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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

Thursday, April 1, 2010

One trade show too far!

Iain Graham writes:

This is a true story. It may not be a particularly relevant story - but it is a true story.

I think I've just realised that I have to be serious about my new career as a Grumpy Old Man (GOM) and come to terms with the fact it is not new, just a natural progression from so many years as a Grumpy Young Man (GYM)!

Why is it that the world seems full of people (most of whom sport high-viz jackets) telling me to do the bloody obvious?

Take the latest example of a) The Nanny State or b) people with nothing better to do or c) interfering mindless numpties just doing what they are told to do!!

I recently attended a trade exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham for 5 days (yes, my feet do really ache and that, to be honest, possibly contributed to my frame of mind).

Picture, if you will, I arrived at Car Park S7 to find it half empty and plenty of spaces. It took no less than 5 people (of indeterminate gender) in the aforementioned jackets, to guide me safely into a gap between two parallel white lines without damaging anything or anybody else or even frightening a passing horse!

I smiled, waved and moved on.

Having survived this, upon leaving my vehicle, I mindlessly and thoughtlessly ignored the Zebra crossing and set off to cross a completely empty and deserted road. How dare I!?  I was sent back, (high-viz positively glowing with indignation now) and referred to a sign specially put up for rebels like me, and told to “utilise the available ‘safe crossing’ area” (probably the word ‘zebra’ is not very PC and an insult to albino striped donkeys!!)

I gritted my teeth, said nothing and moved on.

(I then got on the wrong bus to the hall and ended up further from my stand than where I left the bloody car!  This I will admit was totally my fault and I mention it to merely show my state of mind!)

Upon finally arriving in the foyer, I decided to purchase a cup of coffee from Costa Coffee (other brands are available) to take to my stand. I queued to place my order and then joined the queue to receive my beverage, giving me lots of time to work out that I could actually have purchased three jars of Nescafe for the same price!

That is when the ‘straw breaking the camels back' moment occurred!

The young lady behind the counter was struggling to put the customary plastic lid on the cardboard cup. I said, “please not to worry, as I don’t like drinking out of a baby’s training cup, so please no lid, thank you”. She would have none of that and insisted on the placement of the lid, referring to “ealth and safety”!  That did it!  I explained that I was 58 years old, had held a senior position in a major corporate account, was now a sales director for a company, managed still to get up in the morning unaided, wash myself and put my shoes on the correct feet and find my way to work!  Therefore I could be trusted to carry a cup of coffee without endangering my, or anybody else’s life!!  She looked at me, and without further comment, passed the drink to me and retired gracefully, if somewhat chastened!

(She didn’t deserve this, but I felt better!!)

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Recent Podcasts

From the archive: some of our favourite mobile industry interviews from 2007, 2008 and 2009

Podcast - 5th June 2013

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

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The latest mobile industry news: from the delayed 'Facebook phone' to life-saving QR codes

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Good news from Nokia, unwelcome headlines for EE and a profitable year at Sony

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From airports to airtime... and from mobile ads to mobile apps

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

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