The official name for their activity is Device Management.

This is the engineering term for technology that enables service providers and networks to pre-configure phones and mobile devices and install or upgrade software.

The idea is that customers will get a pay and play experience without having to deal with customer support.

Todays wireless devices and network services extend beyond voice communications to a vast array of mobile data solutions.

To promote widespread adoption of these solutions Motorola has been committed to developing and commercially deploying platforms supporting industry standards such as SyncML for mobile data management said Ralph Pini chief technical officer of Motorolas personal communications sector.

Motorola is developing SyncML-based handsets and wireless solutions that will incorporate Device Management capabilities.

During their trials the companies will demonstrate these new capabilities on a prototype Motorola mobile phone.

At the time of going to press no decision had been made. Robson Rhodes partner Simon Bowers said:

We are still in negotiations with interested parties who are going thought the due diligence process to ensure they can take the business forward .

Orange says it is now the leading network in the UK with 12.4 million active UK customers. But Vodafone claims it has 13.1 million registered customers and that 2.1 million of its own 8.2 million prepaid customers were inactive by not using their phone in the last three months.

This reduces Vodafone active customers to 11 million giving the Newbury network 1.4 million less customers than Orange.

Latest Q4 figures show Vodafone has 6.2 million active prepay users compared with 4.8 million contract holders Orange has 3.7 million contract customers and 8.6 million prepay customers Orange says it would have 656000 more customers it if counted them the way other operators did.

Vodafone agreed it would be ideal if all networks reported their numbers equally but that it might not be practical. If these mystery customers were included Oranges would have more two million more customers than Vodafone. Orange excludes anyone not making at least one outgoing call or receive four incoming calls every three months.

Average revenue per user from Orange contract customers is 550 per year each compared to 121 from prepay customers. Vodafones contract ARPU is 530 per year compared to annual prepay ARPU 132.

Thus Vodafones prepay users generate a quarter of its revenues. Oranges prepay customers make up nearly 70 per cent they only generate a third of its revenues.

Under new guidelines from the Lord Chief Justice regarding harsher sentences for mobile phone muggers made in London last week the accused boy could face a custodial sentence.

A survey of 3300 people in 11 markets showed people welcomed the idea of receiving an electronic coupon that could be cashed in at a nearby shop.

A third of the survey sample said they would actually welcome such marketing.

The study interviewed people in Brazil Denmark Germany Italy Japan Korea Singapore Spain Sweden the UK and US. They were asked about experiencing m-marketing in the form of a received SMS sales message.

Respondents would also be happy with viewing a logo at the beginning or end of the programmes.

The study also dealt with consumers who had expressed interest in mobile visual entertainment.

Around 76 per cent said they would find it acceptable if the programmes they viewed were punctuated with very short ads.

Over a half of these respondents said that they would not see advertising as an intrusion if it was presented to them in the same way as on television.

They were asked if receiving some advertising on their mobiles would be acceptable if it helped to keep the cost of mobile services down. Nearly nine out of 10 supported this.

The study said the essentials to the consumer in the field of m-marketing included the facilities to decide whether or not to receive messages to bypass sales messages easily to tailor the types of message received and to get something back in return.

BTCellnet will introduce a new computer system that will help block calls being made across its network from stolen handsets. A system upgrade will track early call attempts on its network from a stolen handset before blocking them. Vodafone will block Sim cards used in stolen pre-pay handsets from the end of February. Contract handsets will be included by the end of June. Vodafone will also establish an Equipment Identity Register (EIR) in September to prevent stolen handsets from being used on its network and will share the IMEI numbers of stolen handsets with other UK operators so that they will be barred on all networks.

Vodafone chief operating officer Gavin Darby said it could be extended to overseas networks in the future. Darby says the decision to install an EIR is not a u-turn on the part of Vodafone. But he warns that the investment in an EIR would be worthless without other measures.

Darby told Mobile News:

It is not good for us or the industry if people start to use their phones less or discourage family members to use their mobile phones. The measures we have announced are not in response to what has happened in the last few weeks. We invested in a fraud engine last summer which will allow us to start blocking Sim cards used in stolen pre-pay phones this month.

The fact that we didnt have an EIR was historical. The original GSM networks of Vodafone and BTCellnet were not set up in the same way as Orange and One 2 One. Vodafone always intended to invest in an EIR for 3G phones. But barring the handset from an EIR only works if other things happen.

The government needs to change the law to stop people bypassing the EIR system by changing the IMEI number. And its crucial that the industry shares blacklisted IMEI data so that the bar applies on all networks.

Darby agreed that barring Sim cards and handsets is a complicated issue if customers unknowingly use handsets that are blacklisted.

