Earlier this week we heard from Alcatel-Lucent and their lightRadio solution, which promised "the capability to make base stations and antennas virtually invisible".

Now comes what sounds - at least in part - like a similar product from Ericsson. They’re launching the Ericsson AIR (antenna integrated radio) solution at Mobile World Congress next week. AIR integrates the antenna into the radio unit, cutting both energy consumption and installation time.

A new report from Juniper Research says the number of active mobile money users globally will exceed 200 million by 2013. Under 100 million people use these services at the moment.

The report says much of this growth will come from developing countries, where users want a way to access basic financial services.

Qualcomm is currently working on a type of peer-to-peer wireless technology that'll be demonstrated next week at the GSMA Mobile World Congress.

The service, called FlashLinq, enables mobile devices to discover each other automatically and and to communicate with each other at broadband-like speeds without needing any infrastructure. A trial with SK Telecom in South Korea is currently planned.

There are just a few days until Mobile World Congress, which means there’s currently plenty of speculation in the mobile industry.

This week’s edition of The Fonecast sets the scene, with mobile payments, mobile applications, the PlayStation Phone and Nokia's future all up for discussion. Is O2 trying to be a bank?  Will Nokia start producing Windows Phone 7 handsets?  Are base stations about to disappear?  Can Iain offend the Italian parliament? 

This week's podcast sets the scene for Mobile World Congress, with mobile payments, mobile applications, the PlayStation Phone and Nokia's future all up for discussion. There's also an interview with Dr Windsor Holden of Juniper Research about the trends and products to watch for when the industry heads to Barcelona.