Bail for the 12 traders charged with involvement in a £250 million VAT fraud was set at up to £2 million per person last week.

Suspects were offered bail at between £200000 and £2 million. Sources claimed last week bail for some was as much as £4 million.

This is a distinct change of policy. Theres not been such a campaign on securities and assurities like this before said a source close to the case.

HM Revenue & Customs refused to comment on the bail figures. The case is ongoing said a spokesperson.

At Horseferry Road Magistrates Court on February 6-7 the 12 were charged and remanded in custody pending bail. It was part of a five-year investigation by HMRC called Operation Euripus that saw 350 officers raid 93 premises in the UK and Spain in July 2003 (Mobile News issue 293) and make 42 arrests.

The $4.6 billion (£2.4billion) merger of Danish distributor Dangaard and US distributor Brightpoint is likely to see Dangaards long-expected entry into the UK market delayed for around 12 months.

The merger announced last week sees the creation of the largest handset distributor on the planet with combined revenues of $4.6 billion and operating income of $106 million. The pair handled 64 million devices between them last year.

The integration is likely to take 12-18 months according to Dangaard COO Micha’©l K’¸ehn who will be appointed co-COO and president of international when the deal completes at the end of June.

K’¸ehn said the integration process will delay any UK entry for the time being. He said: The UK remains the blank spot on the map. It is extremely attractive to us still. We want to enter the UK market but the timing has to be right. I cant say that we will enter the UK market by acquiring a UK-based company yet because it is far too early but I find it very difficult to see any other way to enter than by acquisition. It is too mature a market to set up as a greenfield site.

The newly merged company has not yet decided on its branding. K’¸ehn said: We have to plan carefully whether we co-brand across all markets drop one or brand differently in different markets.

Brightpoint CEO Robert Laikin said: This transaction will join two of the most prominent players in wireless handset distribution and logistics to create a true global leader.

The two companies complement each other perfectly in terms of geography service offerings and shared commitment to operational excellence.

The merger sees Brightpoint issue $100000 and 30 million shares to Nordic Capital which acquired Dangaard last year in exchange for all of Dangaard. Nordic will appoint three directors to the board of nine at the new company including K’¸ehn. Its headquarters will be in Plainfield Indiana.

Separately Brightpoint has won a distribution contract for Windows Mobile smart device supplier i-mate. Brightpoint will be responsible for distribution and channel development in a number of European growth markets.

i-mate has an existing presence in the UK and Italy but the deal with Brightpoint means all of western Europe will be covered in terms of sales and support.

i-mate global sales director Jack Caine said: These are exciting times. We were looking for a trusted partner who understands our industry and shares our commitment to customers. This step brings us closer to our European customers and ensures more businesses and mobile operators become familiar with us.

O2 is set to pull its new contract connections business from Phones 4U in April and take all its high street connections through Carphone Warehouse.

Phones 4U marketing manager Jim Slater said: Were constantly in discussions with O2. As with all strategic partnerships these discussions remain confidential.

Carphone which already handles the billing of close to a million O2 customers is perceived as the better bet by O2 for its current acquisition strategy and the pair renewed their contract at the end of January.

Under the terms of the new contract O2 is understood to have pressed Carphone to sign more customers per month to O2 for less commission than previously.

Phones 4U is understood to have been connecting only a few thousand new O2 customers a month during the past quarter as O2 switched its focus from consumer acquisition almost completely towards retention.

O2 spent £5 million on its latest advertising campaign promoting its Fair Deal pledge to existing customers who re-sign direct.

Sources claimed last week that the O2 UK management team has had its acquisition budget slashed dramatically by parent company Telef³nica as it pursues new customers in emerging markets such as Latin America.

Mobile News understands that the O2 management team is likely to sign up with Phones 4U once more when its acquisition budget is bolstered again by Telef³nica.

The move follows Vodafones exit from Carphone Warehouse before Christmas. Vodafone has signed an exclusive deal on new business with Phones 4U which is understood to have committed to up to 70000 new connections to the network a month.

Phones 4U connects around 110000 customers per month in all.
As with the ongoing Vodafone/ Carphone relationship Phones 4U will still be able to upgrade existing O2 customers.

O2 was unavailable for comment.

The 20:20 Mobile Group is on the point of buying two European distributors as part of a fresh acquisition strategy under new owner Doughty Hanson.

Were currently knee-deep in due diligence on two distributors in Europe said 20:20 chief executive Mark Ryan.

Our new backers are looking for us to continue to perform as we have been doing. Last year we had record profits. They want to see that continue. They have a big appetite for acquisition.

