NSW Central Coast mobile fleet supplier, Cellular Direct, has identified a malfunction that occurs when Nokia's 6310 handset is used with a hands-free accessory supplied by Australian-based Beyond Holdings.

State manager of a Sydney-based security system provider, Mark Izzard, said that he found that his new 6310 persistently cut out during calls whilst using the after-market headset. He later discovered that the managing director of Cellular Direct, Peter Duncan, was experiencing the same problem with his 6310.

Both phones were returned to Nokia Australia but the problem persisted in replacements. Cellular Direct discovered later that the phones could only be made to work with an original Nokia 6310 headset.

"It is becoming very frustrating that a market leader like Nokia appears to be having so many problems with their phones," Izzard told ZDNet Australia.

However, Nokia product manager Greg Panikian said it is impossible to draw conclusions about the phone's culpability for the fault without knowing how it performs with headsets supplied by other manufacturers.

"Generally speaking there could be up to 10 manufacturers of non-Nokia headsets out there," said Panikian. "I would be very interested and surprised if I heard that all third-party, non-original 6310 headsets are not working".

Nokia cannot guarantee consumers that its phones will work if they're used with non-original accessories, according to Panikian.

One Sydney-based mobile phone repairer told ZDNet Australia that the lower cost of third-party, after-market accessories made their sale common industry practice among mobile suppliers.

Beyond failed to respond to ZDNet Australia's enquiries in time to comment on this report.

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