A survey showed that the average BlackBerry user converted an average of 60 minutes downtime into productive time each day. The research also showed that BlackBerry users increase team efficiency by 38 per cent.

More than 50 per cent of small business employees in Europe are classified as mobile workers.

The study was conducted with 1335 BlackBerry users and 1387 IT managers in North America Europe Asia Pacific and Latin America.

The two-year agreement will enable customers to view action from the Championship League One and League Two on Virgin Mobile and Virgin Broadband.

Highlights from all 72 Football League clubs will be available on demand for up to a week after transmission.

Virgin Media CEO of content Malcolm Wall said: Were committed to investing in great content for our customers and this new partnership will give football fans a genuinely value-added service.

From today Tesco will cut prices from 40p per minute for outgoing calls to 35p. It will also slash the cost of receiving calls to 15p a minute.

Tesco Mobile CEO Andy Dewhurst said: We welcome the new legislation but we want our customers to get better value right away. It seems ludicrous that some mobile phone companies may make customers wait until the end of the summer to lower their mobile roaming prices.

HSBC First Direct Alliance & Leicester and from later this summer Royal Bank of Scotland NatWest and Ulster Bank have all signed up to the new service.

Vodafone will allow customers to check their balance request a mini-statement or top-up their phones via the internet.

Customers will be asked to provide their bank details into a secure application called MONILINK. Once registered they will be asked to enter a password before being able to access their bank account.

Head of Vodafone Internet On Your Mobile Al Russell said: Banking is one of the most important services that our customers use and by partnering with the MONILINK network we can ensure that all of our customers are able to access their bank accounts on the move whenever they wish.

Samsung chief Mark Mitchinson also confirmed that it has struck a trial deal with Unique.

Samsung continues to work with 20:20 and Data Select which remains under review. It was apparent in the first few weeks it wasnt going to happen with Elite said Mitchinson.

Extreme Mobile will launch in 2008 and McFarnon will oversee the launch of its push-to-talk MVNO which will target the 16-24 year old youth market.

McFarnon will also be responsible for establishing Extremes sister company Advantage Cellular Communications Ltd as a leading distributor.

Our aim is to handle this important sector of the mobile market in an entirely different way offering considerably more than just standard voice and text and appealing equally to both young men and women said McFarnon.

Extreme Mobile chief executive Simon Earle is delighted that McFarnon has joined the group. Earle said: The appointment of John McFarnon as Group Managing Director is a significant step forward in the development of our business.

Brightstar opened preliminary discussions with the top handset manufacturers in late May and early June. It is already negotiating a deal with Samsung and is expected to make a formal presentation to Nokia in the coming weeks.

Deals with both are expected to be confirmed in August.

Samsung UK director Mark Mitchinson told Mobile News: Weve had negotiations at the highest level within Brightstar were very impressed with these guys and it could well materialise into a trial.

Nokia has also been contacted in recent weeks by Brightstar. Its UK managing director Simon Ainslie said Nokia was keen to develop its routes to market and hear Brightstars pitch.

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Dealer directory indie-guides.co.uk was launched in May to encourage consumers to buy from local suppliers rather than the big multiples.

Indie-guides MD Steve Wickens said while subscriptions for the free 90-day trial membership were strong in England numbers were low in other parts of the UK.

Wickens said: The cause of independence is felt keenly in Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland and we believe the indie-guides philosophy dovetails well with that. We target consumers who appreciate the value of buying locally from independents. It is a simple concept designed to be an inexpensive yet effective way of helping businesses prosper against the tide of corporate competition.

Members are given space for a 200-word profile up to two images contact details including website and email hyperlinks plus the chance to add keywords to make the most of the indie-guides search facility.

It said it would be compatible with more than 75 per cent of handsets in the UK.

Omnifone CEO Rob Lewis said the company was in negotiation with a major UK phone retailer but would not comment further.

The Carphone Warehouse has been tipped to be the one but a spokeswoman said it was all speculation.

Lewis said Omnifone would only identify the rollout partner for MusicStation the day before handsets were available in-store and UK rollout plans would remain confidential until then.

Over a 19 month trading period HMRC officers identified losses of over £85 million in VAT linked to the group. The fraudulent trading was tracked across the North West Midlands Republic of Ireland and Europe. The Government says it has been one of the biggest missing trader frauds to be prosecuted.

HMRC head of criminal investigation (North West) Peter Hollier said: This was not a victimless crime but fraud on a massive scale perpetrated by criminals bent on making fast and easy profits at the expense of the British taxpayer. The sentence sends out a clear message to others who may contemplate such activity.

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