Plimsoll has placed 162 companies in the dreaded Danger financial rating in its latest analysis.

The new 305 study based on the top 486 companies in the industry gives each company one of five ratings based on its financial standing over the last four years.

Companies are rated by Plimsoll as either Strong Good Mediocre Caution or Danger. The basis of this rating system is to easily spot good performance from the bad.

The mobile phone industry has too many companies chasing too little market says David Pattison senior analyst at Plimsoll.

These companies rated as

Danger have been in decline for years with a combination of increasing debts and low margins.

Many of these companies are at a stage where their debts are severely restricting the ability of the management to make even normal business decisions concludes Pattison.

Plimsoll Publishing says 82 per cent of 68 recent mobile comms company failures were rated as

Caution or Danger up to two years prior to their demise.

Around 115 companies were given a Strong rating as they benefit from less debt stronger balance sheets and average margins at a healthy 8.1 per cent.

Plimsoll Publishing has been rating companies on overall performance since 1987.

Called SafetyNet the system allows phone numbers diary dates and other important information to be uploaded onto a database then downloaded onto a new smart device if the original is stolen or lost.

SafetyNet will also enable owners to wipe the stolen device clean of all its information thus preventing thieves from misusing it.

One of the worst things about having a mobile stolen is the difficulty of reclaiming all the information that was stored on it said Paul Fennemore business development director at Intuwave.

Most people dont tend to keep written records so having an automatic back-up system will prove very useful.

This will become even more important as smartphones become prolific and the drive to ensure maximum safety of the increasing amounts of valuable data they hold becomes critical added

Fennemore.

Ian Upton associate director of advanced mobile solutions at CMG added:

This is not just a consumer product. Many UK businesses are currently looking to encourage more of a work/life balance.

To do this employees need to be able to work from home and have access to information on the move. But the trade-off is that employers then face the challenge of data security on mobile devices.

However if wireless device back-up was built into their strategy this would be far less of a headache he added.

Smart devices can be set to automatically send information to a remote storage facility throughout the day and night. If a device drops out of coverage while this process is happening it completes its update as soon as the signal returns.

The technology backs up non- file-based data such as internet settings and users and personalised set-ups such as contact telephone numbers and ringtones.

The technology is targeted at packet-based networks (GPRS or 2.5G and 3G).

The company won a Bronze World Medal for Best Design for its brochure called People You can Connect With.

It revealed this after its results to March 30 published last week showed its handset sales had fallen eight per cent over the last year compared to an industry average of 40 per cent.

However Carphone Warehouses figures for last month show its sales have recovered to the levels they were a year ago before networks raised the price of pre-pay handsets.

Carphone Warehouses connected 260000 customers last month compared to 208000 in May last year.

The increase was aided by an extra net figure of 69 stores taking CPWs total UK store base to 461. Around 30 poorly performing stores were shut during last year.

The Carphone Warehouse claims it now has a 20 per cent market share in the UK and plans to increase this further by expanding the size and reach of its stores.

Chief executive Charles Dunstone claims The Carphone Warehouse will make life tougher for its competitors by improving the quantity and quality of its stores.

It was a very tough year across Europe. Handset sales were down by 40 per cent on average across Europe.

In spite of this the business traded strongly and we are back to a period where we have comparable sales to the point where networks pulled away from pre-pay last year.

We have a programme to increase the size of 30 of our existing stores either enlarging them by purchasing the shop next door or relocating completely to bigger stores.

We are clearly the market leader. We have 461 stores in the UK and plan to expand to over 500.

Dunstone predicts the market will be flat

We are out to grow our market share open new stores and make life harder for our competitors.

We are delivering increased sales without the benefit of picture messaging and the first 3G services which are still to come. When 3G finally does launch it will be an added bonus concluded Dunstone.

Dolphin had provided the TETRA radio services network in the UK since August 1999 and remained operational throughout the administration period. The UK operation which Inquam has acquired includes a 45000 customer base a number of offices including the headquarters in Basingstoke the network that covers 93 per cent of the UK population and over 1000 base stations.

Inquam senior vice-president of operations Tony Greaves who has previously worked at O2 and Airwave will lead the team at Dolphin as chief operating officer. He has little doubt that the company can be run as a profitable enterprise:

With the right strategy execution and funding Dolphin can be turned around. We have acquired the assets for less than 5p in the pound and we are not picking up the debts. As a result we dont have the expenditure that Dolphin had which makes it a lot easier for us to make a profit.

We will be sticking to the parts of the market that value TETRA-based services. This will be dispatchers taxi firms logistic companies local councils. Anywhere there are established groups that need push-to-talk services.

We have a much clearer and more focused vision for TETRA. We understand that our business is dealing with specialist business users. We are not going to be advertising on television like the previous directors did. Television is a great medium for reaching the consumer audience but that is not the audience we are targeting.

According to Greaves there is a potential TETRA market of 500000 users in the UK. Greaves says Dolphin wrongly believed it was about three million and built the operation accordingly. Dolphins break-even point was around one million users while Inquam is about 150000 thanks to the low acquisition cost.

Greaves says: The bottom line is that the assets have been bought at a great price. We believe if we run a focused operation we can make a profit.

Before administration the company had a staff of around 800 people. Under the receivers this number was reduced to 60. Greaves says that over the course of this year staffing levels will double.

We will be growing staffing numbers to about 120 over time. We will need more staff to improve the network quality to offer better customer care and better sales and marketing operations.

Dolphins French and German operations are still in administration and Greaves says that Inquam is in discussions with the administrators regarding the companies. But he adds that Inquam doesnt need the European networks and will only acquire them if they are attractive propositions.

