Bennett resigned from Mobile Phone Express because of a personality clash with Steve Fraser director of indirect distribution at The Carphone Warehouse.

Bennett said: I left because there was a difference of opinion with Steve Fraser. It was a clash of personalities and I didnt feel that he and I were working towards the same goal.

Sambrook joins Mobile Phone Express from Fone Logistics where he was head of wholesale handset trading and business development.

Fraser commented: Keith Bennett decided to resign in order to do something else. We have replaced him with Phil Sambrook who was under notice at Fone Logistics. He has been in the industry for quite a long time.

He added: We acted quickly. We are expanding the business. The volumes are great and the margins are great and Phil will take the business forward. Mobile Phone Express complements [new airtime distribution arm] Hugh Symons very well.

Bennett said he would wait for the European Court of Justice ruling on the Bond House Systems case on January 12 before he decided to re-enter the distribution channel.

If the legislation goes against Customs then I will get back into distribution alongside a lot of my colleagues he said.

Dealers expect the move to bolster Hugh Symons buying power and make better deals available to them faster.

Hugh Symons business manager Bob Sweetlove echoed dealer sentiment.

We will build our proposition when we know more and can talk about it he said. I hope that it provides us with the backing to drive our existing business plan and I understand thats The Carphone Warehouses view too. It will want a return on its investment.

He added: We would expect to grow both in terms of sales and staff numbers. One will drive the other.

Lino Mastrobrono managing director of Smart Talk Communications Centre said: Its probably going to be a good thing for Hugh Symons dealers. We cant compete with The Carphone Warehouse at present. It has cracking packages. But if it means that we can get 50 per cent of those deals or that The Carphone Warehouse passes on some of its buying power to Hugh Symons then it can only be a good thing.

Faisal Sheikh co-founder of Fone Doctor said it was a good match: Hugh Symons is a fantastic distributor and has a good regard within the industry. The Carphone Warehouse is much more industry-friendly than Phones 4U which is perceived as a shark in a suit.

Hugh Symons dealer managers tell me that it can only be a good thing. The Carphone Warehouse is a marketing monster but it is also an encouraging retail environment and I think Hugh Symons will retain its independence and its personal touch.

It could also iron out a few issues Hugh Symons still has such as the difficulty in connecting Vodafone. And if it doesnt work out then Ill just go to Avenir or EBS.

Rebal Elayan managing director of Business Print Communications was more cautious.

Its buying power could be very positive he said. It might mean that we get kit earlier. But we have bought pre-pay kit from the Carphone Warehouse before and it hasnt meant we could compete. I am not going to hold my breath. I dont see this necessarily helping us.

The Carphone Warehouse takeover of Hugh Symons is expected to be finalised in the next fortnight.

The role will see Huggett lead a sales team of 500 selling into all sizes of business and assume responsibility for helping Vodafone UKs enterprise customers succeed through better use of mobile technology.

Huggett joins Vodafone from Cisco EMEA where he spent eight years in a number of senior sales and marketing roles most recently leading Cisco Germanys public sector sales team.

Prior to this he held senior positions with companies including ON Technology Castelle Inmac and BP.

Chris brings to Vodafone a wealth of experience in the development of sales programmes within the financial services manufacturing retail transport and media sectors said Kyle Whitehill director of Vodafone UKs enterprise business unit said.

This and his broad IT background makes him a natural fit for us he added.

One of the first tasks facing Huggett will be the roll-out of the networks new channel programme which launched last month and replaces Vodafone UKs former Business Connectivity Club.

LG Mobile marketing manager John Bernard admitted the manufacturer was considering switching its focus to other terrestrial broadcast sponsorship packages in 2006.

Our brand awareness has tripled in the past 12 to 18 months and we are looking at our options to further that growth he said.

We will decide by the end of the year whether we continue to sponsor Formula One or look at other TV programmes in 2006.

Sponsorship of Formula One on ITV has increased substantially and LG Mobile has a sponsorship opportunity with each of ITV Channel 4 and Five.

One such deal would see the LG Mobile brand appear on several different prime time shows on the same station.

The network promises to evaluate and endorse new applications such as job scheduling or sales force automation tools based on technical integrity customer demand and sector suitability.

This has been developed as a result of growing customer demand for mobile data solutions said Vodafone director of enterprise marketing Mark Bond.

The programme has three tiers. Vodafone Branded is designed for applications with proven customer demand and appeal across multiple markets. Applications include AppSwing which allows firms to mobilise Windows-based business applications on BlackBerry Symbian or Windows mobile devices.

Vodafone Preferred and Vodafone Certified cover applications that have been tested and approved by an independent technical expert.

Approved vendors include Aeromark Cognito and Ubisys with solutions from telematics to sales.

