ROK CEO Laurence Alexander said: More than 100 million iPods have been sold worldwide which shows the demand for music on the move. But there are three billion mobile phones in use so there is far more scale in mobile.

Its about time someone offered an alternative to iTunes in the mobile music space.

ROK Media Store is a web-based application that enables the user to upload their music collection to their PC and to sideload it to the memory card on their mobile phone. It is a free service supported by a combination of online advertising and content sales.

ROK claimed the service is an iPod killer on the grounds it will turn most handsets into music devices. ROK will make video and music tracks available for purchase in due course.

Waters has been appointed to develop the companys brand in the B2B sector. Waters has 10 years experience in the IT and telecoms industries. She has worked at BT Orange and most recently T-Mobile.

Avenir managing director Tanny Price said: Fionas appointment comes at an exciting time for Avenir as we continue to progress in the B2B market.

The survival kit is made up of various fun and practical mobile downloads that fans can use at the event. These include a virtual lighter that festival-goers can wave during slow songs flashing screensavers that act as mobile locators and mobile spotlights to make it easier for revelers to make their way home in the dark

Virgin Mobile head of PR Simon Dornan said: Were delighted with Mobstars contribution to our V Festival sponsorship. With a mix of great original ideas and fantastic execution Mobstar has really added value to our mobile offering giving festival goers mobile content that is genuinely fun relevant and practical!

Mobstars mobile content is available from the Virgin V Festival microsite. To receive a link to the microsite text VFEST to 82330

Frape joins from Data Select where she was dealer account manager. She is reporting to marketing director Julien Parven at present.

She will be responsible for the day-to-day running of stockists accounts and for developing new business opportunities as well as managing converged and data sales.

Parven said: Ninas appointment is the first part of a big recruitment drive. In the coming weeks well be adding to our team to strengthen our position in the market.

This week Iain Graham and the team talk to Martin Flick of Azzurri Communications about T-Mobile cutting off a number of business partners.

Theres also an interview with a real mystery shopper and reviews on the Samsung G600 and Pocket Informant 2007.

To listen to the latest edition of the Mobile News podcast click here

Its share of the market slipped from 17.5 per cent to just 13.5 per cent after it recorded operating losses for Q2 of £129 million. Its net loss of £13.6 million on the back of a 19 per cent slump in sales to £4.2 billion.

Motorola chief executive Ed Zander blamed weakness in the European market and said Motorola would not return to profitability this year.

But industry commentators claimed its performance was a result of a poor handset range and its slashing of wholesale prices to bump up sales.

Martin Garner director of wireless intelligence at analysts Ovum said that Motorolas woes were down to its weak range.

The biggest single problem is the product portfolio which is under siege across all segments. One aspect of that is that Motorola has had a rather US-centric view of what its portfolio should look like fine for selling in the US but not fine elsewhere and at the moment its putting the business in real trouble.

Garner said Motorolas loss of 46 per cent of the global handset market share in the previous six months was very sudden and brutal treatment. He suggested Sony Ericsson would also pass it in the global rankings this year.

There is no sign of any big ideas coming from Motorola and I cant really see any improvement materialising in the next six to nine months he said.

Samsung on the other hand reported a 50 per cent rise in shipments on the same period last year. Its overall revenues were up just four per cent however at £7.8 billion on last year.

Samsung head of retail and distribution Simon Walsh said: Moving into second position globally is a massive boost for us because in a decreasing market we are our increasing market share.

Some emphasis will be placed on the upcoming G600 in August but were not going to rest on our laurels and are continuously asking ourselves what we can do better. Theres definitely more to come.

Sony Ericsson remains in fourth behind Nokia Samsung and Motorola but reported strong results for the quarter. It shipped 24.9 million handsets up 59 per cent on Q2 2006. Its net profit rose 54 per cent to £148 million from £96 million year-on-year with sales reaching £2.1 billion a 37 per cent increase. It also pushed its global market share three-percentage points to more than nine per cent.

Garner said: Unlike Samsung Sony Ericsson didnt receive a big boost from Motorolas failings so its all the more impressive. The release of about 10 new models between May and June has helped broaden its product portfolio.

Sony Ericsson CEO Miles Flint said it captured three per cent of the market with low-tier phones like the W300 and W200. He predicted that Sony Ericsson would exceed previous estimates of 1.1 billion units for 2007.

LG also announced better-than-expected results shipping 19.1 million handsets in the quarter. Handset sales reached £1.4 billion an improvement of 26.9 per cent. LG Mobile UK sales director John Barton said: When you look at Motorola you realise that the market can get out of control if youre not careful. Were pleased weve remained in a stable position.

Strong products like the Chocolate Shine and Prada have helped us gain an increase of 14 per cent over the two quarters in mobile sales.

