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Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

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.
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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, October 28, 2013

Last week at The Fonecast: 28th October 2013

A lighter iPad for light-fingered Apple thieves?

Mark Bridge writes:

No prizes for guessing which two mobile tech stories grabbed most of the headlines last week. Tuesday morning saw Nokia’s much-rumoured tablet and phablet launches, with a Windows RT device and two 6-inch smartphones joining the company’s product portfolio.

This was followed on Tuesday evening with Apple’s big news, which centred on its Mac computers and its iPad tablets. There’s a new iPad Air, which runs on the Apple A7 chip and is thinner than ever – and there’s a version of the iPad Mini with a ‘retina’ display.

However, music retailer HMV wasn’t feeling any warmth towards Apple, having discovered the HMV iOS app had been suspended from the Apple App Store. Apparently it was the non-iTunes shopping wot dun it.

Talking of complaints, there’s something of a major spat going on between security company NQ Mobile and by investment research business Muddy Waters. Muddy Waters described NQ as “a massive fraud”, leading to NQ calling the allegations “false and inaccurate”. Somehow I don’t think that’s the last we’ll hear of this.

Being trapped in a contract when the prices go up is one complaint UK regulator Ofcom is determined to end. It’s clarified the rules allowing customers to withdraw from a fixed-term contract if there is any change likely to be of ‘material detriment’, telling phone and broadband service providers any increase to the subscription cost is likely to be regarded as such a change.

It’s also published a report on telecoms infrastructure that shows public WiFi use growing at a faster rate than mobile data – and has revealed details of “significant gaps” in mobile coverage on UK roads.

Finally, the Metropolitan Police has pointed out that Apple devices aren’t just popular with customers. They’re also a target for criminals; around 10,000 mobile phones are stolen in London every month and around half of these thefts are iPhones. Let’s be careful out there.

On Monday mornings we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in a newsletter that’s very much like this article. To receive it, simply register your email address at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page.
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