Cellnet moves ahead

CELLNET, the mobile telephone company owned by BT and Securicor, yesterday claimed that it had overtaken its rival Vodafone in December after a surge in sales of its new Lifetime low-cost service, writes Terence Wilkinson.

Stafford Taylor, managing director, said Cellnet had secured 54 per cent of gross new telephone connections during December. He calculated that Lifetime had won a 64 per cent market share in the month against Vodafone's rival LowCall. Only 3 per cent of business cutomers had so far 'migrated ' to the cheaper Lifetime service, against an expected 40 per cent.

Securicor Group, which owns 40 per cent of Cellnet, yesterday announced a 65 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to pounds 54.5m in the year to 30 September. Cellnet's profits rose 44 per cent to pounds 45.9m.

Security Services, Securicor's 50.75 per cent-owned subsidiary, reported an 85 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to pounds 37m. Securicor Group and Security Services are paying final dividends of 1.955p and 3.636p respectively, giving 12 per cent rises for the year.

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