Overall the 128 million mobile phones Nokia sold in the year 2000 represented 64 per cent growth from the year before.

In 1999 Nokia sold 78.5 million units worldwide.

According to Nokias preliminary estimates global mobile phone market volume in the year 2000 was approximately 405 million units representing a 45 per cent increase from the previous year.

Market volume for 1999 was estimated at approximately 280 million units.

Nokias preliminary market estimates indicate that the global mobile phone subscriber base had climbed above 700 million users by the end of the year 2000 representing global penetration of approximately 12 per cent.

The Mobilefone Group was started by June Reynolds-Lacey as a retailer of mobile phones and pagers in 1989.

Since then it has grown to be a major player in the UK telecommunications industry with a turnover in excess of over 25 million a year.

Watson (33) has renamed his part of the company VoiceDAT Ltd trading as Voice.

I have been running the mobile phone sales division of the group for the past nine years and do not see much change in the general operation of the new business except for the investment in new software to increase efficiency said Watson.

The sector is buoyant and we have established secure routes to market that we intend to expand.

We have become one of the largest independent outlets for Orange a position we intend to maintain and develop and our web site is fast becoming a major outlet receiving almost one million hits last month.

The companys research and development arm which has pioneered the use of telemetry through its blackBOX innovation will remain under the Mobilefone Groups control along with its National Service Hub in North Warwickshire which is one of only two companies in the UK to provide after sales service and support for Nokia.

Lorraine Swan pleaded guilty to obtaining a Motorola phone and some pre-pay vouchers by deception from the Virgin Shop on December 4.

She also admitted obtaining a quantity of groceries and alcohol from a nearby Sainsburys and attempting to get a 50 cashback.

Plimsoll says 89 per cent of all Mobile Phones companies had some form of debt last year. Only 23 companies showed no debt at all.

Why would almost 54 per cent of the industry add debt last year? Two key reasons seem to be increasing their formal lending.

Companies are financing losses in a bold attempt to keep afloat and stay in the marketplace. For 38 companies borrowing money is a means of staying in business said Plimsoll general manager David Pattison.

In fact these are located and named in the analysis as having taken on more debt last year whilst funding losses.

Companies are investing to become more competitive believing that extra investment in assets will ultimately deliver more profit. Only 78 out of 111 companies or 70 per cent of those adding extra debts increased profits last year.

The research suggests that a typical Mobile Phone company finances on average 17 per of their assets. This statistic however hides the realism that almost 32 per cent of companies have a debt level twice this average.

Plimsoll says the reasons for impending job losses are not connected with recent months of economic uncertainty but go back to fundamental business reasons.

Plimsoll says that for the last three years the cost of employing people has been increasing at a greater rate than the industry can afford.

This is because the cost of salaries has increased by 88 per cent in the last three years yet sales have only risen by 48 per cent.

Eighty per cent of companies are spending more on salaries than they were three years ago. Yet just over half are making more profit says Plimsoll.

The cost of salaries as a function of sales has increased 31 per cent and already a third of the companies are making losses. Further pressure for job cuts will be brought on by next years expected salary increase.

There is strong evidence that at least 57 per cent of the industry will need to shed jobs in the next 12 months. The major players in particular will be exposed. One of these big players could see job cuts of 711 people. There are at least 33 companies in serious financial distress adds the report.

The only hope of survival is that their managers make swift decisions to save the company from demise.

Plimsolls theories are borne out by recent job cuts of 650 people from Vodafone and One2Ones business review which could the networks head count drastically reduced and the downturn in handset manufacturing (see story P4).

Our decision to launch when we had got our offer right rather than participating in the race to be first for the sake of it has been vindicated by the number of WAP users we have attracted over the last few months said One 2 One marketing director Tim Yates.

Most popular sites visited include gaming entertainment news and sports headlines. e-mail have also been extremely popular.

Finnish interactive mobile entertainment developer Codeonline has licensed Virgin Mobile with a mobile phone version of the quiz. Codeonline has already announced a similar deal with both Vodafone and Orange in the UK.

Codeonline will deliver the localised entertainment content supply technical support around the clock and provide live analysis of service usage.

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? mobile game works perfectly on SMS and WAP and can provide operators with a compulsive gaming platform says Codeonlines Matti Hamalainen.

When it was launched in Ireland we reached two million questions played in the first six weeks.

The content is designed by Codeonline for each market.

The new operator is to tempt users with 12 weeks of unlimited half-price national calls for anyone who pre-registers before midnight on 21 February.

Pete Quinn Meteors chief operating officer commented:

We intend to offer really innovative packages that will mean lower prices and great service for mobile phone users and we are copper-fastening that promise with our half-price offer for all national calls both to mobile and landline numbers.

Full details of our service and call charges will be announced on launch day.

No information as to distribution methods or retail channels have been revealed although the company has indicated it will offer both pre-paid and post-paid tariffs at launch.

A media campaign for the registration scheme broke last week with those people registering being signed to receive a Meteor pack at service launch detailing 085 products prices coverage and services.

He is now chief executive for Northern Europe Middle East and Africa Region (UK Belgium France Ireland Netherlands Sweden Egypt Kenya and South Africa).

At the same time Vodafones international director Julian Horn-Smith has been promoted to the new position of group chief operating officer.

Horn-Smith will have responsibility for the day to day business performance of all Vodafone operating companies and will report directly to Vodafone Group boss Chris Gent. Horn-Smith has been chief executive officer of Vodafones Europe Region since June last year. He joined Vodafone in 1984 becoming marketing director in 1986 and managing director of Vodapage in 1987.

He was appointed MD of Vodafone Group International at the time of its formation in 1993 and joined the Board of Vodafone Group in June 1996.

More than a third of respondents said it would take 10 years for operators to make profit even with popular applications.

A further 57 per cent said that it will take five years or more. Just eight per cent of those questioned believed that operators will recoup their investment in less than five years.

The survey found that 50 per cent of respondents believed that finding the killer application is the key to successful take-up of 3G services. Only 11 per cent believe that network planning will be

Twenty-eight per cent think that innovative pricing will be the key factor.

Quotient MD Rodney Stewart said:

There are a number of uncertainties involved in establishing successful 3G networks not least because it is difficult to model traffic patterns for the new services that UMTS allows operators to build. The emphasis at this stage must be on how to plan networks that are flexible and robust enough to support unpredictable demand.

Our survey shows still a great deal of uncertainty about the way in which 3G services will be delivered whether the majority of the UK population will have access to the applications that they need and whether operators will be able to guarantee quality of service to consumers. It will be vital to plan carefully to build customer loyalty early in the game.