Samsung Mobile UK director Mark Mitchinson has agreed provisional distribution contracts with Marlow-based Data Select and Wembley-based Elite Mobile.

The deals for both handsets and accessories run for a trial period of three months. Mitchinson has targeted seven million handset sales in the UK in 2007 up by more than a million units on last year and is looking to broaden Samsungs accessories portfolio to bring new profit streams to the channel.

Mitchinson said: These are not yet fully-fledged distribution partnerships but we are working with Data Select and Elite Mobile with a view to offering both companies full distribution rights in the not too distant future.

Mitchinson denied the move was down to consolidation at 20:20 Logistics its only official distribution partner at the moment under new owner Doughty Hanson. For its part 20:20 maintains that it is on the acquisition trail.

20:20 is performing well but this marks a change in direction said Mitchinson. 20:20 is really starting to address the market in a refreshing way. [This move] is about the markets that we are not reaching.

He added: Distribution is without doubt the toughest part of the mobile phone industry but at the same time the opportunities within distribution are massive. Im not teaching these guys to suck eggs but as a manufacturer who has worked within distribution I am confident that more value can be added.

George McPherson group managing director at Data Select parent company Phones International said Data Select lost its distribution contract with Samsung in March last year because it could not support Samsungs long-term forecasting models.

We have got significant traction in the retail market now where there is definitely a call for Samsung products and the forecasting we are now able to do is better suited to Samsung he said.

The dealer channel is incredibly important for us but we are also doing a lot of SIM-match deals to meet certain price points within the retail sector. There is such a range of handsets available and our skill is in configuring products packaging them and supporting them.

Elite Mobile director of sales and marketing Barry Nash said: We are proud to have been given this opportunity to demonstrate to Samsung our proven capability and consistently high level of service. Our customers will be delighted to have access to one of the most dynamic brands in the market.

Game publisher Glu Mobile has struck a deal with Microsoft to develop a mobile version of Age of Empires III the Microsoft real-time strategy game for the PC.

Age of Empires III sold 16 million copies worldwide. Glu has secured the global rights to develop and publish a new version of the game for mobile phones. It will be released in the UK next year and will be available on Java- and Microsoft-enabled handsets.

Were excited to partner with Microsoft on another of their most valued brands said Jill Braff general manager of North America Glu Mobile. Age of Empires is one of the highest-rated franchises on the PC.

More than 400000 mobile internet domain names which end .mobi have been issued in 104 different countries since October.

In comparison only 100000 .com sites were registered in the first 10 years after it was established as an internet domain name.

The company behind the .mobi address called dotMobi said the interest showed content developers focus on delivering quality made-for-mobile sites.

The reality is the next generation of internet content is mobile. Todays consumers want good content anywhere at any time. The numbers reflect the commitment developers have made to reach consumers using .mobi said dotMobi CEO Neil Edwards CEO.

Separately Motorola lost its legal struggle last week to secure the rights to the motorazr.com domain name. The domain is used by US company R3 Media for mobile phone news. Motorolas case was thrown out when it couldnt prove when it started to use the RAZR brand.

Z10 and new focus on social networking will boost sales, reckons Motorola

O2 has been ranked fifth in The Sunday Times 2007 Best Big Companies to Work For List in its first year of participation the highest ever
ranking for a mobile phone operator.

The network was also awarded a two-star accreditation denoting an outstanding company and finished top on the Best for Well Being category as well as being short-listed in the Best for Giving Something Back category.

O2 HR director Dominic Mahoney said: Being the first year weve participated in this and finishing so highly is beyond anything we could of hoped for and whats even more pleasing is its a daily reflection from our people.

Were now looking to develop our People Promises programme which will help our staff develop within the company and maintain their ideas.

Vodafone UK dropped two places from last years list to 15th while The Carphone Warehouse which finished sixth in 2006 and won the Best For Leader award slipped to 13th position.

LG Mobiles Shine handsets is selling more than 4000 per week through The Carphone Warehouse Phones 4U Orange and O2. LG Mobile is telling its channel partners to get their orders in early.

Its Chocolate handset now on prepay has topped one million UK sales since launch. It has sold around 300000 since Christmas.

LG Mobile marketing manager John Bernard said: Shine is the best selling handset on the market retailers are demanding more. The Chocolate is strong in prepay and there is still the Prada phone to come. We are well set for 2007.

He added: We are fulfilling the Shine orders but our customers have to get orders in early.

The Prada phone will not be exclusive to anyone Mobile News understands nor is it expected to ship in the same volume as either the Chocolate or Shine.