Bucuresti Mall Movieplex Cinema Plaza Romania and RADEF RomaniaFilm.

More than six million Orange users in Romania will have access to this promotion said Orange director of strategy and insight Adhish Kulkarni.

Im not interested in being the richest man in Britain he says.

Maybe money was important to me 10 years ago as a measure of success. But money doesnt motivate me at all any more. What motivates me now is getting satisfaction from using it for better things.

It seems to be as simple as that. Moving into his 50s and with more cash than he will ever need Stokes most famous businessman has realised that his next challenge lies not with selling more mobile phones accessories and connections but in establishing his legacy.

I want to use my money to make a difference to society. If I dont do something like that before I die I will have failed. I could run the business for another 10 years and sell it for 5 billion. And if I made a load more what would I do with it? Ive done a lot for my charity. I can do a lot more. Running the charity properly will be a full business in its own right. Now its all about actually spending the money rather than creating it.

Clearly the decision to sell up was not made lightly however.

Two years ago I began getting more satisfaction out of the charity work. I want to do a lot more charity work. Ive got some big plans to really help children far more dramatically.

What do I want more money for? Im really not interested in being the richest man in Britain or being high up the Sunday Times Rich List.

Well and good. But why not keep the business as a cash generator for the charity work and a heritage for his children and grandchildren?

The answer is fairly straightforward – none of his kids wants it.

If my children had wanted to be involved in the business I would have been a lot keener to keep it. But none of them is that way inclined. They are all artistic and all into singing and acting. If my children had the will and ability to carry on running the business it would have influenced my decision.

So why was November 9s announcement that the business was to be sold in its entirety significant? Wasnt the cat let out of the bag three months earlier when the Sunday Times revealed that Caudwell had appointed NM Rothschild to sell the organisation?

The earlier announcement never mentioned a sale. It was a response to the press finding out about the review. All I answered was that we had appointed Rothschilds to look at a strategic review.

During that strategic review I decided to sell the whole business. Things are in their absolute infancy.

We put the business up for sale on the back of extremely strong interest and after being barraged with enquiries as to what was going on. The workforce and our customers all wondered what was going on.

Ah. But theres no buyer yet.

So isnt it much ado about very little until the cheque clears? After all he may still be running the company a year from now.

Hasnt he played his hand too openly and early and unsettled the workforce?

The employees understand I am sincere in my objectives to sell in its entirety. They understand I want to protect their jobs and indeed 99 per cent of jobs are secure.

The private equity partner investor that takes over will be looking to maximise growth grow jobs and motivate people.

Nothing is going to change apart from the name above the door. I have already made a big virtue of the fact that the workforce and strength of management are a fundamental part of this offer and a fundamental reason for them to buy it. This is a fantastic business going like a steam train in the right direction. lt needs more investment in the management team not less. Any new owner who doesnt understand that will fail.

The Caudwell Group was forged out of the iron will and take-no-prisoners attitude of its founder.

Once he steps aside will the company not lose its driving force and become just another anonymous corporation run by the gray men in their ivory towers?

Yes Ive been responsible for the growth and setting of that culture over 18 years. But I now have phenomenally strong teams. They are complete self-starters who dont need my input. They need someone who has the same interests they do to drive each of their businesses forward.

OK. So the strength of the management team is the lure for a prospective purchaser. Whats the guarantee they will stay on under new ownership? Financial lock-ins?

The existing management team is well-motivated and well-remunerated. Talk of a lock-in is not the right terminology.

What Ive provided for all senior management is a fantastic opportunity to run their own businesses. That motivation will outlast me. Any private equity house will devote a percentage of growth of business to further the development of the management and will give senior people double the opportunities.

He is fairly sure that a trade buyer is unlikely. There would be many conflicting elements within the group for sale to another mobile network retailer telco or distributor. Carphone Warehouse is the only contender with the financial muscle and has already confirmed it will not be a bidder. Besides it is impossible to imagine that Charles Dunstone and John Caudwell could ever agree on a fair price.

The alternative of a stock market flotation was never considered.

A flotation would have left me worse off than I am now he says.

One of my main motivations is to have time to do things I want to do. Given that this is a big motivation and given that a public offering needs lots of cash why would I want to put pressure on myself to prepare the business for a public offering and remain in my current position?

One thing is for sure. This story will run for months. The fat lady is still on her way to the opera hall.

The list compiled in conjunction with the Mobile Data Association and Real Business magazine does not feature any handset manufacturers mobile operators or O2 business partners. Instead it is filled with UK companies concentrating on mobile data services.

The collaborators claim this demonstrates that the sector is now an industry in its own right.

Three years ago we couldnt have put such a list together said MDA chairman and O2 VP of research and development Mike Short.

The growth across the sector has been quite significant. We looked at 200 companies all with sub- 100 million revenues. However the final list has revenues of more than 1 billion a year.

Some of the selections already have a high profile such as Opera Telecom and Monstermob. Others are less well known such as mobile barcodes specialist Mobiqa.

Shorts top three covers all bases. He said: Id rate TTP Communications as very strong in handset design capability worldwide Opera for its breadth and depth of content and Wyless for its innovative ideas.

Wyless is a machine-to-machine telephony outfit that among other things markets an intelligent rat trap which notifies pest control when it has ensnared a rodent.

Other companies are AQA Scoopt The Cloud and Volantis. For the full list visit: www.o2.co.uk/about/presscentre/fiftytowatch.html

The shortcode will be included on press inserts within IPC Media magazines – including Now and Womans Own – as part of a new marketing campaign.

When readers text the shortcode from the magazine insert they can opt to make a one-off donation from their mobile phone bill or ask a ChildLine representative to call them allowing readers to choose to become a regular donor and making them eligible for news and updates on fundraising events.

The inserts will invite readers to donate money to the charity via various traditional methods and for the first time via their mobile phone.

ChildLine marketing manager Gillian Brown said: We believe that donations via a mobile phone will encourage a new type of donor to get involved with the charity.

SpinVox beat fellow finalists Celltick (LiveScreen) IssueBits (Any Question Answered) and OZ (OZ mobile e-mail solution) to win the accolade at the ceremony which was held in London on Thursday last week.

The award recognises the company that is expected to make the most significant impact in the personal use of mobile data during 2006.

Its the second major award for SpinVox after its win as the best innovative service at this years Mobile News Awards.

SpinVox claims more than 45000 subscribers have signed up to the service since its launch in October 2004. The service is also available from 3 The Carphone Warehouse The Link KJC Mobile Phones 4U Business and Hugh Symons.

Technology only has value when it makes things simpler said SpinVox CEO Christina Domecq.