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.

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:

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.

Here’s an edited transcript of our new monthly podcast, broadcast on 30th January 2015.

[Iain Graham]: Hello, it's Friday 30th January 2015. Welcome to this month's edition of The Fonecast. That’s right, you heard correctly: we’ve temporarily moved to a monthly format. If you’d like to join 51Degrees in sponsoring the podcast and returning us to weekly programmes, please get in touch via our website. Now, on with the show.

Mark Bridge writes:

If you listen to this week’s edition of The Fonecast - in which we predict what’ll be happening in the mobile telecoms industry during 2015 - you’ll hear James Rosewell say that BlackBerry’s handset business is doomed. Well, actually that’s not quite true.

Mark Bridge writes:

I open the iPhone 6 box and discover a phone that feels substantial. Well engineered. Practical. Despite being just 6.9mm deep, it doesn't seem unreasonably delicate.

We have a particularly packed programme this week as we catch up with all the biggest mobile industry news stories since Christmas.

There's opinion on everything from the UK 4G auction to the current CES show and from open-source smartphones to wireless phone charging in cars.

It's the last podcast of 2012, so we're making some predictions about the mobile industry in 2013... and looking back to the forecasts we made twelve months ago..

Should we expect a renaissance at BlackBerry?  Is it the beginning of the end for SMS?  Will smartphones keep getting bigger?  Will the number of UK networks get smaller? 

Today's podcast feature takes a look at mobile financial services, from the current state of mobile payments to NFC adoption and the developments we're likely to see next year.

Joining us are Winston Yeo, Vice President Marketing and Product Management for Mobile Financial Services at Gemalto, and Amol Deshmukh, Gemalto's Director of Mobile Financial Services for North America.

This week's podcast includes news of two more UK virtual networks, Nokia's property deal, a break-up for ST-Ericsson and Huawei's new partnership with Three.

We also look at WiFi hotspots in London taxis, Ofcom's research into customer service, pre-loaded security software on Android smartphones and a man whose iPhone may have cost him a job.

This week Iain Graham has been talking to Keith Curran about the problems facing mobile networks and the opportunities for mobile phone dealers.

Keith was a director of the Caudwell Group before setting up, running and later selling service provider Yes Telecom. He’s now CEO of Steadings Group.