The promotion offers 10 free MP3 ringtones and wallpapers and aims to drive demand for the less-than critically acclaimed Motorola ROKR E1.

In addition purchasers of the BRITs ROKR will be able to download 10 free iTunes tracks.

The devices are exclusively available at 340 O2 stores. However although packaging and wallpapers display BRITs branding the actual handset does not feature the logo.

O2 is also running an SMS voting platform for users to vote on five of the awards listed. The shortcodes will be charged at a maximum of 25p plus the standard network rate. This revenue will be distributed by O2 aggregator partner MIG.

O2 customers will also be able to access exclusive BRIT Awards content via O2 Active.

Unlike the original Motorola ROKR E1 music phone the new ROKR E2 dispenses with iTunes as standard. But Motorola said this week that network operators would be able to request the iTunes music player be installed when they take shipment of the device in the next six months.

A Motorola spokesperson said: The question of which particular software application will be provided for music services is the decision of the network operators based on their particular marketing objectives.

The spokesman claimed that Motorola still has a strong relationship with Apple.

We continue to work together on products for consumers who have a passion for iTunes mobile music. The ROKR E2 delivers more songs and greater speed for music enthusiasts. It uses the Linux operating system which delivers tremendous flexibility for operators because it supports a variety of music applications.

The ROKR E2 is compatible with Motorolas new digital music service iRadio which also launched at CES last week. The iRadio subscription service debuts with 435 radio channels.

The ROKR E2 supports MP3 AAC WMA and Real music files and trumps its predecessor for capacity because it includes a SD card slot allowing storage of up to 500 songs. The handset also has faster USB 2.0 connectivity as well as Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel camera.

At CES Motorola also confirmed partnerships with Google Yahoo and Kodak.

The manufacturer will integrate a Google short-cut on to selected handsets so that users can connect to the leading Internet search engine either via a dedicated soft key or via a screen icon on touch-screen devices. Handsets with the Google icon are expected from Q1.

The Yahoo! tie-up will see Yahoo! applications such as Mail Messenger and Address Book pre-installed on selected affordable Motorola devices from Q1. Again quick links to the applications are expected.

Motorolas 10-year partnership with Kodak covers licensing sourcing software integration and marketing. It also extends to intellectual property and collaboration on future products. Initially both companies will look to get consumers downloading and printing images from Motorola phones using Kodak home printers retail kiosks and EasyShare software.

Also at CES last week Sony Ericsson unveiled the W810i its successor to the W800i. The W810i is quad-band adds support for EDGE and has redesigned music soft keys.

US networking specialist Netgear also previewed the first Skype mobile phone for launch later this year. The phone is pre-loaded with Skype software to use with a WiFi network and allows calls to any other Skype user free of charge.

The companies had a combined annual turnover of around 115 million in 2005. Strax expects sales to increase to around 140 million in 2006.

More… has supply agreements throughout Europe with network operators and retail chains including Vodafone Telefonica and retail chain Phone House.

Strax vice-president of sales and marketing Phil Drake said: As consolidation within the industry takes place over the next few years the acquisition of more… enables us to compete more effectively in the UK and European market with the other industry big players.

According to Drake Strax can now offer OEM and OAP relationships with all the leading manufacturers. The company would continue to seek acquisition and merger opportunities.

The number of texts sent across UK GSM network operators on New Years Day increased by 24 per cent compared with 2005.

The MDA reckons that the total number of text messages sent in 2006 will reach 36.5 billion up 4.5 billion on the estimated total for last year. The MDA forecasts an average of three billion messages will be sent each month with 100 million sent a day in 2006.

MDA chairman Mike Short said: SMS is on every handset now and it penetrates deeper and wider than ever before. It is also more cost-effective than ever. With over 600 million of mobile content carried on SMS last year it is a key enabler of the mobile content industry.

The UKs annual SMS figures have risen by more than 22 per cent each year since 2001 according to the MDA.

Some are even more bullish however. Christina Domecq CEO of voice-to-text service SpinVox said: We are expecting larger numbers than predicted by the MDA.

Domecq believes growth will come in part from voice/data convergence. Users are clearly keen on text so services that allow them to choose whether they take calls or communicate via text have real meaning to users – and ultimately value to operators she said.

ROKs patent application describes the process of placing audio-visual media content on to memory cards and then converting the content into a format that is ready for playback on mobile devices.  

ROK Entertainment chairman and CEO Jonathan Kendrick claimed the patent grant was an important step for ROK and that the market for content-loaded memory cards is increasing rapidly. ROK also has patent applications pending in other countries.

We knew we had invented some very special technology when we completed the development of ROK Player he said.

To be awarded a patent means we can now push ahead with the global roll-out of our content-loaded memory cards.

This took a step forward last week with the launch of ROK USA with an immediate mandate to implement ROK Player and ROK TV across the US.