He will report directly to UK managing director Philip Rambech. Hughes was previously country manager for Panasonic Ireland for four-and-a-half years and also worked for mobile phone distributors Brightpoint Ireland and Central Communications.
Hughes will oversee the BenQ-Siemens brand campaign in Ireland and look to increase its share of the Irish market through its new portfolio of 3G and multimedia devices.

Nokia s share in CDMA lags well behind its dominance in GSM. The new joint-venture would account for around 20 per cent of the global CDMA market a figure that is comparable to Samsung s share.
Nokia which already sources handset components from Sanyo brings to the table a range of entry-level and mid-range CDMA devices. Sanyo is better known for its mid- to high-end CDMA kit. Nokia has relationships with 60 CDMA operators around the globe. Sanyo has strong relationships with CDMA operators in Japan and North America.
This is the best way to create an attractive CDMA phone portfolio said Nokia president and COO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.
The deal is expected to be finalised next quarter and the venture to begin operations in Q3.

A spokesman for the company said he could not reveal the size of the investment or its source but said the money would not be in the form of a cash injection. It would be available to call down once an acquisition opportunity emerged.
Part of the company s strategy is to develop an e-commerce package for dealers as a white-label offering. The package will be hosted by Fone Logistics but each customer would be able to put their own branding on the product. The spokesman said the offering would be developed through acquisition.
Other moves include the extension of Fone Logistic s recently acquired distribution contract with Nokia. The company is currently in negotiations with two other handset manufacturers over similar deals.
The company has also announced the appointment of two non-executive directors. Mike Bower and Gary Fawcett are both former executives at Link Telecom. Both men have secured a shareholding in Fone Logistics. This forms part of the company s new financing which also includes other private investors and bank funding. The spokesman declined to confirm the size of the new non-execs shareholding.
The move aims to show the dealer community that Fone Logistics intends to remain independent following the news that rival Phones International Group received a multi-million pound war chest from Credit Suisse a fortnight ago.
Fone Logistics managing director Ian Gillespie said: Fone Logistics is a popular with independent dealers because we are independent.

The service allows users to browse more than 600000 full-length tracks in a wide range of genres. Downloads will cost 1.50 each plus standard GPRS charges.
MobMusic also includes a free PC application that enables users to transfer their existing catalogue of CDs and mp3s on to their mobile.
There is also an exclusive music discovery service available via PC. The Music Room allows MobMusic members to listen to and purchase their favourite music 24/7 direct to their mobile.
For 1.50 a week members also receive their own Music Locker that keeps a record of all the tracks they buy so if they change or lose their phone they can download the track again for free. Members also receive other music offers including gig tickets and pre-release exclusives.
Monstermob CEO Martin Higginson claimed the service s independence guaranteed transparency of pricing and promised it would deliver a compelling service where others have failed .

The latest ABC-audited circulation figure for the period July 1 to December 31 last year now puts the newspaper´s circulation ahead of its main rival and proves it is the most widely-read UK mobile trade publication.

We re pleased he said. The content providers are pleased. We are looking at having 200 sites on i-mode by the end of the year.
O2 is looking for more handsets to add to the current clutch of i-mode-compatible phones the NEC 343i NEC 411i Samsung S500i and Samsung Z320i. The first addition the Samsung S400 is available now.
Griffiths said that the network planned to increase activity within the shopping section as users become more comfortable making transactions using their handsets.

T-Mobile now requires dealers to have their own dealer codes to connect. It wants increased control of its dealer base since the launch of its popular Flext tariffs say distributors.
"The trial was intended to encourage new stockists" said a T-Mobile spokesperson. "We are now reverting to the old system which is slightly more refined and simple. It will only really affect dealers that have become stockists in the past year."
One Avenir dealer said: "T-Mobile wants to regulate its dealers individually. It doesnt want dealers connecting through Avenirs dealer code. It wants them to connect via their own code. That way if dealers are selling its product unscrupulously it can keep an eye on it."
Fone Logistics marketing manager Julian Parven added: "T-Mobile relaxed the rules recently to encourage dealers to trade in its tariffs. But T-Mobile has since prevented dealers hiding behind a universal code. Were in favour of this."
Hugh Symons business manager Bob Sweetlove said: "It is a quality control thing. Most networks say that the risk lies with the distributor. Naturally the risk with a distributor code is that some dealers will put through good value connections and some wont. So there will be an average."

A recent trial on London Underground saw WideRay transmit free Channel 4 documentary clips from a jack point on station platforms to commuters mobile phones.
Johnson said that 151000 people were prompted to opt in to the service during the two-week trial period.
Johnson said the company s aim was to build some 15000 locations across Europe.

The move will set it and Microsoft up against RIM s hugely successful BlackBerry range.
Vodafone s Windows Mobile Email synchronises e-mails and tasks from Microsoft Outlook. Microsoft Excel and Word attachments can be viewed edited and returned. Windows Mobile Email integrates with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 software. It incorporates the Messaging and Security Feature Pack.
Vodafone will supply the service with v1240 and v1640 handsets by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC. Other handsets will be made available for the UK market.
Vodafone chief marketing officer Peter Bamford said: Mobile e-mail is simple security-enhanced and easy to set up. It enables customers to remain productive and organised when out of the office.
The service will also be available to business and SME customers in other countries during 2006.

Hugh Symons dealer managers have been approaching dealers over the past fortnight to market fulfilment connections via mail order web- and distance sales on a co-branded site together with Vanilla Mobile.
Dealers will receive between 25 and 85 commission depending on the volume and quality of the connections. Vanilla Mobile takes care of the fulfilment process including credit checks dispatch and cashback.
We are talking to dealers admitted a Hugh Symons dealer manager.
It is another plank of our expansion programme he said.
Carphone Warehouse director of indirect distribution Steve Fraser said that a wider dealer initiative went live in January.
Hugh Symons business manager Bob Sweetlove said: It s a Carphone Warehouse product. It s not specific to Hugh Symons Communications.
One dealer who declined to be named said: Hugh Symons is just warming people up at the moment to see who is ready to take it on. You put a web site up under your own brand. The Vanilla Mobile brand also appears. You market it and Vanilla Mobile takes care of all the processes.
Faisal Sheikh of Fone Doctors said: We market it and take a cut depending on the customers we connect. It s such a simple idea and I have heard other distributors talk about it in the past.