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Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
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Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
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Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
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UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
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Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
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Opinion Articles

Monday, December 17, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 17th December 2012

Look to the future now...

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s the week before Christmas, which can only mean one thing for the mobile industry: plenty of research news. Yes, when there isn’t anything new to talk about, a survey or forecast is the perfect way to fill the silence.

Mind you, things haven’t been entirely quiet when it comes to mobile products and services.

Google brought out an iOS version of its mapping app, causing much rejoicing from Apple customers who felt they’d been left in the wilderness. In some cases, quite literally in the wilderness if they’d followed Apple Maps. EE announced the next places in line for 4G UK coverage, while CabWiFi prepared to turn London taxis into mobile hotspots and Twitter introduced photo filters to its iOS and Android apps. Watch out, Instagram.

STMicroelectronics said it planned to leave the ST-Ericsson partnership, which gives joint partner Ericsson a bit of a headache – and Ericsson faced disappointment in another business area when Huawei took over its role managing the network of Three UK.

Time for those studies now. Browser company Opera has been looking at mobile website preferences across Europe… and has discovered very few opportunities for humour based on national stereotypes. The UK doesn’t even have a weather-specific site in the top ten. However, we do like a spot of online shopping according to Ofcom – and we’ve bought a lot of smartphones, too.

Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds of mobile video in the USA is watched at home and, on a wider scale, mobile banking has taken hold around the globe. That’s according to Bain & Co and is also reflected in last Friday’s podcast interview with Gemalto.

ABI Research and Juniper Research both published a downloadable list of predictions about mobile technology in 2013 – we’ll be broadcasting ours in a special podcast on Wednesday – and, looking five years into the future, we’re told to expect one in seven mobile subscribers using VoIP, half of all smartphones costing less than £100 and over 4 million alarms connected to mobile networks in Europe.

Finally a couple of big-name appointments. UK entrepreneur Brent Hoberman, best known to many as the lastminute.com co-founder who wasn’t Martha Lane Fox, has joined the Shazam board of directors as an independent board member. And futurist/inventor/writer Ray Kurzweil has joined Google as its Director of Engineering. Which prompts the question: how many years will it be before Ray’s work means you can backup your brain to a Gmail account?  And what happens when you exceed your 10MB limit?

Receive our weekly newsletter about the biggest mobile industry news headlines every Monday morning. Simply register your email address at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page. We’re taking a break for Christmas, so the next newsletter will be sent on 7th January.

All of us at The Fonecast wish our readers and supporters a very happy Christmas and a successful new year.
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Recent Podcasts

Reviewing our 2015 mobile industry predictions... and looking forward to 2016

Podcast - 15th January 2016

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

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Podcast from Mobile World Congress 2015

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Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

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Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

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We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

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Interview with Chris Millington of Doro about mobile retailing, wearables and technology for older consumers

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

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We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

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