ExclusiveConnecting London Car Telephones to TheFonecast.com Opinion The Fonecast - June 4, 2026 It was 1996 when I started working at the Cricklewood head office of Peoples Phone [writes Mark Bridge], initially in a sales support role before becoming part of the Marketing team. The company was an independent mobile phone retailer with a growing network of high-street shops and connected customers. In November 1996 the company and its customer base were acquired by Vodafone, which had already taken over the Talkland retail business and was soon to add Astec to its portfolio.
ExclusiveOfcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges News Mark - November 3, 2024 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.
ExclusiveGlobal smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast News Mark - November 23, 2023 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.
ExclusiveVodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses Networks and operators Mark - June 20, 2023 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.
ExclusiveUK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023 News Mark - December 18, 2022 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.
ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 23rd April 2012 Opinion Mark - April 23, 2012 Mark Bridge writes: We’ve had a few sets of quarterly results in the past week. Let me summarise as best I can. Qualcomm: doing very well, thank you. Microsoft: pretty decent, although no-one’s talking much about phones. Intel: not as good as before, although better than expected. Nokia: sorry, we’ve lost a billion Euro. Well, we did warn you...
ExclusiveYou're gonna need a bigger tariff Opinion Mark - April 19, 2012 Mark Bridge writes: “You're gonna need a bigger boat”. The words of Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody spots the shark in the film Jaws. 37 years later and O2 UK CEO Ronan Dunne is facing another all-devouring monster... but this is no aquatic predator. It’s in the air - and it’s invisible. No, we’re not talking about a Pteranodon (that’s Jurassic Park III) but a 4G mobile broadband connection. A real-life data monster.
ExclusiveTwitter promises that it will only use patents defensively Opinion Mark - April 18, 2012 Mark Bridge writes: There’s some kind of patent-related mobile technology story in the news most weeks. Whether this is the result of an innovation slow-down or the disruptive effect of newcomers on ‘traditional’ mobile manufacturers, there’s no denying it’s causing problems for many companies.
ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 16th April 2012 Opinion Mark - April 16, 2012 Mark Bridge writes: At the beginning of last week, Facebook and Instagram were the talk of the mobile industry. Was this billion-dollar deal the sign of another tech bubble? Facebook’s fast track into mobile? Facebook moving to cement its dominance of online photography? You, the jury, decide.
ExclusiveLast week at The Fonecast: 9th April 2012 Opinion Mark - April 9, 2012 Mark Bridge writes: Easter is often seen as a time for customs and rules – whether it’s giving up sugar for Lent or waiting until Sunday morning to eat your chocolate eggs – and this year the mobile industry seems to have joined in.