A new class of amateur radio licence is to be launched next month as part of the re-structuring of the way amateur radio bands are allocated says the Radiocommunications Agency.

The company has also announced plans to expand its nation-wide personnel complement of 500 by around 10 per cent to keep pace with growth.

These are Talk 400 (400 minutes for 58.75 a month) Talk 1300 (1300 minutes for 176.25 a month) Talk 3700 (3700 minutes for 470.00 a month) and Talk 7500 (7500 minutes for 940.00 per month).

Up to 100 handsets can be connected to one talk plan. Larger corporate customers will also be able to design their own tariffs.

Orange is also now offering corporate customers the L7089 tri-band Motorola which can operate on GSM1900 networks in North America as well as GSM1800 and GSM900 networks in Europe.

In September Orange will launch a high-speed mobile internet access providing data rates from 28.8kb/s up to 64 kb/s – up to six times the current speed of the Orange wirefree network and with speeds comparable to many current commercial modems.

Orange is also increasing its support for business customers with the expansion of a dedicated business sales team to manage corporate accounts and a specialist business bureau within Orange customer services to handle business-only enquiries. For personal customers Orange will now offer Talk 30 (30 minutes of talk time for 17.50 a month) and Talk 120 (120 minutes for 25.00 a month).

Access to the range of Orange internet services will be charged at normal Orange data rates. There will be no monthly subscription and internet access can also be used as part of a customers inclusive minutes. Data transmission up to six times faster than current data speeds from 28.8kbs up to 64 kbs will be available via a high-speed circuit switched data (HSCSD) service.

This is an enhancement to Oranges existing circuit-switched network technology. It follows an investment of over 10 million. Orange says the rollout of the new service will make it the first UK mobile operator to offer high speed data rates this side of the millennium.

Current speeds for dial up connection from a mobile to the internet or corporate intranet is a relatively slow 9.6 kbs. HSCSD is the first stage in the evolution of second generation GSM to third generation UMTS technology.

Oranges first videophone will be a palm-held device which will provide full video and audio communication capabilities e-mail access internet browsing organiser applications and handwriting recognition via a 10cm diagonal full-colour screen.

The product is a result of a collaboration with scientists at the University of Strathclyde who have developed a new way of compressing data.

This protocol says Orange will enable the network to offer unrivalled video compression and transmit high-quality full-colour moving images over Orange at speeds six times faster than current data speeds and matching those offered by the majority of fixed-line modems.

The videophone will weigh approximately 350g. Pricing for the device and associated video-based services will be announced later this year. First models are scheduled for completion by the end of this year with full scale production expected in 2000.

The screen will be touch sensitive featuring fully interactive icon desktop for ease of use. It will also offer the ability for touch screen dialling via numeric keys and in-built directory. Users will be able to initiate and receive both video and standard audio calls at rates of up to 12 frames-per-second. It will allow handsfree operation in video and audio mode with the loudspeaker doubling as an earpiece and the microphone as a mouthpiece.

For privacy the videophone will also support detachable earpiece headsets. The multimedia features are promised to be extensive. Users will be able to store video stills and clips and even send them as e-mail attachments says Orange.

The phone will run on the Windows CE 3.0 operating system and be dual-band.

VodafoneAirtouchs USA subsidiary Airtouch Cellular is buying the whole issued share capital of CommNet for $764 million in cash plus $600 million in debt at a rate of $31 a share.

The deal which is expected to take five months to complete will add vast new regions to AirTouchs coverage in the Western USA.

CommNet offers coverage in Colorado Montana North Dakota South Dakota Utah and Wyoming giving access to 3.6 million potential customers. CommNet currently has 360000 subscribers.

CommNet is owned by a private equity fund of the investment bank the Blackstone Group.

CommNet shareholders will get $31 a share in cash plus eight per cent interest until the deal closes.

CommNets markets are well managed and fit ours like a hand in glove said VodafoneAirTouch chief executive Chris Gent.

This deal will allow customers to enjoy the benefits of AirTouch over a much broader area. It will cut our roaming costs and offer significant marketing synergies.

Customers can log on to MPRCs website and access their own account using a special password.

Their phones repair progress is logged on the web site from the moment of collection. Customers can follow the repair progress from booking in to despatch.

We repair more than 85 per cent of phones within 24 hours. This new service will let customers know the exact status of their phones at any time of the day or night said Mobile Phone repair Company managing director Steve Cuthbert.

The Mobile Phone Repair Company was set up as a specialist repair company within the Caudwell Group in 1996 and now claims to repair more than 23000 phones a month. It is authorised to handle repairs for Ericsson Bosch Panasonic Alcatel and Nokia phones among others.

Weatherill was named Technology and Communication Entrepreneur of the Year (North Region).

Emanuel was presented with the trophy for Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Scotland).

The Entrepreneur Of The Year programme was created in 1986 by Ernst & Young in the USA where it is now established as the pre-eminent awards scheme of its type.

The awards now take place in 19 further countries including Canada Germany France the Netherlands Belgium Italy Ireland Spain South Africa Brazil and India.

So says a survey ordered by service provider RSL COM which quizzed telecoms managers in 200 businesses with four or more employees.

RSL COM is the American telecoms company which a year ago acquired Motorola Telco.

The survey indicates that only six per cent of businesses currently have a single supplier for fixed and mobile comms.

The research notes that many telecoms managers feel there is a need for specialist suppliers due to the increasing complexity of the industry. They recognise that a single telecoms source would be financially and strategically beneficial said RSL COMs director of indirect sales Matt Crabtree.

Package information is in Braille large print or on tape. Parts of the phone user guide and monthly phone bills are presented in the same way as is billing information.

The package includes a Nokia 5110 (at 9.99) chosen for large keys of varying shapes for easy identification and the Nokia Navikey for easy access of the phones functions.