JWE paid 127000 cash for assets and fixed stock and 200000 for motor vehicles.

The rest of the 1.4 million will be paid over the next three years based on an earn-out agreement depending on the profitability levels of the acquired contracts.

The City liked the deal and JWEs shares rose by nearly 70p on the back of the news.

The network is luring subscribers from Orange Cellnet and Vodafone with the promise of 100 off their second or subsequent bill following suffessful transfer of their number to One 2 One.

At the same time the network has cut the monthly service charge of its Precept 100 time plan from 29 to 25.

Our research shows that many mobile phone users are unhappy with their own network but have not always been unable to switch to another provider becuase they need to keep their number said One 2 One managing director Tim Samples.

We believe number portability is a real boost for mobile phone customers and the increasing number of small businesses who rely on mobile telephony as a main way of communicating.

According to Oftels quarterly digest of UK telecoms statistics the average cost of all calls on One 2 One was 11.2p compared to an industry average of 30.1p a minute.

This acqusition is part of our strategy to expand into areas which provide the greatest opportunity to obtain good quality business said Radiophone MD George Black.

There will be no redundancies and National Telecoms founder Robert Carrington will become Radiophones marketing and creative business manager.

Cable and Wireless Communications was formed from the merger of Bell Cablemedia Mercury Communications Nynex CableComms and Videotron.

We believe CWC can provide the transmission network build we require now and in the future said Vodafone acting operations director Dave Targett.

The 12-month packages start at 149.99 and go up depending on the choice of handset such as the Motorola d520 Sony Z1 Plus Ericsson GH688 Nokia 5110 or Bosch Com608.

The service offers customers a next-day delivery on most items and four-day delivery on other stock.

Vodafone Retail has also been selling accessories pagers and Pay-As-You-Talk top-up cards over the Internet.

Vodafone is always looking to broaden the on-line customers shopping experience. Offering the opportunity to buy 12-month packages is a new service and one which we are sure will be a success said Vodafone Retail marketing director Helen Keays.

This follows meetings with manufacturers licencees and suppliers who were worried that the previous closure date of December 31 2001 might not allow enough time for users to change to the new PMR 446 service.

PMR 446 is a licence exempt short range voice comms system aimed at providing basic radio service for business and non-business users ideally over short distances within buildings factories and sites.

The Agency will now issue SRBR licenses until September 30 next year to give suppliers the chance to sell remaining stocks of SRBR radios. It will also wave the SRBR fee once the new PMR 446 service is introduced at the end of next February to bring SRBR into line with the new licence exempt service.

The GSM Association was set up in 1987 and oversees the running of mobile services around the world through meetings between its 600 members.

GSM Association members include network operators regulators administrative bodies and various manufacturers and suppliers.

The booth will be staffed between 6am and 7pm seven days a week by 12 Vodafone representatives. They will advise on general enquiries offer a battery charging facility for the 15 most popular mobile phones answer roaming questions explain how to use voicemail text messaging and shortcodes and manually switch networks when abroad offer automatic addition of international phone number-storing prefixes to Sims and demonstrate internet access using GPRS via a laptop and a PDA.

Vodafone says it is the first zone of its kind within an airport. The idea could be followed by similar projects in other

European airports.

The zone is located airside opposite the BA executive lounge.

Over 14 million individuals pass through Heathrows Terminal 1 each year. It is a vitally important gateway to the rest of Europe and a highly effective platform for us to reach international travellers with timely advice on how to make best use of their mobile phones abroad said Vodafone UK chief operating officer Gavin Darby.

Through the Vodafone Experience we aim to provide the education that ensures the potential for our customers is maximised Darby added.

Forty-four per cent of respondents worldwide said they would use such mobile cash capabilities if they could.

Intentions to use m-commerce were highest in Japan (50 per cent) followed by 46 per cent in Europe 43 per cent in the rest of Asia and 38 per cent in the US.

However only two per cent of mobile phone users worldwide reported having used m-commerce.

The study of 5600 mobile phone users on four continents also revealed that SMS is being used at least once a month by 80 per cent of mobile phone users in some

European countries.

The study also found that a third of respondents worldwide had an internet-enabled phone. However most users had never used the wireless internet capability.

The mobile portal market is going through a tough time now. But new technologies will help portals to become profitable.

Mobile operators and internet service providers should use their market position to improve and facilitate the take-up of mobile portal services instead of inhibiting the development of a new start-up Secchi says.

Mobile portals will account for over 55 million users by 2005 IDC Research claims.

IDC says advertising and entertainment services will play a big role in the future success of mobile portals as long as campaigns are targeted personalised and provide value to customers.