Carphone Warehouse has responded to the deal struck between Vodafone and Phones 4U for the retail chain to become the networks exclusive third party retailer for contract customers.

Carphones share price plunged by over 40p on the news.

In a statement Carphone said:

Carphone Warehouses business is based on the fundamental principle of impartial advice. This cannot and will not ever be compromised: it is the foundation on which customer trust and loyalty is built. We sell phones on the basis of what is the right and best for our customers not on the basis of guaranteeing volumes of sales for networks.

Vodafone approached Carphone Warehouse to enter into the same arrangement as they have today announced with Phone 4 U. It would have meant guaranteeing to sell a high percentage of Vodafone subscriptions no matter how competitive the offer was for customers.

Less than 10% of our subscription customers today choose Vodafone as their contract of choice. This is simply because 90% of customers feel they are getting a better deal from another network. It is a sad day for Phones 4 U customers to know that they are not being offered the best deal for them but instead the best deal for Phones 4 U and Vodafone.

Our customers will always receive impartial advice on the best deal for their individual needs and rest assured they will always have the best deal on offer.

Vodafone has struck a deal with Phones 4U to be its exclusive third party retailer for contracts. Other channels will retain the chance to sell pre-pay propositions.
Vodafone UK CEO Nick Read said: The combination of Phones 4Us experience and Vodafones flexible product offering creates an exiting proposition. This strategic deal will complement our direct distribution capability and ensure we can target all key customer segments through their channel of choice.

Carphone Warehouse has acquired Time Warners AOL UK internet business for 370 million.

Under the deal Carphone will acquire AOLs UK customer base plus supporting management and infrastructure. AOL will provide a co-branded portal and manage online advertising sales.

Carphone CEO Charles Dunstone said: The acquisition is transformational for our broadband business. It gives us significant scale to complement the rapid organic growth of our free broadband proposition.

Carphone today (October 11 2006) released trading figures for the second quarter. The company has incurred approximately 20 million in costs for setting up the free broadband proposition as it struggles to cope with the unexpected demand.

As of September 30 there have been 625000 applications for the service with 421000 made live.

South West-based independent mobile retailer Jag Communications is planning an expansion bid into new UK territories.

Managing director John George said We have been consolidating our position in the market since buying KJC outlets last year but now we feel its time to start expanding again.

The first new store is in Port Talbot in south Wales which is set to open before Christmas. It supplements the seven existing outlets in the region.

George added: We would be happy to acquire another company if that would speed up this process in South Wales but the price would have to be right. Buying companies has worked well for us in the past as we get a pool of trained staff.

More store openings will be announced soon.

Mobile communications specialist ROK has launched a subscription-free IP TV service. The service dubbed FreeBe TV is based around a desktop application that can be used with 21 WAP enabled phones currently on the market to tune into 12 channels of content. Citing findings from analysts at ABI Research the company believes that the global market for IPTV could reach revenues of up to 14.5 billion a year by 2010.
The company said that the service is made free to consumers in an effort to stimulate a sluggish market hidebound by cost. Revenues will be recouped through advertising on the service.

Ridin released on 3 on June 26 sold 5800 downloads in a day. It is not out on CD until August 14.

Record labels are releasing singles first on 3 and were pleased to see the labels are as excited about the growing sales as we are? said 3 marketing director Graeme Oxby.

Ridin has now sold more than 10000 downloads in the UK alone.

We are keen to embrace innovative ways to deliver our artists music to the consumer? said Island Records Group head of mobile Neil Jennings.

3 has struck a deal with Irish retail chain Xtra-vision to distribute 3 products and services through 154 stores across Ireland.

Xtra-vision sells a range of consumer electronics from mobile phones to DVDs.

Xtra-vision will offer the new Sony Ericsson K610i in red the Motorola V3x in pink the LG8330 LG8360 and Motorola C975 among others. Customers will be able to sign up to 3?s pre-pay offer 3Pay in all Xtra-vision stores with post-pay contracts available in selected outlets plus special X-clusives only from Xtra-vision.

