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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

Monday, March 22, 2010

Admit your mobile phone mistakes... and pay for them

Mark Bridge writes:

“Take some responsibility for your own actions”. There’s probably not a parent in the world who hasn’t said or thought something similar. But that’s not the message coming from regulators in the USA.

We’ve laughed in the past about coffee cups from the United States that warn about the coffee they contain. Now there seems to be a similar movement against mobile phones that connect to the internet.

Barbara Anthony, undersecretary of the Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation office, recently connected to the internet by accident on her mobile phone. She pushed the wrong button and was charged 40 cents. Whose fault?  Not hers. Not the manufacturer. No, it was her mobile operator.

Now, I’ll accept that mobile phone manufacturers have an element of responsibility. It shouldn’t be easy to access any service accidentally.

But blaming your network operator sounds more like a move towards ‘compensation culture’ than a genuine grievance. If I buy a Swiss Army Knife (other armies are available) and accidentally poke myself with the tool for removing stones from horses’ hooves, it’s my fault. If I dial a wrong number on my home phone and get charged for the call, it’s my fault.

If there’s anyone other than yourself to blame for using the mobile internet, you should be looking at the product manufacturer. But blaming a mobile network when it charges you for a service you used?  Talking about stealth charges?  Mobile phone users of America, it's time to own up. You made a mistake. Just admit it.

 

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1 comments on article "Admit your mobile phone mistakes... and pay for them"

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Ravi Desai

3/31/2010 10:03 PM

This article has been included in this week's Carnival of the Mobilists at www.indigo102.com/archives/1344 - thank you, CotM!

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