Nokia Service Centres have voiced frustration at the severe delays in the supply of spare parts by CRC Group owned by recycling business Fonebak.

CRC has the contract to keep Nokia service centres stocked with parts. Since September there has been a huge drop in the amount of stock sent to the service centres and increasing delays it is claimed.
There are definitely fundamental problems said a source.

Were struggling to get spares from them on time and its damaging to us as well as Nokia.

Stock now takes 14-21 days to arrive compared to the three to five previously say long-time customers.

One service centre claimed that ordering parts through CRC had become increasingly difficult in recent months. We used to use a program called Webmaster to order the parts we wanted but ever since that was taken down weve had to order via fax or email and its extremely time consuming.

The service centres cant cope at the moment. The workload to income ratio is a big problem and almost makes you want to give the whole thing up.

Financial difficulties were blamed for the delays. There seems to be a specific problem with CRC and it seems to have run into big difficulties as a business. It also wouldnt surprise me if Fonebak is in financial trouble as well said another source.

CRC was unavailable for comment but last week Fonebak which acquired CRC at the end of January issued a profits warning to the City.

Fonebak said it expects profits for 2007 to fall short of expectations. Reduced margins due to a lower average sales price and a less favourable product mix were blamed.

However in a statement it said CRC is trading well and added that the business will perform better than expected. It said CRCs restructuring and integration programme is on course.

Burch is leaving his post and also stepping down from the Virgin Media board with immediate effect and will now return to the US to be with his family.

Since joining the group in 2006 Burch has overseen he acquisition of Virgin Mobile and mergers with NTL and Telewest.

Virgin Media chairman Jim Mooney paid tribute to Burch he said: Steve has contributed significantly to the transformation of Virgin Media. Since he joined us the company has emerged as the UKs only quad play provider and a genuinely distinctive presence in the world of communications and entertainment.

On behalf of Virgin Medias Board of Directors I thank him for his contribution to our development and wish him every success for the future.

A search for Burchs successor will begin shortly but in the meantime Virgin Media COO Neil Berkett has been appointed as acting CEO.

But dealers said the warning from Nokia had prompted customer enquiries.

Ashley Communications owner Geoff Ashley said: Weve had a few customers that have said theyve been affected and even had one who phoned me to ask if I could send him 38 replacement batteries. All
we can do is direct them to Nokia.

A spokesman for Nokia service centre Chatterbox said: Weve only had a couple of queries come in. It only affects the older handsets which are not as popular in the UK as there are more fashionable handsets being released all the time. I doubt many people will have a problem.

Nokia said not a single incident of overheating had happened in the UK despite reports of over 100 incidents of overheating globally.

No serious injuries or damaged handsets have been reported.

Mark Squires Nokia UK director of communications also dismissed suggestions Matsushita had known
of the fault in the BL-5C batteries last December.

He said: Matsushita actually fixed the problem before they knew there might be one. Simply by improving the design of the batteries they eradicated the problem.

The overheating problem only arises after the BL-5C lithium ion batteries have been charged more than 200 times causing them in certain incidents to swell and pop out the back of the phone.

Squires added: It only took Matsushita a few days to inform us. We have ensured our customers have
been made aware of the potential problem as soon as possible so that nobody else risks being hurt.

BL-5C batteries are used in the Nokia 6230 6630 N70 N91 and E60 among others.

Both Nokia and Matsushita have offered to replace any problematic battery free of charge.

More than 300 million BL-5Cbatteries have been produced for Nokia in total.

The new model is the first Curve to come with built-in Vodafone satellite navigation. Customers will receive a 12-month free subscription to the service if they connect to the Blackberry Internet Service.

In addition to the satellite navigation the new Curve provides users with fast web browsing comprehensive email facilities 2 mega-pixel camera media player and a desktop software suite for managing multimedia content.

RIM vice president and managing director Charmaine Eggberry said: Vodafones customers in the UK will benefit greatly from the many features of this new smartphone including email multimedia GPS and more.

The BlackBerry Curve 8310 is an ideal tool for users who want to stay connected while juggling their busy work and personal lives.

The Blackberry Curve 8310 will be available from 3 September and is exclusive to Vodafone until 31 October.

The team talk with Chris Caudle from the IMPDA about the future of the independent dealer. There is also a review of the the Sagem my150X and a rant from Mobile News Ian White about an over the top press Nokia press release.

To cap it all off Iain Graham and the team take a light hearted look at all the latest headlines affecting the mobile industry. So dont miss out listen to the latest edition of the Mobile News podcast by clicking here.

Currys has decided to open the new zones in 550 stores after successful trials in its Manchester White City and Bournemouth stores. The zones will open in August and will initially only stock 3 tariffs but the group hopes to introduce packages from other network providers in the near future.

The size of the zones will vary in size in each store starting from three metres and going up to 29 metres. Stores that have larger zones will also stock a full range of other digital services for the home including TV and broadband subscriptions from Sky and Virgin Media.

Currys head of trading communications Jon Lyngra said: The communications zones are designed to offer great clarity and value for customers. The tariff guides are ultra-transparent and fair with a range of options to suit any customer.

The convergence of so many devices and the rapid emergence of new technologies create exciting possibilities for our customers. As market leaders we are uniquely placed to offer great advice and the right solution for each customer with the widest possible choice straightforward pricing and hands-on access to technology supported by a team of Currys experts.

The results were boosted by the release of 33 new handsets from a variety of Symbian licenses including the Motorola Z8 Nokia 6110 Navigator and Nokia 5700 XpressMusic.

Symbian also revealed that it has now sold 145 million cumulative smartphone units worldwide.

Symbian CEO Nigel Clifford said: We feel that the rise in popularity of smartphones the proliferation of affordable high-speed data networks and the innovation which companies are showing on open mobile platforms should see us extending our 14 quarters of growth into the future.

We are in the right market at the right time with the right product.

The new devices will make the service 10 times faster than the original 3G service that was launched in 2004.

From September 3 Vodafone customers can benefit from quicker laptop connectivity speeds by purchasing either a new plug and go USB Modem or a next-generation ExpressCard. Prices for both products start from £49 and come with an 18-month contract.

Vodafone will upgrade its mobile broadband network to support download speeds of up to 7.2MB. But initially only customers located in central London and major UK airports will able to access optimal speeds. The operator will offer typical speeds of 1.7MB to 5.5MB to customers in all other areas.

Vodafone UK enterprise business unit director Kyle Whitehill said: More than ever the speed of our Mobile Broadband service is helping people make work work around them wherever they are.

These devices are fast but they are also future-proofed – they are ready for our new upgraded network and they are ready for the latest PCs or laptops.

The deal covers 5500 voice and 3000 data connections mainly used for the AAs breakdown service fleet in the UK.

The initial agreement was signed in July 2006 and general manager for business sales Ben Dowd said the four-year extension will see O2 ramp up its data services to the AA.

McNeil whose position was based at the companys Dubai headquarters said he had personal reasons for leaving.

Trevor Mais will act as finance director until a replacement is found. McNeil who joined i-mate in January will remain in the job until September.