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.

James Rosewell writes:

I noticed a new phenomenon at Mobile World Congress this year: Beer O’Clock. Come 5pm Monday through Wednesday, companies with larger booths would break out the Cerveza, Vino, Cava and a small number of Orange juices. All very sociable and fun… until the music started.

Apps World 2012 takes place on Tuesday 2nd October and Wednesday 3rd October at the Earls Court 2 exhibition centre this year. It combines an exhibition with workshops and conference sessions designed for mobile developers, marketers, network operators, manufacturers and other mobile industry professionals.

In addition, there’s an award event - the Appsters awards - with a drinks reception and party at The Roof Gardens in Kensington on the Tuesday night.

Mark Bridge writes:

BlackBerry and bad news seem inextricably linked at the moment. RIM’s CEO admits he’s “not satisfied” with recent company performance and warns of challenging times ahead... and then the company is hit by a $147 million dollar damages order for patent infringement.

Mind you, Research In Motion wasn’t the only mobile company bringing disappointment into the mainstream news last week.

Mark Bridge writes:

Every so often, I see a new product that I’d like to review. I’ll usually send a note to the relevant company, borrow a review copy and send it back when I’ve finished.

And every so often I’ll be approached by a company that wants me to review a product. Sometimes I’ll say yes, sometimes I’ll say no. It all depends whether or not I think I’m the right person for the job.

When IntSig offered me a copy of a mobile application called CamScanner, I wasn’t too sure. It seemed very clever... but I wasn’t convinced I’d have much use for it.

Mark Bridge writes:

Just a few weeks ago WiFi was made available on a number of London Underground stations - yet mobile coverage still stops when you go down the escalator.

So why is it taking so long for us to get mobile phone service on the Tube?

For an insight into some of the challenges and the possible solutions I spoke to Ian Brown, CEO of Axell Wireless. The company is a leader when it comes to providing additional wireless coverage in confined spaces - from tunnels to sports stadiums - and is currently involved in the project to install mobile phone service on the Channel Tunnel.

Product news in today's podcast includes Samsung's curved-screen smartphone, an HTC phablet and an update for Windows Phone 8.

We're also talking about malware, roaming charges, Ofcom's licence fees, a drop in mobile revenue, BT's MVNO and a project that sounds... well... silly.

In today's podcast: Samsung's profit, UK mobile ad spending and Vertu's smartphone range are all increasing.

Meanwhile HTC's profit and the proportion of children with mobile phones are both going down. Discover the background to these news stories - and plenty more - in our regular weekly broadcast.

Today's podcast starts with a gentle warning to app developers from the Office of Fair Trading.

We then move on to Amazon's new tablets, HTC's sale of its Beats Electronics stake, Twitter's emergency alerts, UK government plans to improve mobile broadband on trains, customer complaints and the growth in adult content for mobile devices.

Ring-back tones offers consumers yet another way to customise their mobile phone service. Yet despite this - and the revenue opportunities that can be generated - many network operators don't provide ring-back tones.

In today's special feature we talk to Florent Stroppa of OnMobile to discover why the UK doesn't really seem to be bothered about ring-back tones... and whether the next-generation of interactive ring-back services could change this.

There are big changes on the horizon at BlackBerry. We talk about the company's potential future and also look at the recent tablet announcements from Microsoft and Tesco... plus the rest of the week's mobile news.

There's also a special report from IAB2013 about the sometimes awkward relationship between mobile devices and the television industry.