Voice and data B2B dealer Azzurri Communications was number 45 on the Sunday Times Buyout Track 100 list published on February 18 and sponsored by Deloitte.

The Buyout Track 100 is a league table that shows the top 100 private equity-backed mid-market companies in the UK with the fastest growing profits over two years.

Network infrastructure company Aircom International was listed at number two.

Azzurris chief executive officer Martin St Quinton said: Our placement in the Buyout Track 100 is fantastic news for everyone at Azzurri and we are delighted to have the endorsement of an internationally respected company such as Deloitte.

This research shows the success that companies such as Azzurri have had in Britain and further backs up Azzurris commitment to excellence and growth.

Aircom chief executive officer Margaret Rice-Jones said: Aircom is now firmly on the radar.

SMS provider LogicaCMG last week confirmed the sale of its messaging and voicemail business to private equity firm Atlantic Bridge for £265 million.

LogicaCMG provides SMS MMS and voicemail service platforms to service providers and telecoms operators worldwide. Atlantic Bridge plans to revamp the business under the Acision brand.

About half of the funds from the sale will be returned to shareholders through a share buy-back.

LogicaCMG CEO Martin Read said: This divestment allows LogicaCMG to focus on its core strengths in IT and business services.

Ovum research director Jean-Charles Doineau said: The SMS centre market has become a commodity. Transition to IP-based messaging has proven uneasy to manage in developed countries.

Mobile phone recycling company Eazyfone Group has established FoneAid which will donate money to grassroots UK organisations in exchange for old handsets.

FoneAid will give £3 to participating charities sports clubs hospitals and youth organisations that donate their old mobile phones. For every 100 phones handed in they will also receive £100 in high street gift vouchers.

Handsets will be used in developing countries or recycled.

FoneAid is the third brand in the Eazyfone stable alongside Envirofone and Fones4Schools.

Bluestreak Technology has released a new version of its media content platform for manufacturers and network operators. The original version ships on all phones sold by Orange.

The new version MachBlue Mobile enhances graphics and functionality for networks programming rich-media content such as mobile TV and video on to their handsets.

Chessington-based SIM-free distributor Frequency Telecom celebrated its fifth birthday this month.

Company managing director Gareth Limpenny said: Its an achievement to be proud of particularly within such a competitive market we appear to have the right recipe.

He added: We are immensely grateful to our staff and trade partners that have supported us. Now with the addition of accessories to our portfolio we believe we have the ingredients for a bright future.

Frequency Telecoms head of marketing Stephen Donovan said the business had succeeded in spite its doubters in the early days.

Despite criticism from the market leaders when we set up we were always confident we could offer alternative services he said.
We have managed to build strong relationships with our customers. Frequency was based on no frills no fuss and no gimmicks.

It was set up in 2002 by directors Limpenny John Whitlock and Andrew Cain as well as sales manager Paul Slaven. It forecasts an annual turnover of £24 million.

US IT distributor Tech Data Europe which has just entered into a European joint-venture with US handset distributor Brightstar struck a deal last week to supply T-Mobile data products to IT dealers across Europe.

Tech Data Europe vice president of marketing Wolfgang Pregel said: This agreement is particularly timely with our recent announcement to form Brightstar Europe. With the addition of T-Mobile to Tech Datas vendor portfolio we are in a strong position to enable our resellers to make the most of the opportunities that exist through the activation of data cards.

He added: With more corporations SMEs and consumers now looking to extend their flexibility by subscribing to 3G data services the agreement opens up new business for our customers with additional margin through the sale of network tariffs.

Dealers will be able to offer pre-configured smartphones PDAs and laptops on T-Mobile to customers. The two companies are working on a dealer initiative that will allow them to offer customers a month-long free trial on T-Mobile products.

Michael Wilkens executive vice-president of wholesale multinational partnerships and channel development at T-Mobile International said: We look forward to working with Tech Data resellers to drive our data products and services throughout Europe.

The LGV under escort was forced off the road near Farnborough Hampshire by criminals in a black Subaru Impreza. The criminals first attacked the escort vehicle with crowbars before forcing the rear doors of the LGV and stealing a portion of the cargo.

The Impreza crashed during pursuit by police and two individuals were arrested. The incident happened on May 30.

The targeting of the shipment and the awareness of the presence of the escort suggests both the nature of the shipment and its security arrangements were compromised prior to departure said freight crimetracking company Eurowatch.

