Amsterdam blames city centre decay on brothels and phone shops

It's not just Amsterdam's well-known brothels and marijuana cafes that are causing problems in the city centre. Council officials plan to close many of the city's brothels and sex shops to reduce organised crime... and they say some phone shops, mini-supermarkets and souvenir shops will also be shut down as they're related to the decay of the city centre. [Source: BBC News]

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

10% of mobile broadband customers say they were mis-sold

In the week that Vodafone was criticised by the ASA for its "light years ahead" mobile broadband advertisement and 3 admitted problems with its mobile broadband service, O2 has published research that says over one in ten mobile broadband users feel that they were mis-sold. The main source of irritation is the cost of the service, with nearly a third complaining that the ongoing cost was higher than expected. One-fifth were upset that they were unable to use mobile broadband where they wanted it despite being told that there would be coverage - and 13 per cent were frustrated there was no returns guarantee if the service wasn’t right for them. Needless to say there's a sales message in here. O2 has revamped its mobile broadband offering by cutting costs, creating a new coverage checker and offering a 50-day Happiness Guarantee. [Press release]

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.

Best Buy to sell 3G iPhone in USA

Best Buy, which recently joined forces with The Carphone Warehouse, says it'll soon be selling the Apple iPhone 3G in the USA. Currently the device is only available from AT&T and Apple in the United States. [Press release]

India plans new rules for mobile phone purchase

Indians may soon need to get 'references' from two existing mobile phone customers if they want a new connection. The Economic Times reports that the Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to advise the country's Department of Telecommunication to implement the new rules in an attempt to improve security and reduce criminal activity. New customers may also be photographed by the retailer. [Source: Economic Times]

Vodafone to open 50 new shops

Vodafone says it'll open 50 new shops in the coming financial year, taking its UK total to 400. The first new shops will open in Bristol, London and Liverpool, with most of the others ready by Spring next year. This follows the company's March announcement that it was cutting management jobs and creating new retail positions. [Press release]

Top-up commission cuts expected from all UK networks

The National Federation of Retail Newsagents says Vodafone's decision to cut prepay TopUp commission by 1% will probably lead other UK networks to do the same - much as we'd predicted in this week's podcast. [Source: Mobile News]

Carphone sells Swiss shops

The Carphone Warehouse has agreed a deal to transfer all of its 'Phone House' mobile phone shops and retail employees in Switzerland to Swisscom AG from 1st May. The company's fixed-line and insurance business will continue to be run by The Carphone Warehouse. There are currently 62 Phone House stores in Switzerland and 110 Swisscom outlets. [Sources: press release, Cellular-News.com]

Vodafone to cut 450 jobs

Vodafone says it's going to cut 450 management jobs, mainly from its Newbury HQ, and will create 460 new retail, sales and service positions. The company says this will help it focus on data sales and other services. It's also planning to add an extra 30 jobs to its online business. [Source: Reuters.com, CNNMoney.com]