We were under-represented on the High Street in Northern Ireland said Byrom Bramwell general manager of Vodafone (NI) a subsidiary of Vodafone Group.

Our 26 million investment programme over the last year has increased coverage in the province he added. Vodafone already has stores in Belfast.

Early indications hint that 1998 was yet another record breaking year for global GSM take-up and that GSM has overtaken analogue world-wide said the GSM Association.

Year end totals are expected to show 135 million customers – exceeding early industry predictions by as much as 15 million.

We believe that around 65 million customers signed up for GSM services in 1998 almost doubling the previous years total taking GSM to 45 percent of the world wireless market or 62 percent of the global digital market said Richard Midgett chairman of the GSM Association.

On the back of this we predict with confidence that the 1999 year end total could soar as high as 250 million.

The GSM Association represents 323 GSM and GSM/Satellite operators administrators and regulators from 129 countries .

GSM impact once again stretched far and wide in 1998. By the mid year point China became the largest single GSM market in the world maintaining its lead to reach more than the 18 million level by close of the year.

It is also important to note that by mid point last year the world GSM total overtook the total for all analogue customers for the first time ever. By end year we saw GSM outstripping analogue growth by one and a third said Midgett.

We also witnessed significant and widespread take up of a host of GSM value added services apart from voice usage in many markets he added.

Both organisations have completed the first phase of a trial. More trials will be carried out based around the W-DCMA system which NEC has been involved in developing with Japanese network operator NTT DoCoMo.

The W-DMA technology has been adopted by the European Telecoms Standards Institute (ETSI) as the air interface for UMTS.

JWEs founder John Weatherill remains executive chairman.

Farmer will be responsible for the strategic direction and operational management.

Farmer joined JWE just over three years ago. He was heavily involved in recent acquisitions by JWE such as the recent purchase of AA Mobile Communications (Mobile News January 11) and Midland Phones.

Meanwhile JWE has followed up its sponsorship of Hull Sharks Rugby League team (Mobile News January 11) with the decision to sponsor with Cellnet a new 1 million Performing Arts Centre planned for East Yorkshire.

The sponsorship will cost JWE 50000. The Centre will host concerts plays debates and conferences.

JWE is keen to help local students develop communication skills and is pleased to have linked up with Cellnet to provide sponsorship for this project said Farmer.

Brogden (28) pleaded guilty to dirving with excesss alcohol in his breath in Eccleston Square Westminster on January 1.

He was seen by police changing lanes and giving late signals. He was found to be more than two-and-a-half times over the legal limit.

Most of the managers using laptops and cell phones tend to by under 35 years old.

The survey found that the more e-mails people send and receive the more likely they are to use mobile phones with laptops.

Usage is highest in the financial services sector followed by people in media and marketing.

Retailers and executives in the travel and leisure industry are less inclined to use mobile data says the Cellnet and BT survey.

Cellnet and BT meanwhile have launched a new corporate division called Cellnet Corporate Solutions to persuade the corporate world of the benefits of mobile comms.

Cellnet Corporate Solutions will target businesses who need long-term systems rather than random procurement of products and services.

Motorola shared the award with De La Rue and Logica who all worked on the worlds first dual-slot GSM phone. De La Rue provided the java-powered SIM toolkit card while Logica contributed the m-Commerce server.

The phone lets consumers download electronic cash directly to the smart cards in their phone and make on-line payments for electronic shopping trips via the Internet and retailers IT systems.

This award is recognition of the role that mobile commerce will play in the future of communications. Personal access to smart card services is the key that will ignite the market said Joachim Hoffman director of mobile commerce business at Motorola cellular subscriber group.

Logica group telecommunications director Kevin Duffey predicts that by next December more than 5.1 million Europeans could be spending more than 2.7 billion using mobile phones for e-commerce.

He is Peter Scott who joined the company from software company Oracle where he was managing director of direct marketing for Europe Middle East and Africa.

Scott (44) says he will put in place a co-ordinated strategy for customer services based on well-trained people and technology.

As part of this strategy the company has announced a trade marketing executive to develop brand loyalty through regional independent dealer channels.

The new executive is Julie Paul who was formerly Ericssons regional co-ordinator. Her job will be to develop product training and education for all Ericsson product ranges handle new store openings dealer events and partner support.

Ericsson is constantly looking to improve and strengthen its relationship with dealers and offer education on the full handset range. Julie adds a vital dimension to achieving these goals said Ericsson channel marketing manager Vijay Anand.

At the same time Ericsson has strengthened its marketing department with specialist appointments in advertising direct- marketing sales promotion and research and dealer support.

Ex-ad agency media planner Lindsay James will be responsible for Ericssons above the line advertising sponsorship and overall research strategy.

Ex-Zanussi marketing communications executive Paul Freeman is now at Ericsson and in charge of point-of-sale materials and promotional campaigns for Ericsson distributors and retailers.

Research analyst Stephen Bassnett joins Ericsson to handle market share analysis and consumer product awareness.

Fran Mirowski also joins the department as marketing executive for Ericsson;s dealer support programme. She was previously with direct marketing agency Wunderman Cato Johnson.

We are delighted to announce these appointments. These latest recruits have a good blend of experience and creativity said Ericsson marketing director Alex Rodrigues.

Under the terms of the deal UniqueAir will take responsibility for warehousing management of inventory administrative services and distribution of product direct to Racals customer base.

Through this partnership Racal Telecom will be able to improve further the quality and reliability of customer service said UniqueAirs MD Peter Edwards.