Barton said GfK reports indicated LG had overtaken Motorola in contract sales. But he said LG still had work to do in the prepay market.

At the time of going to press Nokia had still not announced its results for the quarter but Garner predicted that its shipment figure could top 100 million. The figure will be around the 97 million mark but if it has managed to pick up any market share from Motorola then that figure could exceed 100 million he said.

AwayPhone offers a SIM-only contract solution which claims to reduce roaming costs by up to 90 per cent in 78 countries. It also provides users with a local number in the region
visited.

As part of the distribution contract Hugh Symons and AwayPhone will award dealers a proportion of the end users call costs on top of a fixed commission for the initial sale.

Hugh Symons sales manager Carlos Pestana said: AwayPhones service provides dealers with an additional touch point for their customers which helps them maintain dialogue with them regardless of where they are in the contract life-cycle.

In a mature market where the opportunities to provide end users with genuinely new and useful offerings are limited this is invaluable.

Pestana added that offering resellers a percentage of end users call costs gave them an ongoing revenue stream rather than a one-off commission often awarded by other operators. He said the deal with AwayPhone was part of the distributors widening of both its retail and business product portfolios.

AwayPhone CEO Sherry Madera said: Hugh Symons has come on board much quicker than we expected. It sees the benefit as it gives them an interesting new product. When you bring a new product to the channel its important to get your strategy right. For us its about using the best route to market and weve been talking to a number of distributors about this.

AwayPhones agreement with Hugh Symons follows its deal with Dextra in June.

3 severed ties with 33 independents last week in its first dealer cull of the year.

It cut off more than 200 dealers last year.

3 said that the affected dealers were under constant review in the past nine months and those affected were aware they were not meeting targets.

A 3 spokesman said: Weve decided to stop connecting through these dealers because they werent meeting our terms and conditions or delivering the right type of business. This might mean simply not following our rules the quality of their sales or the experience they were giving to the customer.

He added: These dealers knew they werent delivering the right type of customer and were aware they werent meeting our requirements. They were given the opportunity to improve but failed to so this decision wont come as a shock to them.

The larger number of affected dealers connected via Fone Logistics and European Telecom.

3 said that there are no immediate plans at this stage to terminate more dealer codes.

Meanwhile independents claimed last week that 3 was getting through dealer account managers like it was going out of fashion. One dealer said: I have had four different account managers in the past two months. Another dealer source said he did not know who his point of contact was anymore.

3 said its restructure prior to Christmas which saw its multiple and independent dealer teams come together under 3 indirect chief Bernie OBeirne had completed now. That should have settled down by February said a spokesman.

Nokia UK marketing manager Simon Lloyd has resigned to join directory services company 118118.

Nokia has not yet found a replacement.

Lloyds decision to quit was announced internally at a Nokia management meeting last month and he is working out a three-month notice period. He departs on amicable terms and joins 118 118 in a senior commercial role.

Lloyd joined Nokia just over six years ago starting as an account manager on the sales side. He has been marketing manager for the UK for three years.

Nokia refused to comment.

Dorset-based accessories distributor Kondor will launch a handset business arm later this year built around former Dextra associate sales director Simon Hassell and former Dextra national account manager Jason Bisseker.

Hassell and Bisseker have good experience from Dextra of handset customisation for non-specialist retailers said Kondor managing director Rob Haycock. They have that experience so we would be crazy not to utilise it he said.

At the same time Haycock dismissed rumours that The Carphone Warehouse is poised to acquire Kondor. There is no truth in that he said.

Kondor is looking to challenge the status quo in handset distribution by providing a handset customisation service for retailers such as Dixons Currys Comet Woolworths and Sainsburys all of which it already works with on accessories.

Haycock said: There is a better way [of doing handset distribution]. The margins are tight and there is a lot of money invested in it Im not sure all that is actually necessary. We are looking at how we can carry out that distribution service and add value with less risk to the distributor.

If you look at the way Carphone does things it buys all its own phones itself but they all need working on. We are looking at the whole market place. That kind of handset distribution is not done quite the right way at the moment.

He added: Our customers are already asking why if we pack and dispatch their accessories for them we cant do the same for handsets.

Kondor has doubled its headcount during the past 12 months to more than 90 and expanded its warehouse.

Haycock is currently recruiting for 10 new positions.

It has carried out a handset customisation and fulfilment service for networks including Vodafone and T-Mobile in the past on an ad hoc basis when they have been caught short said Haycock.

We dont quite have the skill set yet. However the recruitment of Simon [Hassell] and Jason [Bisseker] means we can grow that side of the business this year he said.

Hassell and Bisseker are on gardening leave from Dextra for six months and three months respectively. Hassell will take up his role at Kondor in August while Bisseker will do so in May.