Research In Motion says its forthcoming BlackBerry 10 platform has received FIPS 140-2 certification, which means it meets security standards demanded by government departments in the USA and Canada. As a result, government agencies will be able to use BlackBerry 10 smartphones as soon as they’re launched.

This is the first time that BlackBerry products have been FIPS-certified before going on sale.

MasterCard and the ING banking group have announced a mobile payment trial in the Netherlands.

It’s designed to let customers pay for online purchases using their mobile phone even if they’re not doing their internet browsing on the phone.

UK mobile phone retailer Fonehouse has appointed Simon Douglas to the new role of CEO, while Managing Director Clive Bayley is moving to become group chairman.

Mr Douglas was previously MD of Virgin Megastores and oversaw the management buy-out that transformed the company into Zavvi 5 years ago.

Telefonica has reported quarterly results, including figures for O2 in the UK. It says O2’s UK mobile customer base was up 1% year-on-year to 22.5 million at the end of September 2012, with ‘pay monthly’ contract numbers up and prepay numbers down.

UK revenue for the first nine months of 2012 was down 5.6% year-on-year to €5,234 million (£4.18 billion).

Telecoms equipment specialist Ericsson has warned employees in its home country of Sweden that around 1,550 redundancies are planned across all job areas. The move is part of the company’s drive to reduce costs and improve operational effectiveness.

Over 17,700 people are currently employed in Ericsson’s Swedish sites.