Truphone, which offers an international mobile phone service with its Tru SIM as well as a mobile VoIP application, has had a complaint against it upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Its online claim describing the Tru SIM as saving money “wherever you are in the world” and describing the product as “the truly global SIM” was challenged by a complainant who said the service wasn’t available in some parts of the world.

We start this week's edition of The Fonecast with confirmation that 4G coverage will be launched in the UK this year, thanks to Everything Everywhere.

However, all's not well in the world of mobile retail - as mystery shopping by a consumer organisation reports widespread misinformation from sales staff.

This morning’s announcement by Ofcom that it was allowing Everything Everywhere - the company behind Orange and T-Mobile in the UK - to use its existing spectrum for 4G has been met by statements of disappointment from both Vodafone and O2.

Vodafone’s official statement said “We are frankly shocked that Ofcom has reached this decision. The regulator has shown a careless disregard for the best interests of consumers, businesses and the wider economy through its refusal to properly regard the competitive distortion created by allowing one operator to run services before the ground has been laid for a fully competitive 4G market.”

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s been a busy day for Everything Everywhere. Alongside its 4G news came rumours that the company was planning a rebrand, with ‘Orange’ and ‘T-Mobile’ eventually being dropped in favour of the ‘Everything Everywhere’ branding.

There’s now an official statement from Everything Everywhere:

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has approved Everything Everywhere’s plans to use its existing 1800MHz spectrum for delivering 4G services. Everything Everywhere applied to Ofcom in November last year with a proposal to change its current licences.

Following a consultation, Ofcom has concluded that these changes will deliver significant benefits to consumers without distorting competition or giving Everything Everywhere anything more than a brief advantage.