This means that anyone caught changing handset IMEI numbers owning or supplying the necessary equipment with the intent to reprogramme IMEI numbers could face unlimited fines or five years in prison from September.

The Bill becomes law at around the same time as all four UK operators will finally be able to share a central database of mobile phones that have been stolen.

If a customer reports a handset as stolen to the network the stolen handset IMEI number will be registered on the networks Equipment Identity Register (EIR) which is a database of stolen mobile phones.

The network can then bar the handset from working on the network even if the user puts another Sim card in it.

Vodafone and O2 agreed to install EIRs on their networks at the beginning of this year (Mobile News February 18) after the Home Office sought ways to reduce mobile phone robbery.

Without making the reprogramming of IMEIs an offence thieves would have been able to give the handset a new identity and bypassing the networks bar.

The Government believes the passing of the bill will help reduce mobile phones robberies which it believes were the sole target in 31 per cent of all robberies and snatch thefts in London.

O2 security boss John Cross welcomed the news.

This is a welcome step in dealing with stolen mobile phones. The statistics we have compiled indicate that 80 per cent of handsets reported stolen disappear said Cross.

We are confident that the disappearance of these handsets is due to the reprogramming of the IMEI numbers.

Cross agrees that the law will not prevent thieves from reprogramming numbers outside the UK.

We have to do things one step at a time. Many people outside the UK are looking at the measures we have put in place. We hope that the success of these measures will ripple outwards to other companies overseas he explained.

We have now established an equipment identity register (EIR) on the O2 network which went live last week.

This will enable us to bar handsets that have been reported as stolen from using the network. We are on target to share our database of stolen IMEI numbers with the other operators in September.

Initially the EIR will only be accessible to the mobile phone networks.

Cross says retailers and distributors may later be able to access this information and possibly register handset that have been stolen but not registered to any network by a customer.

Eventually the infrastructure will grow to include any lost or stolen handset. We do not have an infrastructure in place to support that now but we are thinking about it.

We want other interested parties to have access to the EIR. I encourage other parties whether they be retailers distributors or independent dealers to talk to MICAF to see how they can get involved in the fight against crime in a non-competitive environment.

Cross says that the sharing of stolen phone IMEI numbers across the industry could address other crime such as burglary ram raids thefts from cars and the import of stolen phones re-entering the UK with reprogrammed IMEI numbers.

As a network we have to be cautious because barring calls can affect our contractual arrangement with a customer. We have to ensure that we can legally bar the phone number he said.

Cross reveals that O2 has had to reject 50 per cent of insurance claims for what he calls customer mistakes.

In some cases the customer has found their phone and failed to tell us. Other customers have tried to put in an insurance claim for a different model of mobile phone to the one that they originally purchased from us.

We want to reassure customers that are victims of crime. At the same time we want to send a message to those who commit crime by robbery or false claims that the industry and the police will not hesitate to take appropriate action if there are deliberate actions to put in false insurance or theft claims said Cross.

Michael Wei Hung Fung (25) was accused of stealing customers exchange phones and abusing their credit cards in a 1500 swindle.

He was bailed at Horseferry Road Court until August 14 for probation reports after magistrates warned him they will be considering various punishments including prison.

Fung of Chalt Court Thornton Heath pleaded guilty to the theft of five mobile phones worth 1043 at The Orange Shop at Victoria Station. He also pleaded guilty to three offences of using Oranges systems to top up his own pre-pay phone.

The prosecutor told the court Fung started working at the Orange Shop last November. But he was on duty at the Oxford Street branch where a customer bought a phone by credit card.

Later that day Fung used the Orange systems to transfer 220 from the customers account to his own phone account. He did the same six days later to switch 130 to his account from another customer and the same on April 15 to gain 100 from another customer.

On April 10 a customer bought a pre-pay phone from Fung but returned it later to say it did not have a Sim card. Fung told her the card was in the box. But it transpired he had used it in phones which he stole at the shop.

The stolen phones had been either taken from the shops stock or were kept by Fung when customers left them in exchange under the buy-back or upgrade schemes.

Instead of registering the phones back to Oranges inventory he simply kept them for himself.

Fung was caught when records showed he used the phones either on his own Sim card or the card taken from the box sold to the earlier customer.

Police searched his house and found the stolen phones. Fung admitted the offences and expressed remorse.

Over the three months to June 30 Vodafone lost 177000 mainly pre-pay customers leaving it with 11838290 users in the UK.

Contract and pre-pay ARPU rose by 2 to 279. The rise in ARPU marked an end to a four-year trend of falling figures. Yearly ARPU for the year to June was 119 (pre-paid) and 544 (contract) a rise of 1 and a fall of 11 respectively.

Vodafone data ARPU rose from 12 to 14 per cent worldwide with every market experiencing gains.

The company increased its worldwide subscriber base by 2.7 million to 103.9 million most gains coming from the US and Japan.

In contrast Orange added 415000 new UK customers in the first half of the year to reach 12.8 million at the end of June. Contract customers in the base increased from 28.6 per cent to 31 per cent.

The Orange Groups worldwide customer base increased by 2.1 million to 41 million up 16.6 per cent over the last year.

Oranges UK ARPU increased from 247 to 252 by the end of June. Contract ARPU increased from 548 in March to 555 in June. The pre-pay average moved a pound from 121 to 122.

