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.

Apart from cellular Rocom distributes business telephone systems and handles maintenance and finance.

Buckland sold the 13 outlets to concentrate on his new venture Gr8 which involves selling pre-paid scratch cards to enable people to customise their (currently Nokia only) phones with personalised ring tones logos and picture messages (Mobile News February 5).

Buckland recently had his complaint to Oftel about the alleged illegality of pre-pay clawback rejected by the Regulator (Mobile News February 5).

The 13 outlets which connect primarily to BTCellnet are in Hampshire Berkshire Somerset and Wiltshire. They turn over around 4.5 million a year and do 1500 to 2000 connections a month.

This acquisition is an important part of our expansion plans. This deal is the platform for the growth of Premier in line with our ambitions to increase our share of the retail market in the South West said Premier managing director Alan OBrien.

The group will continue to trade under the Mobile Communications brand.

The company which is a main Ericsson distributor has also been selected by Nokia as a Nokia accessory distributor.

Data Select which was set up by ex-20:20 managing director Peter Jones is forecasting revenues in excess of 110 million this year.

The campaign encourages customers to get their phone bills in shape by connecting to a One 2 One tariff. Customers who connect get a free 5 Boots voucher and are entered into a prize draw for a weekend at a health spa.

The Communications Centre has 14 branches across the South West and a new website.

Up to four people can register for any network against one credit card or debit card. Once registered on the internet customers can thereafter top-up from their phones by sending their password as a text message. fastbeat.com was launched in September to offer the top-up service for Orange Vodafone One 2 One BTCellnet and Virgin Mobile.

We are making online top-ups as widespread as web-based text messaging. This is going to be the big e and m-commerce application of 2001 said fastbeat.com managing director John Lewis. fastbeat claims it offers the same encrypted technical infrastructure that will be used in High Street retail swipe terminals. fastbeats revenues come from gross pre-pay top-up trading margins although it plans to make money from sales of value-added products and third party partnerships.

Having already secured supply from distributors of main mobile phone providers we are in a position to offer the industry a valuable service for their customers enabling users to gain credit speedily and efficiently claimed Lewis.

This means users will be able to use their phones for more applications such as games and will get more security when accessing servers.

The Java platform is already one of the most accepted internet technologies and the new java-enabled Seimens phones will build a mobile world of huge opportunities for users developers and operators said Siemens product marketing manager Georges Boulloy.

Hong Kong-based SmartTone is using Java-enabled Siemens devices to design interactive applications for mobile phones.

Video game publisher THQ is developing games for mobile phones and electronic publisher Route 66 is creating mobile phone applications related to tourism and recreation. Siemens last month announced its new high-end line-up (See P18).

The campaign is the first advertising and brand communication for V Shop since its launch in September as a retail chain specialising in telecommunications media and technology.

The TV ads start tonight (November 27) and feature a motormouth character in a variety of scenarios enthusing about V Shop and all the products on offer.