Ready to Go customers will be able to send and receive SMS messages of up to 160 characters at 10p for each message sent. Receipt of incoming messages is free.

Eircell is delighted to be the first mobile operator in Ireland to offer pre-paid customers SMS capability said Eircell chief executive Stephen Brewer.

Eircell recently brought out an off-peak tariff for post-pay customers which allowed them 200 minutes a month for 25 a month for calls made after 6pm.

However rival network Esat Digifone stole a march on Eircell last month when it announced it would be investing more than IR 1.5 million in a WAP service that will allow its customers to access some internet content news sport weather airline information betting odds stock prices and entertainment news from the screen of their handset.

Brewer says at least a fifth of the Irish population now has a mobile phone connected to Eircell.

We aim to make mobile phone insurance as easy and as profitable to sell as an accessory said Intec sales and marketing director Charlo Carabott.

Handset policies are still prohibitively high for many subscribers.

Intecs insurance now offers customers the lowest and most attractive premiums available he claimed.

Intec says it has introduced a paperless procedure for selling the cover. Dealers are being offered the option to package the policies as they choose and are available to any dealer who have a credit line with them. Intecs insurance package is the first of a roll-out of services in addition to its core business of servicing and repairing handsets.

The company wants to establish itself as the leading post-sales support specialist.

The campaign continues the v dot theme currently used in Virgin Mobiles TV and print ads with a mix of banners and buttons on key target sites in the UK. Virgin aims to sell 25 per cent of its phones over the web by the end of its first year.

We guarantee a purchase of a phone in just three clicks from our home page. Our web strategy is to sell an enormous amount of phones on-line this Christmas. E-commerce is the way of the future and central to Virgin Mobiles philosophy said Virgin Mobile brand director James Kydd.

The phone is at the heart of two rapidly growing markets the internet and mobile communications which are finding points of convergence. And we are at its vanguard. One of our key target markets for Virgin Mobile is PC owners especially those that are currently online Kydd claimed.

V.attractive features a button with a magnet attracting lots of Virgin Mobile logos and will run on Easyeverything X-Stream Motley Fool and Zoom.

V.sexy features lots of Vs coming together to make a row of XXXXs becoming v.sexy and will appear on Sky Sports FHM Online and Handbag.com.

V.ip rotates with the word only and will run on film site Popcorn.co.uk and Time Out on-line.

V.sound features a spinning vinyl record and will run on Virgin Radio and the Ministry of Sound websites were aiming for 25 per cent of our sales.

We want our customers to be able to use the web from their phones. All Virgin Mobile phones come with complete mobile e-mail compatibility for any e-mail user. Whether they use Freeserve AOL or Virgin Net or any other provider for that matter said Kydd

Meanwhile Virgin Mobile has joined four other competitors tendering to provide Virgin Rail with mobile phone business.

The deal is for between 1000 and 2000 phones and is just one of many commercial contracts Virgin Mobile is looking at according to a Virgin spokesman.

A number of entertainment content channels are to be launched over the next year for WAP enabled mobile phones and wireless PDAs as well as the growing market for portable wireless games consoles.

The games range from simple quiz and puzzle games to more elaborate multi-user gaming experiences.

Games currently available for WAP devices include single player Quizcall a multi-choice quiz game; Hangman Codebreaker and Follow Me. Multi-player titles available and in development are Fours Tic Tack Toe a two-player Pokemon-style fighting game multi-player Poker Black Jack Horse Racing and Fight KOs .

Our vision is to create mobile entertainment platforms giving people access to entertainment any place at any time said Digital Bridges managing director Kevin Bradshaw.

Nokia CEO Jorma Ollila also said it would be possible to reach net sales growth of 30 to 40 per cent in the year 2000 which would exceed Nokias long term target of 25 to 35 per cent.

Ollila anticipates that the first third generation (3G) network orders will be received in 2000 and that there will be continued emphasis on increasing market share in the mobile phone business with Nokias target being to grow faster than the market.

