Dealers appear to have done well by Orange as customers responded well to the expanded segmented tariffs but a reduction in money flowing into the channel means that demand for its propositions may fall away throughout this month.

Harvey Alexander Moco Cell Link director of communications and operations noted that business was unseasonally good over the last two months.

?August hasn?t been like previous years where things have been a bit wafty. This year we?ve just done our two best ever months? he said. ?T-Mobile has dried up even though they put in some additional funding to try to get the business.?

Bob Sweetlove Hugh Symons business manager agreed saying Orange seems to have picked up business that T-Mobile has lost.

?Business has been strong around volumes it?s just that the flavour of the networks has changed? he said. ?T-Mobile was big in March April and May but it appears they?ve overconnected. Orange seems to have been the main beneficiary.?

Fone Logistics head of marketing Julian Parven confirmed that Orange has done well in the channel for both customers and dealers. However T-Mobile?s business has gone to O2 for the Newcastle-based distributor.

?Orange have made a leap forward in our business with the extended segmentation offers that are delivering customer value and the money that they?ve put back into the proposition? he said. Business revenues are tending to be well spread. The boom of T-Mobile?s Business 1 Plan was pretty much dead in August with a lot of that business going to O2.?

September may not be such a good month for Orange however with cuts in commissions dampening demand especially in the business market.

Money has come out of Orange? said Alexander. ?Last month our sales of Orange were up 60 per cent. Now they?ve reduced commissions across the board. My business guys are getting really hurt at the moment.?

Fone Logistics also noticed the bite in Orange business deals but felt that the strength of the consumer proposition from the network would tide dealers over.

?Orange reduced commission across the business sector? said Parven. ?Upgrade commissions were decreased and connection commissions have been cut. It may have an impact but on the consumer side it still looks like a relatively strong package. After all any volume commission reduction can be offset by handset price reductions.?

While Orange T-Mobile and O2 appear to be jockeying for the same business 3 has seen a period of steady growth. Alexander noted that with an enhanced handset range 3 is beginning to experience a steadily more positive response from consumers.

?3 has really picked up? he said. ?The most popular tariffs are Video Talk and Text 700 and 1100. Now 3 has got the Nokia handsets it knocks over 50 per cent of the objections to the network. We think 3 is going to be strong in September because the demand for T-Mobile is not coming back.?

Parven agreed that 3 has become a more difficult proposition for customers to ignore over the summer.

?3 has been very strong in August and our partners have really come through to deliver good volumes on tariffs like Video Talk and Text 700 and 1100? he said. ?The extended half-price line rental and double minutes have made the network an easy proposition for customers to buy into.?

Parven forecasted that September looks like business as usual for Fone Logistics with no real change from August. In a month?s time however he thinks propositions will be shaken up.

?We see October being a landscape change. We can see 3 looking to the proposition with new tariffs? he said. ?We think it may be looking for a strong acquisition term for the fourth quarter. We can?t see any way T-Mobile will be coming back in any big way.?

Nokias latest sponsorship of The X Factor its third in succession eclipses previous deals and represents its biggest marketing investment in three years. It coincides with the key sales period running up to Christmas. It also sees a succession of exclusive deals on content and handsets passed down to network operators and multiple retailers.

Nokia has agreed for 3 to have exclusive rights to all mobile content related to the show. Vodafone has an exclusive on two The X Factor branded handsets available only via Phones 4U and Vodafones direct retail chain (see below).

The TV campaign which features buffer advertising of handsets before and after the show and either side of the commercial breaks will highlight one handset per month as the show runs through to December 16. Nokia said that last year the handset advertising significantly increased footfall to stores but that it failed to supply the featured handsets and attendant POS material to the channel in the correct volumes.

Nokia UK senior trade marketing manager Simon Randall told Mobile News:

We missed a trick last year. The sponsorship itself was very effective but we didn?t push the stock through to channel and flag the products in store as effectively as we could have. There is a big correlation between the products advertised during the breaks and what people come into store for. We have taken steps to ensure that the materials are available across all channels this time.

