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.

Donald Stuart, CEO of Brainstorm, explains why mobile operators are well placed to take advantage of the revenue streams opened up by location technologies.

The area of Location based services (LBS) has been getting a lot of attention of late, and it’s no wonder, Juniper Research has highlighted that the Mobile Context and Location Services market is expected to generate revenue of $43.4 billion by 2019, up from $12.2 billion in 2014.

Analyst firm Ovum has published its mobile payment and mobile advertising predictions for this year.

Ovum expects continued technology and service innovation, notably around location-based applications, in the mobile payments space in 2014. However, there will be increasing complexity within the mobile payments ecosystem this year, and on-going challenges around the business model for digital wallet services.

Anton Faulconbridge of RantMedia writes:

2013 promises to be an exciting year for the app industry. With the number of smartphone users almost on par with laptop, desktop and tablet users, this is a crucial time for app developers to bring fresh and innovative material to the table.

Whilst many industries are drying out, the smartphone technology sector continues to flourish and a wave of app developers who sit up and take notice of new trends are likely to do well compared with slapdash competitors. Let’s take a look at some savvy tips and tricks to stay ahead of the game in 2013.

Mark Bridge writes:

Unmanned drone aircraft are flown by pilots thousands of miles away, while hackers attempt to intercept their transmissions.

It’s clear that communications technology has transformed 21st century warfare. What may not be so obvious are the ways that wireless communications played a part in the First World War... and the concerns about security that remain with us today.

Mark Bridge writes:

Oh, how the mobile industry loves a superlative. Much like the work ethic celebrated by Daft Punk (or Kanye West, if you prefer), it’s always looking for a new angle.

In today's podcast we're talking about Samsung's new Galaxy S4 smartphone, BlackBerry's record-breaking purchase order and Intuit's mobile payment service.

There's also a discussion about the changes at ST-Ericsson, a new CEO coming to ARM, Vodafone's sponsorship plans, management moves at Android and the 2013 Mobile News Awards.

Today's podcast talks about job cuts at Motorola, a tariff promise from Tesco Mobile and a departing CEO at ST-Ericsson.

There's also news about acquisitions, application stores, European network standards and a chilly way of breaking into an encrypted smartphone.

We're back from Mobile World Congress 2013 with the latest news for the UK mobile phone industry.

Today's conversation covers new handsets, forthcoming operating systems, apps, mobile payments, VoIP, 4G and Facebook's two-tier internet.

Today's podcast was recorded at Mobile World Congress 2013, where Mark Bridge has been reporting on the latest news from handset manufacturers.

He also drops into the Global Mobile Awards - and finds out who won the inaugural Dead Technology Award at the unofficial festival fringe.

In today's special programme we're preparing for Mobile World Congress 2013. To find out what to expect, Mark Bridge talks to Dr Windsor Holden of Juniper Research.

Their conversation covers everything from Apple's absence to connected cows - and from new operating systems to paying for applications.