The company which is under new management has been in various negotiations to secure new leases for 92 stores. It says it is still on track to open between one and two new stores a week in the lead up to Christmas.

Meanwhile Phones4U has opened a a further three stores: in Cwmbran Colchester and Yeovil.

GFKs findings show Nokia still holds a daunting lead over Siemens with a 55.3 per cent market share. Motorola was third with 6.7 per cent followed by Samsung (6.6 per cent) and Sony Ericsson (6.2 per cent).

Siemens UK managing director for mobile devices Jonathan Bate said the company had leapfrogged Motorola Sony Ericsson and Samsung to attain second position. Siemens wants a 15 per cent market share by the Autumn.

We sold 850000 phones over Christmas. That means one in eight phones sold was a Siemens. Everyone else lost market share over Christmas but Siemens gained significantly he said.

We achieved this with a plan that was implemented over the past nine months with all our major customers. We have a whole portfolio of products coming out. Our next goal is to reach 15 per cent market share by the end of September. We are selling handsets on all the networks and we have established a great relationship with the retailers and distributors claimed Bate.

Boase founded one of the UKs leading advertising agencies Boase Massimi Pollitt in 1968 which was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1983.

He was chairman of the Advertising Association from 1987 to 1992 and is currently chairman of outdoor advertising company The Maiden Group Heals The Investment Trust of Investment Trusts and Jupiter Dividend and Growth Investment Trust.

Bango.net has also raised 2.8 million from Credit Lyonnais Herald Ventures Close Brothers and ETCapital.

The money will be used to develop technology that makes the mobile internet accessible on mobile devices and to accelerate sales to content providers in key growth areas.

The mobile internet will prove to be an exciting area for media players and content providers because it provides greater interactivity and a more flexible charging model than that currently provided by other forms of online marketing such as SMS text messaging said Boase.

Bango.net works with network operators such as Telefonica BTCellnet KPN and Mitsubishi while Bango technology helps content providers world-wide to promote their services.

The company says over 30 portals and mobile operators provide Bango services to over 20 million users world-wide.

Interim figures also show a 20 per cent growth in turnover to 540 million up from 447.9 million the year before.

Carphone Warehouse shops connected more than 1.4 million customers in the last six months up 14 per cent.

In the five weeks to November 3 connections numbered 308000 with 59 per cent of these in favour of contracts an improvement of 11 per cent.

The market is increasingly focused on handset replacement rather than first-time buyers. These factors play to our strengths said Carphone Warehouse chairman Charles Dunstone.

Our performance over the last six months demonstrates our ability to attract higher-spending customers.

Our mix profile continued to significantly outperform the market and increase in favour of more valuable subscription customers added Dunstone.

This follows an agreement with mobile games provider IN-FUSIO which already supplies its mobile games service to the UK and France.

Weve delivered downloadable games services for over a year with more than 10 million games sessions played and paid for. said IN-FUSIO founder Gilles Raymond.

The extension of our gaming service to the whole of the Orange group gives us a potential end-user base of more than 40 million customers.

Orange head of games Alan Welsman said: Orange is determined to be the preferred network for mobile entertainment. This deal represents the next stage in the evolution towards a console gaming experience on the mobile phone.

Ringtones.co.uk says the ringtone sector will be worth over 30 million in Britain alone this year and 700 million worldwide. The company was set up last year.

Ringtones expects to deliver content to over two million handsets by April next year.

The company reckons nearly 60 per cent of mobile phone owners in the UK prefer to have customised ringtones and 60 per cent of these people change their ringtone on a regular basis.

Were also seeing tremendous growth in companies wanting to offer our services to their own customers through their websites says director Andy Mills.

He is Harvard-educated Tim Whiting (36) who worked with the 250 million turnover RHM Group for eight years. He joined as commercial director in 1993.

Singlepoint is described by Caudwell Group as the UKs largest independent airtime retailer. The company has had some issues with poor customer service this year which has resulted in some negative press coverage.

The division has also been affected by the delayed roll-out of a new telephone system and software.

We have specific challenges in addressing technical change and creating a culture focused on customer service said Whiting.

Significant funds have been made available to provide all our people with the systems and skills to develop Singlepoints position as a leading player in this sector.

Network operators manufacturers distributors and dealers that register will be able to buy or sell stock globally with anonymity.

The service is designed to deal with the huge overstock problems faced in Europe and demand in Asia and Africa.

Mloop looks after all aspects of the sale including verification of stock electronic payments and logistics. Its understood a number of network operators have already signed up with the service prior to the launch. Mloop declined to comment.

Curran told CellStar he wanted to leave some time ago as he was unable to continue to spend time travelling overseas because of family commitments.

Yes Telecoms Colin Jones invited me to join last year. But CellStar asked me to remain to complete the strategic review Curran told Mobile News.

It has been a 12-month exit plan. I talked to Yes Telecom founders Colin Jones and Freddie Fazelynia. It became obvious there was a route for all three of us to work together. Ive been offered the opportunity to be a partner in the business. Ill be concentrating on sales while Colin Jones will be looking after day-to-day operations.

Curran says Yes Telecom is looking to offer prestige service to high-value business subscribers.

There is a niche market where high-value customers are not just looking for the cheapest service but the best service. We will offer a gold-star service.

Cellstar had a good year. Sales remained stable and grew a little. I worked to put forward some proposals. Whatever they decide to do will be a difficult decision for them. I enjoyed a great career there.

They were aware of my plans to go to Yes Telecom. They trusted me and were happy for me to complete the strategic review.