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:

A suggestion that UK mobile phone networks might be forced to improve black-spot coverage by allowing interconnection with their rivals is back in the news. It made the headlines in June and has returned again this week, which is why I could be heard offering my opinion on BBC local radio yesterday morning.

Mark Bridge writes:

The two-year mobile phone contract has almost become a standard, despite EU efforts to make it a worst-case scenario. I went into the Brighton branch of Carphone Warehouse today and was told I couldn't upgrade to a 12-month contract. Last year I could; now they would only offer me a 24-month deal.

Mark Bridge writes:

Patents were a very popular topic of conversation last week. Google sold its Motorola Mobility smartphone business to Lenovo but hung on to most of the patents. Does this mean the patents were the most valuable part of the business? Well, when you look at the difference between the original purchase price and the sale price, it seems a reasonable conclusion.

Mark Bridge writes:

A new report has highlighted the issue of poor mobile phone coverage in rural Sussex villages. BBC Sussex invited me onto their ‘Sussex Breakfast’ radio show to explain what could be done - and, as usual, I made enough notes for a lecture rather than a three-minute interview.

Here’s what I would have liked to have said if I’d been given a disproportionate amount of time to talk.

Mark Bridge writes:

Great news for mobile phone users. Ofcom’s new rules preventing unexpected mid-contract price rises came into force last week, which means UK consumers can no longer be surprised by their subscription charge increasing while they’re still locked into a minimum-term deal.

A review of the Nokia 7373 and Sony Ericsson K810i, all the news plus "Are we all swapping Pink for Prada?". There's also a look at Lyric EMI and Ascendo Photos for Blackberry.

The team discuss the changes taking place on the UK high street with 02 pulling out of Phones 4U. Has the Market matured? We also review the Samsung F700 and the HP iPAQ 514, plus Ghost Rider + VolumeCare Pro software for your mobile.

The team look at the cash back crisis impacting the mobile industry, plus review the BlackBerry 8800 and Nokia E90 Communicator. 2 new pieces of software with Andy McNab's Enigma Force and Quickoffice Premier v4.

This week the team look at all the latest news from GSM world, review 2 new phones from Nokia and Sony Ericsson the 8800 and W880i. We also look at smart2go and The Bird - Evil has Wings.

The week the team take a look at the D840 from Samsung and the V3xx from Motorola. They also debate the evolution of VoIP for mobile over the past 6 months, as well as review the latest news from the past 7 days. This weeks software review includes Sonic the Hedgehog and amaZe advertising support GPS navigation software.