Nokia, business software provider SAP and security-focussed technology company Giesecke & Devrient have confirmed that their joint venture, Original1 GmbH, began operations on 1st February. Original1 was announced in October last year and aims to deliver product authentication and anti-counterfeiting services worldwide. It's being run by Claudia Alsdorf, former vice president of SAP Research.

Original1 will protect products and product packaging by tagging them with intelligent, tamper-proof codes ('smart barcodes'). Original1's services will rely on SAP technology and will use Nokia's mobile software to allow businesses to follow a branded product's entire lifecycle from factory to end user. G&D will contribute security solutions for the entire value chain, including user authentication and data encryption.

The Mobile Marketing Association is restructuring and turning its four operating regions - Asia Pacific; Europe, Middle East & Africa; Latin America; North America - into business units. As part of this move, the roles and responsibilities of regional managing directors will be expanded.

Federico Pisani Massamormile, the MMA's interim CEO, said "The restructuring enables us to address the growing popularity of mobile marketing and our increasing membership all over the world, while enabling a measure of ‘geographic specificity’ to how the organization operates. Each of the managing directors will assume financial management for their respective regions, enabling greater flexibility to achieve their business goals."

Timico, which offers internet, VoIP, fixed-line and mobile telephone services from its Nottinghamshire offices, has acquired Hampshire-based internet service provider NewNet plc. NewNet was established in 1995, has worked with thousands of businesses and is regularly rates as one of the UK's fastest ISPs.

BT Wholesale has announced a five-year managed services agreement that will see it consolidate O2 UK’s mobile and fixed core networks into a single network using BT’s 21st Century Network (21CN) platform.

The two companies already work together; BT Wholesale currently provides a range of services to O2 including core network management support for O2’s mobile customers as well as a managed network service that enables O2 to provide fixed and broadband services for business customers.

From 1st April 2010 Virgin Media will let its customers make free calls from their home phones to mobiles. The new deal will let new Virgin Phone customers and over four million existing fixed-line phone customers call Virgin Mobile users without charge. (Subject to terms and conditions that include a maximum 60-minute call).

The company points out that 10% of its customers subscribe to all four Virgin Media services - broadband, digital TV, fixed-line phone and mobile – which means nearly half a million people will be able to benefit immediately from free calls from their Virgin fixed-line phones to their own Virgin Mobiles. In addition, all Virgin home phone customers will be able to make free calls to anyone with a Virgin Mobile phone.