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.

James Rosewell writes:

I noticed a new phenomenon at Mobile World Congress this year: Beer O’Clock. Come 5pm Monday through Wednesday, companies with larger booths would break out the Cerveza, Vino, Cava and a small number of Orange juices. All very sociable and fun… until the music started.

Apps World 2012 takes place on Tuesday 2nd October and Wednesday 3rd October at the Earls Court 2 exhibition centre this year. It combines an exhibition with workshops and conference sessions designed for mobile developers, marketers, network operators, manufacturers and other mobile industry professionals.

In addition, there’s an award event - the Appsters awards - with a drinks reception and party at The Roof Gardens in Kensington on the Tuesday night.

Mark Bridge writes:

BlackBerry and bad news seem inextricably linked at the moment. RIM’s CEO admits he’s “not satisfied” with recent company performance and warns of challenging times ahead... and then the company is hit by a $147 million dollar damages order for patent infringement.

Mind you, Research In Motion wasn’t the only mobile company bringing disappointment into the mainstream news last week.

Mark Bridge writes:

Every so often, I see a new product that I’d like to review. I’ll usually send a note to the relevant company, borrow a review copy and send it back when I’ve finished.

And every so often I’ll be approached by a company that wants me to review a product. Sometimes I’ll say yes, sometimes I’ll say no. It all depends whether or not I think I’m the right person for the job.

When IntSig offered me a copy of a mobile application called CamScanner, I wasn’t too sure. It seemed very clever... but I wasn’t convinced I’d have much use for it.

Mark Bridge writes:

Just a few weeks ago WiFi was made available on a number of London Underground stations - yet mobile coverage still stops when you go down the escalator.

So why is it taking so long for us to get mobile phone service on the Tube?

For an insight into some of the challenges and the possible solutions I spoke to Ian Brown, CEO of Axell Wireless. The company is a leader when it comes to providing additional wireless coverage in confined spaces - from tunnels to sports stadiums - and is currently involved in the project to install mobile phone service on the Channel Tunnel.

Carsten Mickeleit of Cortado AG talks to us about wireless printing from mobile devices, cloud-based storage and a new cloud desktop service that includes mobile device management.

Text messaging remains a popular way for businesses to keep in touch with staff and customers - despite the appearance of newer, more sophisticated services. Geoff Love of Esendex explains the appeal of SMS messaging.

We start this week with two big handset stories - BlackBerry 10 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 - before moving on to the rest of the news, including more mobile wallets, more free WiFi, more quarterly results and more legal action!

A number of familiar topics return to the headlines this week. Alongside mobile health concerns and mobile wallets, there's also news about 'white space' developments and a new leader in mobile phone manufacturing.

This week's podcast starts with Nokia's billion-pound loss, although there's plenty of good news as well. We discuss it all - from UK ad-funded network Ovivo Mobile to Barclaycard's new spin on mobile payments.