The new role puts Sweet in charge of marketing data devices such as PDAs GSM modules wireless LAN products and MP3 players.

Sweet spent two years at Bosch where he was responsible for building the companys mobile comms market in the UK from a standing start to a 50 million a year business prior to the Bosch sellout to Siemens (see Amstrad story above).

Before joining Bosch Sweet was with Sony and ad agency Clarity.

The collaboration means Lotus will be able to offer its 60 million Lotus Notes users worldwide faster mobile internet access to business information on their companys servers.

Vodafone UK chief executive Peter Bamford said the deal with Lotus was a key stage in Vodafones GRPS programme.

It brings Vodafone together with Lotus whose Notes application is widely-used by many of our corporate clients.

Media content is streamed into the phone by pressing the video function key and browsing through a list of available content similar to scrolling through digital satellite TV channels.

GEO has demonstrated a superb technical and technological ability in delivering the A2 chip on time enabling us to build the worlds first streaming video cellphone said a Samsung spokesman.

Added GEO co-founder Sharon Carmel:

This phone represents the opening of a new era in human communication.

GEO which is listed on the London Stock Exchange is capitalised at 2.2 billion. It develops streaming audio and video for telecom and IP networks.

The two companies will provide personnel software training knowledge and financial resources to develop wireless solutions for their corporate clients. Nokia will make its Nokia Activ Server WAP software available to Andersen clients.

Early users of WAP have expressed frustration at the slow speed at which information can be downloaded and the limited relevance of that information to their personal requirements said MobileAge chief executive Roy Smith.

Europeans send each other more than a billion text messages a month so SMS is a cheap and popular option. The SIM Toolkit is a tried and tested technology and is a secure and stable option for organisations moving into m-commerce.

The site www.rfi-wireless.com has 12 test pages which can be used for checking. Each page contains a different error designed to see how robust browsers are.

The All Talk service is Guernsey Telecoms first pre-pay offering. The box-set is an Ericsson A2618s selling for 89.99.

The service is a single tariff with electronic voucher top-ups using e-Vita terminals.

Mobilexpo has nine stores trading under the Vodafone-franchised MPC and Mobile Phone Centre brand.

Around 600000 is payable on completion with another 2 million payable in PNC shares.

The remaining 3.9 million is deferred to the end of a 12-month earnout period and is dependent on profits achieved by Mobilexpo during this period.

There are more than 80 MPC outlets in the UK. Mobilexpo owns stores in Aylesbury Bracknell London Docklands Enfield Harrow Luton Stevenage Swiss Cottage and Uxbridge.

The company made an operating profit of 85000 on a turnover of 2.52 million for the year-end September 1999.

Mobilexpo is expected to soon be appointed one of three UK territory distributors with responsibility for supporting smaller MPC franchisees in central England.

This should bring better commissions for its own sales and additional commissions for the franchisees its supports.

Mobilexpo managing director Mark Gordon will stay on in his current role (see White Lines).

The acquisition of Mobilexpo will strengthen PNCs presence in terms of geographical presence. PNC will also benefit from the expertise and experience the Mobilexpo management will bring with them said PNC Tele.com chief executive

Geremy Thomas.

Vodafone has bought a 25 per cent stake in Swisscom Mobile for 1.8 billion.

The partnership also incorporates a service agreement between Vodafone and Swisscom Mobile. Vodafones German mobile subsidiary Mannesmann D2 Mobilfunk and Swisscoms German subsidiary Debitel will sign a service provider agreement regarding UMTS.

Swisscom Mobile is the mobile telecommunications business of Swisscom. It will be separated from Swisscom prior to completion of the transaction.

Switzerland has a population of 7.3 million people and the highest GDP per capita in Europe. Swisscom Mobile has a 67 per cent market share with over three million subscribers and is a clear market leader in both the residential and corporate segments. Swisscom will use the proceeds to fund future growth including the purchase of a Swiss UMTS license the roll-out of the UMTS network the enhancement of the fixed network for broadband services expansion of e-commerce solutions as well as moving Debitel along the value chain. The remaining funds will be used to pay back debt.

Julian Horn-Smith chief executive of Vodafone Europe said:

This strategic alliance represents an exciting opportunity for us to expand further our European footprint partnering with Swisscom the leading mobile network in Switzerland.

We are able to offer Swisscom the opportunity to participate in the substantial scope and scale advantages offered by Vodafones global reach which we anticipate will make the partnership earnings attractive for both Vodafone and Swisscom.

Customers roaming in Switzerland and Swisscom Mobile customers will be able to benefit from the international operations of Vodafone Group in 25 countries.

The the equity will be paid either in cash or Vodafone shares or a combination of both at Vodafones discretion in two instalments: of 0.9 billion. The second 0.9 billion will be paid within a year of completing the deal.

Vivao will power the mViva m mail service enabling users to accessing and managing voicemail fax and e-mail messages from their WAP phone or PC.

Users of the service can already read and respond to emails from WAP devices.

They could soon be able to listen to their e-mails and respond to messages from one or more of their friends using a single online address book.

Vivaos president Simon Cordell said:

The WAP market has seen significant growth over the last six months and by offering users fully integrated add-on facilities such as messaging service providers can only reap the benefits. mVivas COO David Thatcher added:

Vivao is a market leader in messaging. By offering WAP users further benefits we in turn can strengthen our position. mVviva has more than 100 content providers such as CNN Sky News The Guardian Loot Sports.com and Abbey National offering a wide range of information e-commerce and other services. mViva last week launched its first pan-European advertising campaign on mobile internet phones with Ericsson.

The advertising campaign is initially for the 13 weeks in the run up to the Christmas period and is live across all Mviva markets including the UK France the Netherlands and Sweden with Spain and Germany coming on board in the near future.

When customers log on to the news channel of mViva an Ericsson M-ad will appear on their phone display.