The new agreement has been drafted by the two companies, and the good thing is the two network provider will not merge, staying open as separate marque.

This means that subscribers of Orange will not become T-Mobile customers, as the press release noted that this will “allow the two trading brands of Orange and T-Mobile a shared platform of strength, with each brand owning clear emotional territory in terms of propositions, marketing and brand identity”.

The merger is slated from 1 July, wherein the working force of both firms will become part of the joint venture, which will cover more than 30 million subscribers in the UK.

The real benefits of the merger will be behind the scenes, wherein elements such as costs network infrastructure will be lessened through site deployment and shared builds. The press release also pointed out that the future for at least one of the companies might be different.

“The company intends to propel itself beyond mobile communications, with a greater focus in developing new revenue streams based on the way customers will use their devices in the future”, the press release said.

With greater scale, the merger intends to develop new revenue sources in adjacent markets like mobile commerce and mobile advertising, it added.

“With the company’s new coverage and scale, it also intends to ramp up offers to the business market, with the best propositions and value for businesses across Britain”.

There has been some concern over the merger of the two companies which will become the largest mobile company within the UK, owning a 37per cent market share. However, whilst the European Commission has ten days to decide whether to conduct the review themselves, or pass it back to the OFT, it is reported that the latter regulator is more concerned over technical issues such as radio spectrums, rather than competition problems. Currently Orange and T-Mobile own 84per cent of the 1,800 megahertz radio spectrum, leading to rival companies including Vodafone, 3 and O2 to express concerns over the monopoly of a valuable asset should the firms combine.

Expressing that he’d had concerns over the 1,800Mghz band range for a number of years, chief executive of 3 Kevin Russell revealed that he had been speaking to Ofcom over the matter since 2007. He said that the UK was better equipped at handling a review such as this as it needed to be handled “properly and carefully.”

Radio spectrum is of particular importance within the UK at the moment due to the Digital Britain report proposing to make frequencies available through auctions instead of contracts. This would not only boost rural signals, but allow for future development of new technologies and smaller companies.

With so much speculation surrounding members of the PC world, the revelation by the mobile phone operator came to many as a surprise. Using a T-Mobile SIM and with Wi-Fi capabilities, the tablet PC will offer both video and verbal, hands free communication. An Android system allows for compatibility with core applications, though the Android Market cannot be accessed. This is largely because most applications for sale are for use in devices with far smaller screens and would not work properly in a tablet PC format.

Explaining that a large amount of research had been carried out, T Mobile said that their latest product filled the up and coming niche for family organisation and central based communication. For example, one core program will be a family calendar which can be accessed by any family member from phone or PC and will send reminder texts to individuals for events. T-Mobile’s Head of new Proposition Development Richard Warmsley explained “This is not technology for technology’s sake, it’s a new category of device and not about taking one specific device head on.” The device will available on contract and pay-as-you-go and is expected to hit the markets later this year.

Explaining that the data meant that rival companies were privy to customer’s end of contract deals, allowing them to be cold called to sell new contracts, Information Commissioner Mr Graham said that it was for this exact reason that new prison sentences were required to prevent cases like this from occurring. Adding that a team from his office had now interviewed employees and inspected the premises he said “Many people will have wondered why and how they are being contacted by someone they do not know just before their existing phone contract is about to expire. We are considering the evidence with a view to prosecuting those responsible and I am keen to go much further and close down the entire unlawful industry in personal data. But, we will only be able to do this if blaggers and others who trade in personal data face the threat of a prison sentence. The existing paltry fines… are simply not enough to deter people from engaging in this lucrative criminal activity. The threat of jail, not fines, will prove a stronger deterrent.”

Meanwhile T-Mobile said that the case was “deeply regrettable” and stated “T-Mobile takes the protection of customer information seriously.”