Randall said that 3 was the hungriest for the content deal. He said: Content is useful to most operators and we invited them to pitch to us and made the decision based around which operator has the best activation plan. 3 was best positioned to make the most of it in retail and was also the most hungry.

Nokia also invited operators to pitch for deals on pre-pay product variants based around the show. Vodafone will launch two different pre-pay handsets through its own retail outlet and through Phones 4U in the next two weeks.

Both handsets will be packaged in The X Factor-themed gift boxes and feature digital content around the show. The handsets will also give away tickets to the live show and for free makeovers on first activation.

Said Randall: In the first year we saw it as a bit of a risk. It was an unknown quantity and we werent 100 per cent. Mass-market platforms normally alienate youth opinion-forming groups and we wanted to be sure that we didnt turn parts of the market off. While The X-Factor reaches 20 per cent of the population it doesnt register negatively with those niche groups – and other parts of our marketing strategy appeal to those particular groups directly at the same time.

He added: It has proven extremely successful. It runs during the whole of the key gifting market through Q3 and Q4 and develops from being almost car-crash TV into a credible music TV show which means we can develop our product advertising with that. Nothing else gives the same media value.

One source close to the company revealed that the programme has been drawn up after poor sales figures showed it losing share to T-Mobile and O2 in the SME market.
A Vodafone spokeswoman commented: "Mark Bond who has recently been appointed as marketing director will be making changes. But businesses are forced to make changes all the time. Some people may leave as a result but others will also join Vodafone."
The news follows a tumultuous few months for the network as it announced record losses of £15 billion at the start of June. In response to its poor annual results Vodafone announced 400 job cuts at Newbury in an attempt to save £500 million a year.

Phones 4U has an exclusive among independent retailers on the Nokia 6111 on Vodafone pre-pay tariffs. The Nokia 6111 is available in pink and black in a The X Factor-themed box set. and will be sold through through Vodafone?s own direct channels and Phones 4U only.

Head of pre-pay Wayne McBean said: We have an exclusive deal until the end of the year and expect record sales. The handset was priced at GBP150 but we have reduced it to GBP99.95 – the sweet spot for our target segment as well as offering them Vodafones free weekend calls and texts deal.

Phones 4U marketing manager Jon Fish said: Mobile music is becoming ever more important to most of our target consumers and this proposition fits perfectly with our biggest and most attractive pre-pay segment. Such powerful imagery has great impact in store – the association is great for the Phones 4 U brand.

Users can pay in the town by calling or texting a dedicated number that takes details of the location car registration and length of stay. Reminder texts are sent when the parking session is almost up and users can extend their slot without having to return to the car park.

Registration occurs on initial payment. Users can then manage their account online obtaining information about payments print receipts and adding new vehicles as required.

The service is also pitched to the city councils parking attendants who can use the service to check on cars parked in their vicinity.

O2 general manager of business sales Ben Dowd said: O2 is partnering with the best in the business to provide mobility solutions that not only allow local government to realise efficiency gains but also results in better services for the people they serve.

Colao was formerly chief executive of RCS MediaGroup an Italian publishing company but he has also served on the Vodafone Group board from 2002-2004. Additionally he will take on the role as deputy chief executive for the group. The role was formerly held by Sir Julian Horn-Smith who retired in July.

Previous European chief executive Bill Morrow left unexpectedly in July to spend more time with his family after only a few months in the position but with over a decade at Vodafone under his belt. He was replaced in the interim by chief executive for Germany Fritz Joussen who now resumes his former role. Morrow was among a number of high profile departures including Tim Miles and Ken Hyden.

Colaos first involvement with Vodafone was in 1996 as chief operating officer of Omintel Prono Italia the countrys second largest mobile operator which became Vodafone Italy. He was promoted to chief executive in 1999. In 2001 he was made regional chief executive for southern Europe which was extended to EMEA in 2003. Group chief executive Arun Sarin said: Vittorio made an outstanding contribution in his previous roles at Vodafone and he is a highly effective manager. I am confident that Vittorio is well equipped to succeed in this key position.

