TAP opens trade shop in Manchester city centre

Retailers should have the freedom to walk in to our store and purchase exactly what they want quickly and without fuss said TAP marketing director Afzal Chaudhary.

We wanted to create something to make customers lives easier. Ordering over the phone can at times be inconvenient for traditional tradesman.

This is particularly due to the next day delivery system which isnt always practical if one unexpectedly runs out of stock. It can also be a problem if the trader wishes to view the products before they buy said Chaudhary.

The aim is to ensure traders can simply go to the Trade Centre and buy their stock immediately.

Traders will also be able to obtain up to date information on the current market place via our fully-trained sales team.

This is one of the first stores of its kind allowing customers to impulse buy without any delays.

One 2 One enhances handset range in time for Christmas rush

Prices for WAP phones start from 19.99 (contract) and 89.99 (prepay).

The Sony Z5 is being sold on contract for 129.99. The Motorola v100 Pagewriter (which features a mini-Qwerty keyboard for easy text messaging) on Pay As You Go is 149.99 the pre-pay Motorola V50 is 149.99.

Samsungs SGH-M100 MP3 mobile which allows music to be uploaded from the internet or copied across from CD is priced at 199.99 (with contract).

One 2 One marketing director Tim Yates said:

We recognise that the market is partly driven by consumer demand for the latest handsets. One 2 Ones extended range has been designed to accommodate everyone from the occasional user to the most ardent gadget freak at prices to suit all pockets.

One 2 One says its total customer base as at 30 September was 7124000 representing a 20.7 per cent market share. Pre-pay base is 5.2 million customers 73 per cent of the total base.

One 2 One denies reports of Deutsche Telekom-ordered name change

There is no truth whatsoever in any of the rumours said marketing PR manager Neil Bent who does admit that Deutsche Telecom is looking at all the options.

No decision has been made at any level. Its just lazy (Sunday newspaper) journalists looking for a new story. We spent a lot of money this year changing the pre-pay Up 2 You and More 2 Say brands into a single One 2 One Pay As You Go so that the main One 2 One brand would be stronger. We certainly wouldnt have done that if we intended to rename the whole company tomorrow. Part of the reason Deutsche Telecom bought One 2 One was because it was a strong brand and since then the brand has got stronger still.

In the long term there may be markets where Deutsche Telecom feel the use of the One 2 One brand is inappropriate. But if and when that decision is taken it wont be an easy one to make and it wont happen in the short term.

Sources from within One 2 One say that even if a name change occurred it would be unlikely to cause major problems.

It is feasible for the company name to be changed while still leaving the service branded as One 2 One. Absolutely no decision has been taken but theres plenty of scope to have the service branded as One 2 One on the T-Mobil network. One 2 One to most people is a consumer retail brand and the name of the network or holding company is largely irrelevant said a One 2 One source.

One possibility could be dual branding such as Vodafone has done with networks where they have a majority shareholding without removing the home operators name or brand. One such example is in Greece where the operator Panafon would be renamed Vodafone Panafon.

MP3 phone offer from BTCellnet

The Ericsson Pete Tong Mix is a limited run of 5000 phones. It contains 35 minutes of exclusive tracks specially chosen by the DJ for the launch of Ericssons latest phone. This package comes complete with handset mp3 player and software.

BTCellnet says this is the first time a mobile phone network and handset manufacturer have worked together in this way to offer an mp3 player specifically for mobile phones.

The youth market is a key audience for us and music and mobile communications are key to youth lifestyle said BTCellnet head of pre-pay Graham Riddell.

ET shares slide as Global Telematics postpones IPO

Global Telematics is jointly owned by Racal Survey Group and European Telecom.

It develops vehicle-location and telematics systems.

Market conditions for new issues especially technology companies have deteriorated since we went live with out plans for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) said Global Telematics chief executive Edward Belgeonne.

Global Telematics planned to use the proceeds of the flotation to expand into the consumer market and expand into Europe.

breathe.com goes into Dutch market

The company says the Dutch mobile internet market is one of the most advanced in Europe with 67 per cent penetration of mobile phones representing 9.6 million users.

Around 55 per cent of the countrys population uses the internet. breathe has signed distribution agreement with Dutch retailers BCC to promote its mobile internet services.

Registered users will be able to use WAP e-mail and calendaring and free text messaging.

Holland was a natural choice for us. The mobile market in Holland is one of the most sophisticated in Europe and is a natural environment for the launch of a mobile internet provider said breath.cos chief operating officer Sean Gardner. breathe will concentrate on attracting 18 to 35-year-olds. Unlike the UK it will not offer fixed line internet access in Holland.

Vodafone links with m-commerce firm

12snap says it is targeting the 18-35 year old age text messaging and WAP services about shopping and auctions as well as interactive entertainment and content services. 12snap is also a leading provider of mobile marketing services.

The 12snap service launched in Germany in January and currently claims to have over 400000 users generating over three million calls since launch.

Worldwide GPRS roll-out gathers pace

They are:

Fujian Mobile Communications Corporation (China) Cable & Wireless Optus (Australia) KG Telecom (Taiwan) diAx (Switzerland) New World PCS (Hong Kong) Centertel (Poland) EuroTel (Czech Republic) Pacific Century CyberWorks Mobility Services (Hong Kong) Europolitan (Sweden) and M1 (Singapore).

Nokia says it has delivered and implemented well over 50 GPRS core networks to leading operators in Europe USA Asia and China and now has the largest installed base of any supplier.

The next step will be optimising these GPRS networks for transport of WAP and other content.

Vodafone and BTCellnet already offer limited GPRS services following closed user trials this year.

Wap e-mail service from Freeserve

The service uses an e-mail connector designed by mobile internet software company Peramon.

Users click on the Freeserve link on their WAP phone to access their e-mail on the move.

Freeserve which is the subject of a takeover bid by French internet company Wannadoo claims to have two million active accounts. It was launched in September 1998 by Dixons.

Nokia launches $500m mobile internet fund starts

Investors include Goldman Sachs BMC Software CDBWebTech and others.

The original Nokias Venture Fund was launched in 1998 and claims to be the leading global mobile internet fund.

This new fund is a clear signal that Nokia is very committed to expanding our venture capital activities given the excellent return on investment so far and the exposure we have had to new innovative technologies and developments in the internet economy said Nokia president Pekka Ala-Pietila.

The latest Nokia venture fund will continue to invest in leading edge wireless technology companies targeting high growth market opportunities.

The new fund and the old fund have together backed over 25 companies from the USA the UK Germany and Finland and have an increased focus on Israel and the Asia Pacific region where mobile internet start-up companies are particularly intensive.