For example customers connecting to Frequent Caller Plus get their 20 monthly allowance doubled to 40.

After six months they submit copies of their first six months bills and claim a cheque for 120.

Occasional Caller Plus users get a 30 refund and Regular Caller Plus people get 90 back.

Everyone who buys a 5 top-up card between now and April 28 gets an instant win scratch card with the chance to win a share of the million minutes.

Vodafone is offering more than 33000 prizes of free airtime from 30 minutes to two top prizes of 10000 minutes.

To claim free minutes customers call the number of the winning panel and the calling credit equivalent to the value of free off-peak minutes is added to their account.

The promotion is being heavily advertised on radio and in the press and supported by posters and in-store merchandise and displays.

Vodafone is now selling Pay As You Talk top-up cards from its 240 stores Mobile Phone Centres and High Street retailers including Woolworths Tesco Sainsburys Somerfield Toys R Us Argos Comet Cash Converters Alldays and Shell garages.

The network has also teamed up with UniqueAir to sell top-up cards from cash-operated dispensers.

Said Vodafone retail marketing director Helen Keays:

Business customers prefer a more business-oriented environment and require a more bespoke service.

The Centre will lay on a personal business advisor for each local company that approaches it for products and service.

The tax which was introduce by Norman Lamont in 1991 affects around 350000 business users but only raised around 25 million.

Taxing something as fundamental to modern business as a phone was bound to raise increasing objections said Bosch divisional director Frank Einecke.

There has been a clear imbalance with the level of tax which could be as much as 80 a year he said.

According to managing director Charles Dunstone the site has so far received 900 e-mails and that the 100k a month revenue will be reached if current growth continues.

The challenge in building an e-retail centre was to ensure levels of customer service were replicated on-line. Initial sales results and customer feedback clearly shows this has been achieved said Andrew Skates head of Clarity the firm which developed the website.

The site has been set up to provide post-sales support following any transaction. Customer details are held on file so that every time they log on they receive a personalised response.

The success of the site is mainly due to the fact it is easy to navigate and provides a one-stop shop service. This removes any complication the obstacle which often stands between the consumer and technology Dunstone said.

PNC has paid 300000 for the subscribers. It will pay 100000 on completion with 25000 payable after six months and the balance calculated on an earn-out basis over a 12-month period.

We are now a virtual network able to pick the best products and margin opportunities from the six leading networks over which we route our call traffic said PNC chief executive Geremy Thomas.

PNC has agreements with AT&T BT Cable & Wireless Core Telecommunications Redstone Network Services and Vodafone.

The Eircell products which will go on sale next month include Ready to Go 087 GSM mobile phones and Up-Front an off-the-shelf style option which includes the cost of an annual contract and includes ten minutes air time per month.

Also on sale is a specially designed Eircell SIM Pack which means customers can just switch the SIM card in their handset with the Eircell SIM when travelling to the South.

The SIM pack enables customers to sign up to any of the Eircell Eirtime options. The decision stems from detailed research showing how people living in Northern Ireland particularly those who travel to Dublin for business reasons on a regular basis are incurring extra costs in terms of roaming charges from their usual UK mobile service provider.

Up to this point this was the only option available to those needing to use mobile services.

Even holidaymakers travelling to Eire at weekends pay large roaming bills. For instance Northern Ireland customers currently roaming with their mobile phones in the South are paying up to 54p a minute to receive a call 30p a minute to make a call in-land and 89p a minute to make a call back to the UK. Incoming calls are free.

Eircells Northern rep Elizabeth Doherty said:

It makes sense that our services in the Republic are made available to those who travel throughout Ireland

This is a result of its recent acquisition by The Carphone Warehouse. Cellnet packages to be sold by Tandy include U at 69.99 Easylife at 89.99 and a 12-month package at 129.99.

Around 35 per cent of Tandys total sales in the last quarter were for mobile phones giving it almost four per cent of the UK market.

The first leaflet in the series is about mobile number portability and explains how and what is involved for people who want to change.

The PocketPhone Shops Truth Campaign aims to ensure that consumers are aware of all the facts and the new leaflet outlines all the factors that consumers should be aware of when considering changing to a new operator says a statement from PocketPhone Shop.

The company is so confident it is giving correct advice about portability that it says it will give any customer who decides to switch networks 100.

The leaflet explains how dual-band phones work and gives a list of dual-band models currently on the market.