There could be instances where a customer has legitimately and accidentally put their Sim card in to a stolen handset. But I suspect someone deliberately using a stolen phone wont be calling customer services to report a fault. We will regard a stolen handset as one reported stolen to the police or directly to us.

Darby said it might be a while before IMEI blacklisting can be extended overseas.

We will benefit more when blacklisted IMEI numbers can be shared and barred globally. That is not happening today. First we must do it in the UK. We have an intent rather than a concrete plan to have information available on a wider scale than the UK. We have told the Home Office minister John Denham that he needs to apply pressure on Europe to make it illegal to change IMEI numbers.

Vodafone will deal with the problem of duplicate IMEIs where more than one phone shares the same IMEI number on a case-by-case basis.

There isnt a significant number of phones sharing the same IMEI number. Vodafone has over 10 million customers and upgrades a million handsets per year. The tens of thousands of handsets with duplicate IMEIs are not a significant number.

Vodafone will give customers advice on crime prevention through leaflets and offer visible phone security markings to help reduce theft.

Darby added that the industry needs to act together to cut crime.

The whole industry can play a role. Networks need to make a move. Mobile phone theft impacts on the livelihoods and success of every retailer and dealer. People need to think about what they can do in providing crime prevention materials training store staff and increasing awareness on IMEI numbers.

Dave McGlade managing director of BTCellnet said: Today no mobile operator has a foolproof solution and no-one should be lulled into any sense of false security that proprietary mobile equipment register systems are the complete answer – a broader outlook is required.

There are a number of incompatible registration systems in operation today which cannot trace stolen phones not re-used on an operators network. These could account for up to 80 per cent of all stolen phones. We are therefore keen to work with other key industry players the Government the public police and the judiciary to solve this serious and complex matter.

Peter Erskine chief executive officer of mmO2 said:

Mobile phone crime must be seen to benefit no-one. We are working closely with the Home Office around a number of crime and security initiatives and we remain resolute in doing what we can to check crime wherever we can be effective.

Orange has urged the Government to make it an offence to change the IMEI number of a handset and to make it illegal to unlock the handset from the network without the owners consent.

Like One 2 One Orange already disables stolen phones and blacklists the IMEI number (which means the handset cant be used on the Orange network). The IMEI number is listed on an Orange EIR database.

Home Office Minister John Denham said:

I am delighted that mm02 and Vodafone have agreed to take a big step forward in protecting their customers by announcing that they will stop stolen handsets being able to be used on their networks extending to all networks in due course. This will make their phones less attractive for criminals to steal since they will be much more difficult to re-use.

I commend them for the action that they have indicated they will take.

(See full story P16)

Gernon who also held senior marketing roles at Air Call Paging and Cellnet was most recently executive commercial president of Cable & Wireless Global where she was responsible for product development mergers and acquisitions and marketing of internet services. Before that she was chief executive of Cable & Wireless Mobile.

Hutchison 3G managing director

Colin Tucker who worked with Gernon at Orange when he was chief operating officer said:

We are very pleased to welcome Lisa to the management team. She is joining at a critical stage in our development and her strategic expertise and formidable marketing background will be invaluable to us as we go forward.

Gernon said: Im relishing the opportunity that Hutchison 3G represents. I believe 3G is a unique shift which brings together the best of the media content and communication sectors. This company will lead that next step and Im very excited to be joining.

Highlights of the new package include no movement in commission on the 700 1000 and 2000 tariffs despite a reduction on line rental. Customers signed up on talk 120 and above will receive 60 free SMS a month for six months.

Commission for the sale of Oranges care package is to double from 8.50 to 17 suggesting that the package has not done too well since its switch from a free service to a paid-for one at the launch of Your Plan.

Dealers bonuses for selling the SPV 7210 and GD87 are understood to come down by 20 because of supply restrictions. All three products have suffered supply problems.

A new text bundle offers 360 texts a month for 24.

The bank cut its earnings forecast and downgraded the shares as a hold after noting Carphone Warehouses German operations had not performed as well as expected.

CSFB said the introduction of the euro may have accounted for the drop of four per cent in contract connections in continental Europe while UK connections rose 22 per cent.

In its Q3 statement The Carphone Warehouse reported connections of 661000 against 687000 for the same period in 2000.

In the four weeks to December 29 UK connections numbered 303000 compared to 318000 in 2000. European connections were 228000 compared to 251000 the year before.

In addition Link staff will also affix each handset with a warning sticker to tell potential thieves that the phone is marked and will be difficult to sell on.

Customers will also be given a leaflet with a space to record the IMEI number of their phone.

We support the work of the police on combating the rise in mobile theft said The Links MD Nick Wood.

However consumers need to be more vigilant. Despite the common-sense advice given by the industry many owners are still leaving their phones in the path of thieves. The most common thefts are opportunistic happening when mobiles are left on display in parked cars pubs clubs and in open handbags.