See Business Watch

The 7390 is a flip-phone that Nokia labels its first 3G fashion handset. It features a 3-megapixel camera and will be available across Europe for around GBP300 excluding VAT or subsidy.

The 7373 has a patterned case and a swivel form-factor. This handset comes with a 2-megapixel camera twin speakers and complementary fashion headset pouch and phone jewellery. It will retail for around GBP240 excluding VAT and subsidy.

The third handset is the entry-level 7360 – a candybar with FM radio. It will be available for around GBP135 excluding VAT and subsidy. All three handsets should be shipping this autumn.

Also released is the Sirocco a version of Nokias premium 8800 handset featuring sounds by Brian Eno and available for around GBP680 excluding VAT and subsidy.

The second unit is located in Crowborough in East Sussex. TPC manager Matt Chambers has recruited two new staff members to the business taking his total headcount to 10 across the two retail outlets and the B2B office in Crawley. Chambers recruited the new staff members from Phones 4U and the Carphone Warehouse.

Chambers asserted: Crowborough is one of the few places without any real competition in mobile phone retail. There is a wholesaler nearby too so we can pick up SIM-free stock at very good prices. Its located close to the original premises too so we can change stock and switch staff between the retail outlets.

Chambers is looking to recruit two more staff for the B2B unit and expand the retail footprint to three. Chambers said he has identified a third location in the vicinity and is waiting for the lease to come up.

He said: The ethos is to diversify – to cover laptops data mobile and every other SIM-based product in the market. We want to be a one-stop-shop for all a customers communications solutions.

We would like to increase connections to around 300 per month minimum but it is ultimately about the quality of customers we deliver. I could increase profitability by around 500 per cent if I could sell the complete communications solution to all customers.

Previously Burmester held the same position at technology companies including Visto Corperation where he helped secure deals to supply push e-mail and personal information management (PIM) tools to Vodafone Global Group. He has also held senior positions at Openwave network design company Mobile Systems International Datech and ITT Creed.

SpinVox CEO Christina Domecq said: Paul will improve penetration within the region by developing current relationships as well as establishing new ones.

SpinVox has also appointed Tom Clear as president of the companys operation in the Americas. Clear will be responsible for driving product sales throughout North and South America.

SpinVox is currently deploying with operators globally following findings that voicemail-to-text has a dramatic impact on ARPU as voicemail becomes more immediate and users can text or call back at the push of a button. SpinVox claims that its service increases text and voice traffic by 12 per cent.

The ASA has banned an O2 advertisement after a complaint by T-Mobile. The advert featured the streetmap.co.uk service that O2 was offering to its customers.

It showed a man throwing a bubble around a cityscape which folded in on itself until it became a street atlas.

T-Mobile made the complaint to the ASA claiming it was misleading as the voiceover in the advert said: Always know where youre going with streetmap.co.uk free on your mobile. Only for O2 customers.

The ASA upheld a T-Mobile complaint that the advert implies that the
streetmap service was completely free.

O2s response said: Viewers would not infer that the streetmap.co.uk was permanently free and it had received no complaints from customers. The ad featured an end date to the offer in the onscreen text.

The ASA said: We understood that the onscreen text and claim that Always know where youre going… could lead viewers to infer that the streetmap service would be continue to be free if they signed up before August 21 2006 as opposed to the service being free up to that date. Because the ad was not clear in that respect we concluded that it was likely to mislead. On this point the ad breached TV Advertising Code and the advertising must not be broadcast again in its current form.

A spokesperson from O2 said: The Streetmap campaign was a very successful one for us and we are pleased with the results. The ASA received no complaints from consumers about the adverts and though we are disappointed with the ruling we are pleased that on two of the three points raised by a rival network the ASA found in our favour.

T-Mobile refused to comment.