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.

Mark Bridge writes:

James Rosewell shows me a colourful roll of paper that's the width of an iPhone but well over three metres long. When I look closer, I can see it's a printed copy of the Wall Street Journal's mobile website. That's a lot of scrolling to do... and a pretty unfriendly user experience for anyone reading the news online. Why does it work so badly?

Mark Bridge writes:

In a way, it’s hard to believe that the first Apple iPhone wasn’t seen in public until this day seven years ago. It - and the trend towards one-piece smartphones with hardly any buttons - seems to have been with us for much longer.

Mark Bridge writes:

There’s plenty of snow disrupting the UK – but, thanks to the mobile telecoms industry, thousands upon thousands of people are able to work from home. We’re all feeling pretty pleased with ourselves right now, aren’t we?

Pedestrians may have been skating down pavements but a different kind of trouble on the high street dominated much of last week as music, DVD and occasional mobile phone retailer HMV went into administration.

Mark Bridge writes:

I’ve recently been talking to Theo Neumann from Wolverhampton City Radio about the top ten gadgets that are likely to hit the headlines in 2013. The most desirable, most likely to be talked about, most exciting… that kind of thing. Although my top 10 list isn’t entirely mobile-related, I thought it was worth sharing here.

Mark Bridge writes:

The new iPad has a better screen. Higher-resolution. Clearer. High Definition. Just what everyone wants, right?

Apparently not.

This week's podcast covers Nokia's results warning, Sony's planned reorganisation, the EC's mobile payment investigation and much more. Join Iain, James and Mark for another entertaining look at the mobile phone industry.

There are two billion-dollar deals in this week's show, with Facebook acquiring Instagram and AOL selling hundeds of patents to Microsoft. In addition, we discuss the rest of the mobile industry headlines - from security to virtual reality.

We talk to Jens Lauritzson of Flexion about making money from applications and encouraging consumers to find new apps. Flexion can 'wrap' applications to take care of billing, DRM and storefront integration.

Iain Graham and James Rosewell look back at the top mobile industry stories from the past seven days - including RIM's BlackBerry plans and the EC's new roaming regulations.

In this week's podcast we're talking about mobile payments, NFC security threats, app developers, free WiFi, Ofcom complaints and much more.