UK telecoms regulator Ofcom wants to ban inflation-related rises in phone and broadband contracts. Instead, it says any potential mid-contract price rises should be set out in pounds and pence.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mark Bridge writes:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.

Mark Bridge writes:

Contactless payments. They're catching on, aren't they?

But mobile contactless payments haven't proved so popular.

The future of customer service is to bridge the gap between the smart consumer with the smartphone and the bank holding his or her financial assets. Even though mobile applications are becoming increasingly powerful customer touch points, many banks are failing to leverage them in order to engage with consumers.

Mandip Shergill, Account Executive at Genesys, looks at how banks can maintain and strengthen the customer relationship in the mobile channel.

Rachel McCormack writes:

Mobile point of sale transactions (mPOS) are growing in popularity as mobile use takes over from desktop computers. The description of ‘mobile’ point of sale transactions denotes the ability of a payment to be taken via smartphone or tablet rather than a traditional card reader. There are many different ways to do this; mobile chip & PIN, mobile swipe & sign and NFC payments. All of these methods vary in popularity and security conceptions and many are difficult to understand. In this article we will explore each and give you the chance to understand the technology and issues surrounding the various methods.

Mark Bridge writes:

The past few days have seen the arrival of two familiar seasons. Not only has the sun peeked its head from behind the clouds in an approximation of Spring but the mobile industry has been releasing its quarterly results.

The Toshiba Portege G900 smartphone is reviewed, we interview new Extreme Mobile MD John McFarnon, Ian White from Mobile News talks about customer service, we play with Flexis Extreme and we discuss the week’s industry news headlines.

10 things you need to know about the Apple iPhone, an exclusive interview with Unique Distribution's new CEO, industry news and gossip, Ian White's outspoken opinion and a review of the 'phoneAlarm' utility program.

What's happening at Truphone? We talk to the company’s CEO, James Tagg. Ian White tells us about "poaching", and the team review the latest news and views from around the industry, plus review the Sony Ericsson W910i and Spybot Search & Destroy.

The team are joined by Faisal Sheikh of Fone Doctors and Ian White of Mobile News to discuss T-Mobile's rumoured exit from the dealer channel, 3G for all, as well as the rest of the weeks news. They review the O2 Cocoon and debate "Is the mobile internet finally ready for consumers?", and Theme-DIY to customise Nokia series 60s.

The team review the HTC Touch an iPhone contender, debate the question "Are customers getting the mobile services they want?", bring you the latest news and find time to review "Kojak - Detective Puzzles".