Nokias intent is to create the Mobile Information Society by combining mobility and the internet and stimulating the creation of new services. In mobile phones Nokia sees new product segments emerging through convergence of the internet multimedia applications and connectivity.

The money has been put up by a group of international investors led by American telecommunications pioneer Craig McCaw.

McCaw and Indian media entrepreneur Subhash Chandra are providing the new financing required by ICO.

McCaw and Chandra will provide up to 62 percent and 38 percent respectively of the equity funding required for ICO to escape bankruptcy.

McCaw is chairman of Teledesic LLC which is building a global Internet-in-the-Sky satellite communications network.

McCaw and Microsofts Bill Gates are the companys two primary founding investors. Chandra is chairman of Essel Group a leading Indian conglomerate.

These two entrepreneurs share a common vision of the benefits that ICO can bring to the world said ICO chief executive officer Richard Greco.

Both Craig McCaw and Subhash Chandra contribute tremendous strengths to the ICO effort in their respective parts of the world.

McCaw and his affiliated companies Teledesic and Eagle River Investments will lead a group of existing ICO investors to provide $225 million in debtor-in-possession financing as well as $275 million in a second financing round expected to be completed by the end of January 2000.

The balance of the first tranche of $225 million and the second tranche of $275 million has now been approved.

McCaw and his affiliates also agreed to commit up to an additional $700 million for exit financing expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2000 dependent upon court approval and implementation of the ICO reorganisation plan.

This portion of the financing plan will be open to participation by ICOs existing creditors and shareholders. the total investment of $1.2 billion will enable ICO to complete build-out of its system and will provide working capital to the company up to the launch of its global mobile satellite services in the second quarter of 2001.

Talking Ads is an interactive call response business set up four years ago and generates 2.5 million a year in call revenue.

PNC Tele.com will pay 1.4 million cash on completion and 1.4 million in shares ( 2.20) with a further 100000 two months later and another 4.1 million paid half in shares depending on future profit performance.

PNC Tele.com is also buying for 50000 cash the customer services base of Arena Online Services a subsidiary of Arena Leisure (subject to a one-year earn-out).

Both acquisitions are effective businesses that complement our existing operations and have substantial scope for further expansion said PNC Tele.com chief executive Geremy Thomas.

Our partnership with ITIS demonstrates our commitment to providing a comprehensive range of wirefree multimedia services to meet the needs of our customers said Orange chief operations officer Bob Fuller.

However Orange has been criticised by shutting off access to many other web sites from its own portal (see P40 P54 P56).

Orange is selling the 7110e for 129.99 with no charge for access to multi-meida services until the end of January.

After that access to WAP will be part of a customers monthly call allowance and 5p a minute after that.

ITIS was set up in 1997 as a provider of telematics services and travel-related information.

It provides real-time information updated every 10 minutes for specified routes.

Personal mobility has always been high on our agenda and the launch of the new handset has enbaled us to provide this service. We are delighted to be working with Orange and look forward to further developing and enhancing the range of services offered through the network said ITIS chairman Stuart Marks.

The company Red Message has been set up by two ex-executives of Swedish mobile phone operator Telia.

The idea is for businneses to link customers to their own web site or call centre to hand sales and service transactions via a GSM phone.

Users log into www.redmessage.com register and add and delete the web sites they want to retrieve information from.

Red Message is operator independent so the service works for any GSM subscriber on any network as long as their phone supports text messaging.

Increasing mobility among the European market has led consumers to demand information is sent to them wherever and whenever liberating them from their PCs said Red Message marketing director Steven Yurisich.

The potential value for any business with an online presence to gain access to almost half the UK adult population through an immediate effective and mobile medium is explosive he added.

Red Message will develop services based on WAP phones when they reach the mass market.

They are Somchul Rashid (Which Mobile 23 Green Lane Ilford Essex) and Peter Kubis (The Phone Inn 21 Crewe Road Sandbach Cheshire). Rashid and Kubis have undertaken to comply with the Rules of the Scheme. The FCS says it has been satisfied that steps have been taken to do so. Anyone in the industry is now free to trade with Rashid and Kubis subject to the Rules of the Scheme.