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Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

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.
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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, August 20, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 20th August 2012

From saving money to saving lives

Mark Bridge writes:

Our first week of Olympics-free news didn’t start well for many people. Google said it was planning to reduce the number of employees at its Motorola Mobility subsidiary by around a fifth, cutting approximately 4,000 employees in a bid to return its mobile phone business to profitability.

Here in the UK, consumer organisation Which? found that mobile phone sales staff were giving inaccurate information about the possibility of price increases on ‘pay monthly’ contracts. Apparently 82% of shop assistants said prices would remain fixed throughout the contract term... which isn’t necessarily true.

And there was also bad news from digital security company Kaspersky Lab, which found that the number of new malicious programs targeting the Android platform had almost trebled in the past three months.

Fortunately, the remaining headlines were overwhelmingly upbeat.

Mobile gamers were cheered when Sega announced a new publishing initiative that’s focussed on mobile games made by independent developers – and they were cheered again when Sony said it would start the full-scale launch of PlayStation Mobile this autumn.

Price-conscious consumers were undoubtedly thrilled to hear about the new £5-per-month smartphone from TalkTalk Mobile and the free WiFi on Hampshire buses.

As well as all this, innovation-seekers would have been pleased by the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the forecast growth in low-power Bluetooth devices.

However, probably the biggest positive surprise of the week came from the Enough Project, a US-based group working to end genocide and crimes against humanity. One of its biggest concerns is the trade in ‘conflict minerals’, which often end up in mobile phones after being mined illegally and traded illicitly. This issue was highlighted by Blood in the Mobile, a documentary film released last year.

A new report from the Enough Project commends a number of electronics companies – going out of its way to highlight Intel, HP and Apple – for their progress toward responsible and conflict-free supply chains. In a month where the Olympic Games have seen renewed emphasis on excellence, friendship and respect, it’s good to see social responsibility in the mobile industry as well.

I know, I know. You may say I’m a dreamer – but I’m not the only one.

Start your week with a reminder of the latest mobile headlines. Simply register at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page and we’ll send you this weekly news summary by email.

The Fonecast is sponsored by 51Degrees.mobi. More details about advertising and sponsorship opportunities are available on the About Us section of our website.
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Recent Podcasts

From CES to customer service, we talk about all the latest mobile tech news

Podcast - 8th January 2014

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return with their first mobile industry podcast of 2014.

This week they're looking at new Samsung, Sony and ZTE products from CES, they're talking about Android embedded in cars, they're catching up with the latest news from BlackBerry, they're discussing cheque payments by smartphone, they're revealing complaint data from Ofcom and they're investigating quite a few other stories as well.

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We make our mobile industry predictions for 2014 and review our end-of-year forecasts from 2013

Podcast - 18th December 2013

It's our last podcast of the year, which is the traditional time for us to predict what'll be happening in the mobile phone industry during the next 12 months... from forthcoming consumer technology to deals between network operators.

As well as making our 2014 predictions, we'll also be reviewing those we made last year and discovering how accurate our forecasts for 2013 really were.

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Bill shock, cheaper roaming, court injunctions, satellites, shopping and loads more mobile industry news

Podcast - 11th December 2013

This week we're talking about a UK government deal to prevent bill shock, good news for some UK consumers visiting the USA, a court threat to HTC sales, new high-speed satellite broadband, mobile search, mobile shopping and much more.

Join Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge for an informed and entertaining look at all the major mobile industry news stories from the past seven days.

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Sailfish smartphones, shopping, security, spectrum shortages and several supplementary stories

Podcast - 4th December 2013

It's been a week of diverse mobile headlines in which Jolla started selling its Sailfish smartphone, mobile shopping broke records and BlackBerry's CEO looked to the future.

We're also talking about smartphones for seniors, battery life, a looming spectrum shortage, phone theft and Sony's Smart Wig. Something for everyone, surely!

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We interview James Atkins of UK-based smartphone manufacturer Kazam

Podcast - 29th November 2013

In today's programme we're talking to James Atkins, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of smartphone manufacturer Kazam.

The company launched earlier this year and has just announced its first seven Android-based handsets. James explains the story behind Kazam's creation, the company ethos, its product range and its plans for the future.

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