Mobile dealers sentenced for £1.6 million clawback fraud

Mobile phone dealers Jonathan Shulton and James Cahill have been convicted of fraud at Southwark Crown Court for their parts in a £1.6 million abuse of commission schemes. They'd claimed commission for connecting new customers and then liquidated their companies before networks had the opportunity to realise that the connections were fraudulent. Following a Serious Fraud Office investigation, Jonathan Shulton has been sentenced to a total of 27 months imprisonment, with James Cahill sentenced to a 240 hours community punishment order. [Press release]

O2 to scrap "rules of engagement" blocking dealer upgrades

It's reported that O2 is going to scrap its "rules of engagement" from 5th January 2009. The rules, which have been applied in various forms since October, stopped dealers from upgrading O2 customers. [Source: Mobile News issue 428]

Mobile News podcast now online

This week the Mobile News podcast talks to Faisal Sheikh of 'Fone Doctors' about the current state of retailing. There's a preview of the Sony Ericsson W705 Walkman and the team's usual off-beat look at industry headlines from the last seven days. As always, you can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

Mobile News podcast now online

The new edition of the Mobile News podcast is now available to download. Iain Graham talks to John Fannon about T-Mobile's recent channel review and its plans to change dealer commission payments. Mark Bridge and James Rosewell join Iain to discuss the latest mobile industry headlines - and there's a quick preview of the Samsung M8800 Pixon cameraphone. As usual, you can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

The Mobile News podcast is presented and produced by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge at TheFonecast.com

T-Mobile drops over 500 independent dealers

T-Mobile has terminated 537 retailers - two-thirds of its independent dealer base - as part of the network's channel review. Having recently dropped distributor Fone Logistics, it says it also removed 34 direct Premier Partners, three direct Business Partners and more than 500 indirect dealers last Friday. T-Mobile currently connects via six distributors (Avenir, Data Select, Dextra, Elite, Hugh Symons and Redstone), 30 direct Premier Partners, 15 direct Business Partners and 200 stockists. [Source: Mobile News]

New Mobile News podcast now online

Iain Graham, Mark Bridge and James Rosewell take their usual off-beat look at the latest industry headlines in this week's edition of the Mobile News podcast. John Ryan offers retail merchandising advice - and there's a preview (or should that be a forecast?) of the forthcoming BlackBerry Storm. As usual, you can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

O2 reviewing dealer commission

O2 is changing the way it pays commission to its business dealers next month, paying them a monthly share of revenue instead of commission when the customer connects. The move could see dealers earning more in the long term, although the lack of an initial subsidy may affect handset prices and connection incentives. [Source: Mobile News]

Dealers want non-paying customers blacklisted

A number of independent dealers have complained that networks are refusing to blacklist mobile phones when a customer connects using fraudulent information or doesn't pay their bill. They say that networks claim the handset is still owned by the person who bought it, while the dealers say the handset belongs to them until the end of the customer’s contract. The dealers point out that they're being 'clawed back' for commission when customers don't pay. [Source: FoneMag.co.uk; 'The Voice' column]

O2 connections held up for 5 days

O2 dealers were unable to connect new customers for 5 days last week when the network was upgrading its billing system. The upgrade started on 6th August and ended on Sunday 10th. Dealers were advised not to process new connections, upgrades or tariff changes during the five-day period. [Source: Mobile News]

Clawback protection from T-Mobile?

Here's a topic we touched on in our podcast this week. T-Mobile is said to be considering a trial of a new clawback protection procedure for dealers. It would reduce the risk of dealers having to repay commission when a customer defaults on the mobile phone bill. T-Mobile will apparently require participating dealers to take a deposit from the customer or to match their address with their payment details. [Source: Mobile News]

New podcast from 'The Fonecast' now online

This week's free podcast of The Fonecast, a weekly downloadable broadcast about the mobile phone industry (in partnership with Mobile News), is now available to download from TheFonecast.com. As usual, Iain Graham, Mark Bridge and James Rosewell provide their regular weekly look at the latest headlines and rumours. Freelance journalist Steve Gold explains the benefits of selling mobile email for dealers, and the Samsung SGH-F110 miCoach handset comes under the team's spotlight. Each broadcast can be downloaded by including us in your RSS reader, by using iTunes, by visiting TheFonecast.com or from the Mobile News website.