UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has proposed new rules that would ensure UK customers are told about any roaming charges when using their mobile phones abroad. Its consultation will close on 28th September 2023.

Mobile phone customers from the UK have been warned about the increasing cost of making calls in Europe.

The UK's post-Brexit trade deal with the EU opened the door for mobile operators to reintroduce 'roaming' charges when customers travel abroad.

A new report from communications research consultancy Juniper Research expects the number of worldwide roaming subscribers using 5G services to increase by 4,500% in five years: from 4.5 million this year to 210 million in 2026.

New EU roaming regulations are expected to cause a drop in mobile roaming revenue for operators in 2017, according to a forecast from Juniper Research.

Annual roaming revenue is predicted to fall by 28% in Europe and by 7% globally: a significant portion of an estimated $52 billion total in the year after next.

It’s reported that EE is refunding around £1 million to customers who were charged VAT in error. People who travelled outside Europe and used their phones to go online were apparently charged VAT, although this should only apply to usage inside the EU.

Only 0.5% of EE’s customers were affected by the problem, which happened because the company’s billing system hadn’t been set up correctly.

By incorporating advanced algorithms and machine learning capabilities, AI can help to optimize a smartphone's performance, providing users with a faster, more efficient and user-friendly experience.

Mark Bridge writes:

I've been taking a look back at the devices I've written about during the past few years. Some are still faithful companions, others... well, let's just say my faith was misplaced.

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

Mark Bridge writes:

James Rosewell shows me a colourful roll of paper that's the width of an iPhone but well over three metres long. When I look closer, I can see it's a printed copy of the Wall Street Journal's mobile website. That's a lot of scrolling to do... and a pretty unfriendly user experience for anyone reading the news online. Why does it work so badly?

We're celebrating the seventh anniversary of The Fonecast this month with a handful of our favourite interviews from the early years.

You'll hear Ben Whitaker from Masabi, Truphone co-founder James Tagg, former Olympic athlete Steve Backley OBE and online banking pioneer Steve Townend.

This week's podcast begins with a report about a delay - or perhaps even cancellation - for the UK launch of HTC's Facebook phone, the HTC First.

We then move on to Vodafone's results, an Android app scare for Sky, Samsung's successes, contactless payments, potentially life-saving QR codes and an uncomfortable story about a smuggled mobile phone.

We start this week's podcast by talking about Yahoo and Tumblr before moving on to discuss Google's recent developer conference.

There are product announcements from BlackBerry, HP and the former MeeGo developers at Jolla... and there's some interesting mobile app news as well.

Three new smartphones launched at three separate events. Yes, Nokia has definitely been busy in the past few days.

As well as talking about Finland's finest phones, we also discuss recent claims made about EE, annual results from Sony, smart metering, 5G technology, virus protection, Vodafone and the worldwide growth of mobile phones.

We start today's programme with the promise of a faster roll-out for the UK's mobile broadband services.

Next on the agenda is tablet sales... followed by mobile security, mobile boarding passes, quarterly results, acquisitions, advertising and management succession.