Another Emblaze man sales director Mark Clifford will join Alexander at ROK and take charge of its original developer manufacturer operations.

Alexander left Emblaze on June 1 when its distribution business European Telecom (ET) went into receivership. He said ROK would pick up some of the fulfilment relationships he had built at Emblaze.

Were looking to work with some existing ET and Emblaze partners. We will partner with manufacturers and other distribution companies to deliver handsets with content to retailers and network customers and help them target specific demographics.

Alexander takes the role from ROK founder Jonathan Kendrick who continues as chairman.

ROK best known for mobile TV employs 150 staff worldwide and has filed more than 40 patent applications for mobile content technologies and applications. It will deploy over 30 on-demand mobile TV services on networks by the end of 2007.

ROK is set to float on the US stock exchange via a reverse takeover of US listed company CyberFund.

Alexander said: Ill continue to work with Emblaze I have a good relationship with the board there. ROK is on the cusp of becoming a multi-billion dollar business and there is a focus on the UK this year.

He added: Mobile content and data has been a bit of a damp squib to date. ROK focuses on what the customer wants and the fact networks are starting to offer all-you-can-eat data tariffs is crucial. I will fight around the world for these flat-rate tariffs and to protect consumers from bill shock.

3 wants the time taken to port a mobile phone number between networks in the UK to be reduced from five days to just two hours. The delay discourages customers to switch networks as it stands said 3. >Industry regulator Ofcom is in the process of reviewing the MNP system. It will present its decision at the end of the summer following submissions from all the networks.

3 wants a fast modern and consumer-friendly porting system introduced by the end of the year. 3 UK CEO Kevin Russell said the number porting system in the UK is flawed because it is the only market where a customer still has to get permission from an operator to transfer their number also saying there was an imbalance in the ratio of outgoing calls compared with incoming calls on the 3 network as a result. For every 10 minutes of outbound calling there were just four of inbound traffic he said less than half of that seen in the other 3 markets.

Were pushing Ofcom and the industry hard to move to a recipient-led MNP process where you dont have to go back to the operator to ask for permission. Frankly this is unacceptable for a market as diverse as the UK.

Russell said there was no interest from the four incumbent networks to push for faster number portability because it would see increased customer churn and stifle competition. It is quite a straightforward process [to change the system] but I think every single incumbent is going to make it more complicated he said.

He also said the process gives rival networks the chance to court back their customers.

Vodafone accepted that as it stands the five-day period presents Vodafone with a chance to negotiate a deal with a customer that proposes to switch to another network.

But a spokesperson for the network said: Theres a risk in tinkering with a process that works. Ofcom surveyed 1200 people about the porting process only three per cent expressed concern and just three consumers in total mentioned the time for porting as a reason not to switch providers. That means 0.25 per cent using the process have a problem with the time it takes its not exactly a storm of people that object to it.

Vodafone has also questioned the efficiency of the two-hour porting system and the value of comparing markets.

As far as were concerned it means a customer can just call up and ask for their number. But the process of checking credit and ID is not as quick as that. Its a little bit simplistic to suggest such a short procedure said the spokesperson. The UK market is very different to other markets. A process that fits one market isnt necessarily going to fit here.

O2 said there is no evidence to suggest porting times prevent customers from switching networks. A spokesperson said: We can think of several reasons why customers wouldnt join 3 and cant see port lead times being one of them.

T-Mobile and Orange declined to comment

AwayPhone classes itself as an international MVNO with relationships with multiple network operators around the world.

It leases wholesale airtime from network operators but also buys roaming minutes and connects calls through VoIP technology. Customers can avoid high roaming tariffs because calls are routed via local numbers in countries they visit.

Dextra sales director Angie Simpson said: International SIM agreements sold separately to a users regular phone contract represent a great add-on market opportunity for mobile resellers because they can be sold at any time on top of existing contracts.

She said the deal would also enable dealers to reach customers they might normally miss through standard network contracts such as large corporate customers.

Its a healthy ongoing structure for the dealers and they can see rewards quickly. Were trying to find ways for dealerships to increase revenue that they might otherwise be losing said Simpson.

The move is a key step in AwayPhones partner distribution strategy as it expands its sales channels to meet the growing demand for its service.

AwayPhone CEO Sherry Madera said the AwayPhone SIM offered benefits to customers travelling to destinations not covered by the new EU roaming caps.