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Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

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.
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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, April 30, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 30th April 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

Last week mobile phones and health were back in the headlines together, rather like love & marriage or salt and vinegar. The news is pretty much as we’ve heard before; this time it’s the UK Health Protection Agency’s independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation telling us there’s no convincing evidence that mobile phone technologies cause adverse effects on human health – but longer-term research is still needed.

Mobile payments are also getting plenty of publicity as O2’s Wallet finally relaunches. The new O2 Wallet is a mobile application that allows customers to send money from an existing debit or credit card to individuals or to online retailers... and there’s a physical debit card available as well.

Last week’s big money deal came courtesy of Vodafone, which is spending just over £1 billion on Cable & Wireless Worldwide plc.

And on top of all this are the quarterly results from assorted mobile-related tech companies, which I’ll try to keep brief.

Apple: situation normal; sold loads of devices and made loads of money.
Samsung: big profits. Now ships more mobile phones than Nokia.
Amazon: smaller profits. Now ships more Android tablets in the USA than Samsung.
Ericsson: profits are up, thanks to selling Sony Ericsson.
LG: making money again.
ARM: revenue and profits are up.
ZTE: revenue and profits are up.
Huawei: revenue up but profits down.
HTC: revenue and profits are both down, but the future is looking better.

That’s all from the well-known names. But I’ll end with some UK innovation that demonstrates how ‘mobile industry’ is becoming an increasingly vague term.

Cambridge-based Neul has deployed the world’s first city-wide ‘white space’ wireless network. It takes advantage of spare bits of wireless spectrum, such as unused TV channels and unlicensed radio bands. At the moment the Neul network – which covers Cambridge, perhaps unsurprisingly – is demonstrating smart metering, although the company says it could easily be expanded to connect everything from recycling points to parking spaces. Which means before long your car could be telling you where to get rid of your old phone.

Start your week with a reminder of the latest mobile headlines. Simply register at TheFonecast.com by clicking the link at the top right-hand corner of our home page and we’ll send you this weekly news summary by email.

The Fonecast is sponsored by 51Degrees.mobi. More details about advertising and sponsorship opportunities are available on the About us section of our website.
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Recent Podcasts

A podcast packed with smartphones galore... from Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and Motorola

Podcast - 10th September 2014

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We review the CAT B100 rugged mobile phone

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Mark Bridge takes an in-depth look at the CAT B100 rugged phone from Bullitt Mobile.

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Microsoft cuts its mobile staff, Apple finds a new partner and Yahoo! makes an acquisition

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We start this week's podcast with news that thousands of Microsoft's ex-Nokia employees are losing their jobs.

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Florent Stroppa of OnMobile talks about the state of the mobile telecom industry, from network deals to smart wearables

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They discuss the dominance of Apple and Samsung, network consolidation, the new Amazon Fire smartphone, smart wearables and much more.

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National security, phones for children, a new UK mobile network and a change of name

Podcast - 16th July 2014

This week's mobile industry podcast begins with a quick look at the UK government's emergency legislation affecting fixed-line, mobile phone and broadband traffic.

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