At the time of going to press JWE chief executive Tony Farmer would neither deny nor confirm a deal. No-one from GMC was available for comment either..

GMC headed by Graham Cornhill is now one of the top five independent dealerships in the UK with 37 stores doing 5000 connections a month.

JWE said in July it was looking for a buyer for the shops (Mobile News July 24) because of eroding profit margins and the dominance of pre-pay and voucher sales in the consumer market. The company was already in negotiations with a purchaser for its retail operation. But Farmer gave no hint as to the buyers identity.

Jacobson has worked for Compaq been managing director of a direct catalogue-based PC and supplies business and was UK chief executive of Software AG.

Ken is sales and marketing driven. I am confident he will bring a fresh new approach to the business said Ora founder and non-executive director Malcolm Hanson.

Vodafone UK chief executive Peter Bamford told Mobile News in an exclusive interview:

There is no doubt that exporting of pre-pay is a problem of the business and it is an industry-wide problem. We do monitor the levels of pre-pay usage very carefully.

There are certain characteristics and patterns of usage which can indicate the degree to which something odd has happened to a phone. In terms of absolute numbers of phones that there is no doubt some are going abroad. But as a percentage of our total pre-pay base it is small. We are talking probably over the last year about less than five per cent of total pre-pay ownership ending up out of the country.

Weve taken a number of measures over the past six to nine months to stop this as far as we can. We think we have succeeded in bringing the quantities fo pre-pay going abroad down significantly over the last four or five months. One measure is that there are certain circumstances or non-usage where we will claw back the activation bonus from the distributor.

Vodafone apparently noticed the problem when it realised that subscribers being put forward for connection by PocketPhone Shop were not achieving good credit scores.

Vodafone communications manager Corrinne Norris said:

Vodafone Connect has given PocketPhone Shop notice of termination of their contract although discussions are ongoing and it may be that we continue to work with them on the right commercial basis. The reason for notice being given in the first place is that there has been a marked deterioration in the quality as well as the quantity of the business that they have been putting on to Vodafone.

PocketPhone Shop managing director Andrew Fryatt added:

Vodafone has been unhappy over some months with the quality of connections through PPS. Since then there has been a change of management. We are in discussions at the moment.

Vodafone and we expect we are going to carry on trading. Vodafone want to re-negotiate the terms of our trading agreement with them. Im sure we will end up selling Vodafone product from Vodafone Connect said Fryatt.

Vodafone says its decision to end its contract had no connection with the fact that PocketPhone Shop is owned by One 2 One

The box comes with 10 worth of calls in the box.

Vodafone will launching Smartstep with a 12 million advertising campaign featuring actor Hamish Clarke who has fronted all the Vodafone pre-pay commercials so far.

Smartstep is being sold with a choice of Alcatel One Touch Club ( 39.99) Sagem MC920 ( 39.99) Trium Mars ( 39.99) Nokia 5110 ( 59.99) and Nokia 3210 ( 99.99).

JWE is expected to soon announce that it has sold its chain of 21 shops probably to GMC Holdings which runs Mobile Phone Centre dealerships.

Following Mobile News story on September 18 about the proposed sale JWE CEO Tony Farmer said:

Theres been no further movement Im afraid. Im hoping to be able to tell you something fairly soon.

We announced back in July that we were looking to dispose of the retail businesses and that we were hoping to do so fairly soon. That is still the case.

We are in discussions with the same parties as we have been in discussions with all along. These things take time and because we are a public company. Im afraid I cant be any more forthcoming until the deal is done. Im hopeful that we will have something more concrete to say in time for the next issue of Mobile News said Farmer.

GMC Holdings has not issued any denial of our report that it was in line to pick up the JWE shops.

GMC has around 37 stores producing approximately 5000 connections a month.

The work has been done for us by Kendal-based company bfinternet (www.bfinternet.co.uk) who have already created over 400 websites and internet related projects.

Bfinternet set up a new division this year to develop content consultancy design and production services for WAP and the mobile internet. To date bfinternet have created over 2500 wml pages.

It is appropriate that Mobile News is one of the first magazines available on WAP said bfinternet managing director Andrew Read.

Ora will supply DX outlets with Ora and Grab-branded accessories. Grab is a new youth-orientated brand of coloured accessories designed to appeal to the teenage market Ora is currently expanding its operations and facilities. The company recently appointed a new managing director Ken Jacobson (Mobile News September 18).

A record 7000 visitors attended. And more than 70 per cent of available space for next years show has already been sold.

Said Siemens marketing manager Sue Rowe:

We expected a good response. In fact the show exceeded all our expectations.

One 2 One stand manager Bob Gumby noted:

Mobilexpo has been a great success for One 2 One. The quality of exhibitors and range of audience profile exceeded all our expectations.

Major players who have already booked their space for Mobilexpo 2001 include: Nokia Ericsson One 2 One Trium Siemens Motorola Philips Samsung Orange Ora Sagem and NEC.

Mobilexpo 2000 has been a tremendous success said exhibition director John Stuttard.

With over 7000 visitors this year we are proud to claim that Mobilexpo is without rival as the Number One event for the UK mobile dealer market. The quantity and quality of visitors has delighted our exhibitors. Feedback on site confirmed that we have exceeded their expectations.

Seminars were a great success with standing-room only for many of the sessions in the 70-seat rooms.

The OGC launched in October last year oversees the purchasing activity of some 200 Government departments and agencies.

Vodafones specialist service provider for the corporate market Vodafone Corporate has been given supplier status by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) under the Government Telecommunications Mobile (GTM) agreement.

OGC chief executive Peter Gershon said:

The major benefit to any public sector organisation purchasing products or services from the registered GTM service provider is that there is no requirement for the organisation to go through the usual tender process as the contracts have already been negotiated and price checked by independent consultants to the CCTA.

Vodafone has put in place a wide spectrum of products and services to provide total communications solutions for public sector organisations and this agreement provides us with the opportunity to help them run their businesses effectively and competitively.

We will also be able to highlight the benefits of new technologies such as m-commerce through Vodafones internet capabilities said Vodafone s UK chief executive Peter Bamford.

Vodafone Corporate has designed a range of tariffs specifically for the government marketplace.

In addition to its capacity as an advisor on mobile telecommunications issues to the Government Vodafone also acts as a supplier to the public sector including contracts with local regional and central Government departments such as the Ministry of Defence the NHS and the emergency services.

Also George Tennet formally of Ericsson Mobile Phones has joined Phones International data accessories division Data Select as business development director.

I am delighted to welcome these two key industry personalities to our management team. Richard and George will be bringing with them a wealth of knowledge understanding and vision that complements the ethos of our company going forward said Phones International group managing director and founder Peter Jones .