Data contributed 13.9 per cent of revenues compared with 9.6 per cent for the previous half-year.

O2 enjoyed an increase in its subscriber base of 87000 for the quarter to the end of June. This came from 111000 new contract customers and a 24000 decline in pre-pay subscribers. O2 ARPU increased to 234 from 231 the previous quarter with contract ARPU up to 502 from 498.

T-Mobiles quarterly results have yet to be released but in the previous quarter it added almost 330000 users bringing its customer base to just under 10.8 million a year-on- year gain of just under 20 per cent.

Virtual operator Virgin Mobile added 171000 customers during the second quarter up 4.3 per cent on its first quarter results.

Virgin has blamed the failure on Singapores high penetration rate of mobile phone ownership which is around 76 per cent and a recession in the city-state which it claims has not recovered since the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York (see White Lines).

In a statement Virgin Group explained:

In light of difficult local retail trading circumstances in Singapore since September 11 last year both the Virgin group and its partner SingTel view the market as too saturated to sustain an otherwise successful virtual network operation.

The subscriber growth for mobile phone operators in the Singapore market has not been sufficient to sustain a new entrant in this marketplace.

Virgin says mobile phone subscriber connections in Singapore dropped from 60000 per month before September 11 to just 6000 afterwards.

However Virgin says its UK Australian and newly launched US operations remain unaffected by the Singapore failure.

A Virgin spokesperson said:

Virgin Mobile UK is completely unaffected by the situation in Singapore and continues to go from strength to strength.

Market conditions in other territories – both those currently operating and those planned to launch are very different from Singapore – which is experiencing a territorial economic downturn.

Virgins UK service launched in November 1999 and now has 1.8 million subscribers. The Australian operation has 220000 users.

Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson launched the new Virgin Mobile US venture (which piggy-backs onto Sprints digital network) last month in Times Square.

In a typically Bransonesque publicity stunt he appeared naked except for a mock Virgin Mobile handset covering his nether regions. This was meant to show that Virgin had nothing to hide in its pricing.

The US service is being aimed at the youth market and will carry exclusive music and entertainment content from MTV VHS and CMT (Country Music Television) with m-commerce opportunities to buy CDs etc.

The T100 measures 99×43.5x 17.7mm and weighs 75 grams. It has up to 4.5 hours of talktime and up to 200 hours of stand-by time.

It features a gallery of 30 pictures 15 animations and 10 sounds which can be sent with 10 SMS templates for often-used messages. New images can be created with a picture editor.

Also from Sony Ericsson comes a stereo FM radio hands-free unit.

The HPR-20 radio and control unit connects to the phone with a cord and comes with a shirt clip and two stereo earpieces.

It has a blue-light display in which the frequency channel volume channel preset and bass level are shown. It too ships from next month says Sony Ericsson.

The Waltham Abbey-based company was part of the European Telecom group that went into receivership in May but operated as a separate company.

Over the past two years the company had seen its turnover fall from 4.4 million in 2000. In 2001 turnover was half that figure. The company had lost a number of clients including DX Communications and The Pocket Phone Shop which left when One 2 One (now

T-Mobile) acquired it and used its own accessories group.

Most recently the company lost its account with Virgin Mobile.

TAG was investigated by Luton Trading Standards officers in January 2001 for allegedly distributing faulty mobile phone chargers.

An investigation found the chargers to have false CE markings and certificates but TAGs Far East supplier was blamed.

O2 couldnt confirm how many dealers have been axed. However a spokesperson explained the network had tried to work with dealers to meet sales targets before referring them to a distributor.

The performance of our dealers is reviewed every month with them. If targets are not achieved the account manager will work with the dealer to try to improve targets said the O2 spokesperson.

This could include additional training or local marketing initiatives. If performance still does not improve then a further review will take place with the account manager.

If the decision is made to terminate the direct relationship we refer them to a distribution partner they may wish to work with.

On this basis we will during any year lose and gain trading partners. While it is regrettable that relationships do come to an end our account managers always work with each dealer to give them the means of improving performance.

The rumour followed last months news that Vodafone sacked about 50 dealers for not making enough connections (Mobile News May 27).

Iain Graham Vodafones head of dealer sales told dealers that they would be better off working with a distributor as they might get a higher upfront payment (see P28).

Handspring and mmO2 are getting together to develop new devices for use on mmO2 networks in Europe.

The announcement coincides with the launch of the Handspring Treo communicators that combines a GSM phone Palm OS organiser wireless email SMS and internet access.

The agreement means 3s services will be available in The Links 290 stores.

In December 3 signed similar retail agreements with The Carphone Warehouse and Phones4U adding a further 795 outlets to 3s three flagship stores and the unspecified number of stores-within-stores that will appear in Superdrug outlets throughout the year.

The Link managing director Nick Wood said:

Becoming an official distributor for 3 fits our profile perfectly. Our customers and visitors to our Futurelook Web site are very keen to know what 3G will offer.

Were delighted that 3 is giving us the opportunity to showcase its services on the high street and were looking forward to taking this next step in partnership with 3.

(see John Barton interview P14)

According to 57 per cent of people surveyed by WapOneline text messaging is also the preferred means of communicating on public transport because it eliminates the stigma of making calls in public.