3 Ireland managing director Robert Finnegan said: 3 has changed the face of the Irish mobile market by offering customers more for their money with new exclusive services and great value pricing. Xtra-vision is at the heart of the home entertainment market attracting high spenders on video games and multi-media. With over 60 per cent of our customers regularly enjoying new mobile entertainment services Xtra-vision is an ideal channel to market for 3G on the high street.

The agreement strengthens 3s presence on the Irish high street following its entry into the pre-pay market in May. Xtra-vision joins 3?s existing retail partners including 3G Carphone Warehouse and independent dealerships across Ireland.

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Industry pundits expected Hough who took voluntary redundancy from Orange earlier this month to fall in with former Orange sales director Stuart Henry at Carphone Warehouse after its SIM-free distribution arm Mobile Phone Express lost sales manager Mark Grice.

But Mobile News understands that Hough already has a verbal agreement to join Mainline which is part-owned by Orange and is located close to Houghs Staffordshire home. Houghs redundancy notice expired on Friday (July 28) leaving him free to agree terms with Mainline.

Both Mainline and Hough refused to comment.

Orange offered its channel staff until midnight on July 14 to apply for redundancy as the operator looked to integrate its mobile and broadband sales staff. Hough applied for redundancy.

Former Wanadoo head of sales Steve Heald has taken on the combined channel sales role at Orange for mobile and broadband services.

The issue also resulted in poor tariff performance for the network in July.

We have seen a huge drop in T-Mobile connections because of the commission issue? said Jo McLarty sales manager at distributor Hugh Symons Dealers still say that it is the best value tariff by far but this month it has been the worst performing by far. There can only be one reason – commission reduction.?

Fone Logistics director of marketing Julian Parven agreed: Any T-Mobile tariff with the WebnWalk bundle extension has been the poorest performing tariff for us this month.?

T-Mobile could also suffer further blows as O2s new tariffs prove popular.

O2s new tariffs have proved really popular and I think the network will continue to do well with its new weekend deal? commented McLarty. Orange is another one to watch next month as I think it will do well possibly to the detriment of T-Mobile again.?

Nokia has also suffered this month in handset sales despite posting good Q2 profits.

The LG Chocolate phone and Samsung E900 have been top performers in July? noted Parven. Whereas the Nokia E60 and N71 have been the worst sellers for us.?

But MoCo director of marketing and direct sales Harvey Alexander remained confident that Nokia would keep performing well.

Nokia handsets were our top three selling handsets for July? he said. The 6230i 6021 and 6280 consistently perform well.?

McLarty agreed: We have got huge demand for the N80s and the 6230i continues to do really well as a basic handset.?

But he added: One rival Nokia should be aware of is Samsung as it has done really well with the E900. As soon as we get hold of them they just go.?

The cut-off date for joining the Group Litigation Order (GLO) was confirmed last week after it was approved by the High Court and London firm DLA Piper was appointed as lead solicitors.

Customs and DLA Piper have two more months to agree the issues to be determined in the litigation – including who can claim under what circumstances and how much. DLA Piper solicitor Simon Airey said that traders have six months from the date that issues are agreed to join the GLO unless the trader has unresolved appeals.

If a trader is involved in tribunal or other appeal proceedings against Customs relating to disputed assets or withheld VAT the cut-off comes six months after they are concluded. But Airey warned that traders should act sooner.

For most traders the cut-off will be early 2007. For those with unresolved appeals it may be later? he said. But traders should not sit on their hands. It is important that they take legal advice so that they are properly represented.?

He warned: If they are not any judgment may be useless to them. And there is no cost advantage of seeking to join the litigation later – all claimants will pay the same sum irrespective of when they join. The more claimants that join the litigation the smaller that sum will be?.

Any trader wanting a copy of the GLO should apply to DLA Piper.

The GLO will take the form of a class action pursued by a test claimant on behalf of the rest of the group. All claimants issuing relevant claims will be included.