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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, June 17, 2013

Last week at The Fonecast: 17th June 2013

Making the network truly mobile

Mark Bridge writes:

The telecommunications industry was making plenty of headlines last week – but much of it wasn’t particularly upbeat.

The debate about privacy and security continued in the wake of allegations about US agents intercepting internet traffic. Here in the UK there was a grey cloud hanging over O2 as the Communication Workers Union called a strike ballot over the outsourcing of customer service jobs. Meanwhile, Nokia prepared to make its last Symbian smartphones and Tradedoubler warned that mobile devices were having a negative effect on high-street consumer loyalty.

Fortunately there was some cheering news from Apple, which revealed its forthcoming iOS7 operating system. Meanwhile rival Samsung did its best to steal some of the limelight by announcing a Galaxy S4 variant with a 10x optical zoom lens.

There were also upbeat stories about mobile technology being used for travel and payments. Europe moved a step closer to having cars that would call for help after an accident, Google bought social navigation app Waze, Juniper Research predicted that transport-related services would drive mobile ticketing to almost a billion users by 2018 and iZettle announced a mobile payment partnership with Santander in the UK.

But the most unexpected news from the past 7 days was an innovative plan that could transform the notion of a mobile network. Google is working on a system that uses balloons instead of satellites to provide internet access to remote areas. It’s launched [no pun intended] a pilot scheme [still no pun intended] that covers some of the area around Christchurch in New Zealand. The name of this scheme?  Project Loon, of course.

On Monday mornings we summarise the past week’s mobile industry headlines in a newsletter that’s a lot 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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Recent Podcasts

The week's top mobile industry news stories, from Motorola to malware

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Predictions for 2014 and beyond with Florent Stroppa of OnMobile

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