Rebuild

We are looking to rebuild the distribution network on a more focused level to achieve sustainable results. We are focused on a well-defined market. At present we are looking for good dealers and distributors to sell into parts of the market where TETRA are strong.

We are a strong business-to-business product and the reaction of existing subscribers has shown that. We have had a number of customers saying thank god something has happened because this is a product that we rely upon.

Greaves is quick to point out that despite the growth of GSM there is still a sizeable market for TETRA.

GSM is a great service but it doesnt answer every problem. If you are a taxi firm and you want to be able to talk to a number of drivers you cant use GSM.

What is more we have 45000 customers who have stayed with the company despite the fact that it has been in administration for 10 months. There is absolutely no doubt that there is a market out there.

Dolphins asset base was miles too big. The operation needs to be focused. TETRA exists for a specialist niche market yet Dolphin was aiming for millions of subscribers.

It had to spend thousands of millions building the network. We bought the entire operation for 25 million. As a result we dont have to worry about making the same sort of profit in order to pay back that size of a loan.

Nick Edwards of Deloitte and Touche was one of the administrators. He says: The acquisition is a good deal as it means the business can be run as a going concern which is much better than if it were sold as part of a break-up. The deal has been seven months in the making.

According to Edwards the old debts remain with Dolphin and the 25 million will be paid down to the relevant creditors.

Nokias new offering is a direct challenge to Sony Ericcsons popular T68i model. The 6610 offers tri-band functionality with colour display Java technology and MMS. It is expected to start shipping in the autumn.

The 6610 is based on existing Nokia technology specially designed for small colour screens.

It offers over 4000 colours and is also able to receive multimedia messages with text image and sound content.

The handset also features polyphonic ringtones and integrated stereo FM radio. The polyphonic sounds can be used as personal ringtones and SMS alert tones. New sounds can be received over MMS downloaded from Club Nokia via WAP or via the internet with Nokia PC Suite.

It also comes with an integrated hands free speaker. Users can download Java applications polyphonic tones and pictures via WAP from Club Nokia.

The phone can also store pictures in a personal picture zone in Club Nokias Photo Zone and send pictures as multimedia messages.

The two Siemens products are targeted at the lower end of the market.

The C55 is a mass-market handset with an expected price comparative to the existing C35 while the A50 is aimed at first time buyers.

The C55 comes with polyphonic ring tones and allows consumers to record sounds and gives them access to Wireless Java(TM).

It also features EMS (Enhanced Messaging Services) extended SMS messages of up to 760 characters and Instant Messaging. It weighs 80 grams.

The A50 features extra-long SMS and EMS messages. It also allows users to insert images and sounds into text messages.

It comes with Siemens calling faces feature allowing a picture to be attached to each phone book entry. The A50 weighs 95 grammes and optional accessories include a MP3 player.

Sharp Telecommunications Europe managing director Stephen Bold said Sharp and O2 had agreed to delay the launch of Cyclops but that this was not down to technical reasons.

There were issues on how O2 will handle the transmission of pictures from one handset to another. But this has not been the reason for the delay. We have been delivering handsets to other operators globally. In Japan we have taken a 10 per cent market share with our J-Phone SH51 handset. NTT DoCoMo wants to sell our new SH51 camera phone.

We have also been fulfilling orders for handsets from US operator Verizon Wireless.

The GX-1 is based on a range of camera phones Sharp has launched in Japan since November 2000. The GX-1 is Sharps first GPRS handset resulting from the purchase of Kenwoods Bracknell-based GSM research and development centre (Mobile News May 30 2001). It features a 110k pixel built-in digital camera with a two-stage digital zoom and five exposure levels and storage for up to 80 pictures.

The dual-band handset has a 65536 LCD colour display 14 chord polyphonic ringtones WAP GPRS and multimedia messaging (MMS). It weighs 110 grammes. The launch of the handset will coincide with the mmO2s launch of MMS services across all its European networks.

Meanwhile O2 finally launched the XDA last week in O2 stores and selected retailers. XDA is a combined PDA/GPRS handset running on Microsofts Pocket PC 2002 operating system. Applications include email internet access instant messaging organiser music and video player and a large contacts directory. The Link says initial sales have been encouraging following unconfirmed reports that one branch of Dixons sold eight XDAs on the first day of sale.

A spokesperson told Mobile News:

I cant comment on individual store sales. Initial feedback suggests demand has been high. We are encouraged by the sales because it is a complicated and expensive product.

It has been brought to our attention that the article may have conveyed the impression to readers that Nasa Khan managing director of The Accessory People (TAP) instigated or was otherwise involved in the assault.

Mr Khan has vigorously denied any such involvement. While we stand by the factual accuracy of the article the implication of Mr Khans involvement was not intended.

This is a win-win situation for dealers and customers. The dealer will earn more ongoing commission from a contract customer than a pay-as-you-go customer. The customer keeps their phone number and qualify for perhaps a free upgrade as well as the benefits of contract said an Orange spokes person.

All Orange contract tariffs are included as well as those connected under the Orange value promise. No commission is paid if customers transfer from prepay keep their existing handsets.

Vodafone has had a similar arrangement whereby dealers who switch Vodafone customers from pre-pay to contract earn between 120- 180 depending on the tariff.

We have had such a system ever since we have had pay-as-you-go and contract. We see movement all the time from customers who are trying to find a system that works for them said Vodafone.

The CEO Interim Board comprises CEO-level representatives of Vodafone Orange T-Mobile NTT DoCoMo China Mobile SingTel Group Cingular Wireless TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) Telefonica Moviles Sonera and AT&T Wireless.