AnywhereYouGo.com is also launching Web-based testing tools that allow developers to test WAP applications on-line. Said James Pearce UK Director of AnywhereYouGo.com:

There are 27 WAP phones and more than a half a dozen gateways in use today. Each product has unique characteristics. So every combination of device and gateway can cause unpredictable results and wildly differing application performance.

This initiative will help accelerate the development and deployment of wireless applications. Both services provide developers and IT management with assurance that their applications will deliver on their promises which in turn directly contributes to the success of WAP and the wireless industry as a whole.

This follows Vodafones announcement last month that it is partnering with Casio for the development of mobile internet-enabled personal comms devices.

Trials will be held here from June to show how the mobile phone works with Panasonics new personal stereo which uses Secure Digital Memory Card technology.

Other developments will include lightweight colour-screen palmtop devices and handheld mobile units equipped with email internet camera and personal organisers.

This agreement is a key part of BTs mobile internet strategy to meet customer needs for personalised communications information and e-commerce anywhere and at anytime said BT director of mobility Sohail Qadri.

Matsushita director of multi-media communications Eiichiroh Murata added:

We are excited to be collaborating with BT on mobile multi-media as part of our plan to develop third generation infrastructure.

Data Select will distributing vouchers beyond Virgins current 10000 national multiples such as Sainsbury Texaco and BP to include thousands of independent corner shops and petrol stations.

Data Select claims it is one of the fastest-growing companies in the country and predicts revenues in excess of 100m in its third year of business.

Virgin Mobile has only been in the industry for six months yet has accomplished a great deal. It is the ideal partnership: two like-minded organisations operating benchmark companies at world leve. We expect huge growth for Virgin Mobile. To be part of this is strategically key and very exciting for our organisation said Data Select founder and chief executive Peter Jones.

Around 20 Motolec staff mainly engineers have now gone to work for DVH. Motolecs former director of operations David Arnold has now become head of service and installation at DVH. DVH and Motolec say that both sets of clients will benefit from increased capacity and better IT systems.

We are very proud of our first phone and of the speed at which the factory is up and running said Komarom managing director Jyrki Jalasto.

Nokia has called its latest mobile phone factory The Factory of the Future because of the state-of-the-art technology. The factory already employs some 200 people and the number of employees is expected to reach about 1000 by the end of the year.

The decision by Nokia on the investment was made in July of 1998 on the basis of the growing need for additional manufacturing capacity. Hungary and the Komarom region were chosen for the favorable geographic situation the existing infrastructure and the presence of ahighly skilled and well-educated workforce.

Press will manage NECs UK interest in NEC-sponsored sports (Davis Cup and World Golf Championships) and UK sponsorships such as Harlequins rugby club.

The services range from free itemised billing to software that contains a single report for all the mobile phones on one account.

These billing management products have been designed especially for our business customers. There is a package to suit every business no matter what their sizecommented Vodafone Retail managing director Ian Gray.

Vodafone Retails business advisors will recommend which billing management product will be most suitable by looking at companies individual requirements. Packages on offer allow customers to analyse how all their mobiles are being used both individually and collectively. Bills are received the way the customer wants them.

Vodafone Value Watch is for businesses that require sophisticated information about their monthly bills. Every month customers receive a CD-ROM that contains an electronic version of their monthly bill. Charts tables and graphics allows customers to segment and analyse their bill.

Vodafone Vision Plus provides small to medium-sized businesses with a paper-based report sent free of charge in addition to their standard bill. It contains information that shows usage and spend.

The UWCC is a Washington-based international consortium of more than 100 wireless carriers and vendors supporting the TDMA EDGE and WIN technology standards.

Both the UWCC and GSM Association share the common objective of providing seamless voice and high speed data solutions for subscribers around the world said GSM Association chief executive Robert Conway.

This joint effort enables global operators from our respective associations to focus on customer solutions through cooperative development efforts.

This development fits extremely well with the GSM Associations establishment of the GSM Global Roaming Forum which will enable global TDMA and GSM operators to develop full interoperability.

Umesh Amin chairman of the UWCC stated: Its time the carriers moved beyond the discussion of the various technical proposals at the ITU level and begin working on deployable global solutions.

The two organisations will work to resolve issues such as membership participation exchange of information and Intellectual Property Rights and technical development on roaming between TDMA and GSM systems.

TDMA network operators currently serve an estimated 65 million subscribers globally. UWCC members include: Alcatel AT&T BellSouth Cellular Corp Cable and Wireless Compaq Ericsson Hughes Network Systems Motorola Nokia and Nortel.

The GSM Association represents the interests of 405 GSM satellite and 3rd Generation network operators regulators and administrative bodies from 142 countries of the world. The Associations members provide digital GSM services to over 250 million customers globally.