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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, April 9, 2012

Last week at The Fonecast: 9th April 2012

Mark Bridge writes:

Easter is often seen as a time for customs and rules – whether it’s giving up sugar for Lent or waiting until Sunday morning to eat your chocolate eggs – and this year the mobile industry seems to have joined in.

UK regulator Ofcom has announced a consultation about its plans to simplify ‘non-geographic’ calls. It wants to ensure that calls to 0800 telephone numbers are free from all mobile phones.

Meanwhile, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute is struggling to get an agreement about a new ‘micro’ SIM card size. ETSI’s Smart Card Platform Technical Committee has delayed its vote in the interest of trying to achieve a broad industry consensus.

And the European Commission has opened two antitrust investigations against Motorola Mobility because it wants to find out if Motorola is playing fair with its ‘standard essential’ patent licensing. It comes as Microsoft is reportedly moving its European logistics operations from Germany to reduce the potential damage from its current patent battle with Motorola Mobility.

However, it wasn’t entirely a downbeat week. Google cheered us all up with confirmation of its head-up display product development – although there was little mention of practicalities – while ARM, Gemalto and Giesecke & Devrient created a mobile device security partnership. Samsung got into mobile advertising, Sony Mobile got into football, RIM got into Apple iPhones and O2 got its free WiFi into McDonalds.

We even had an upbeat growth forecast from KPMG, which expects the value of global mobile payment transactions to grow by 97% per year over the next 3 years.

Finally – and returning to a slightly tenuous Easter theme of new beginnings – Sony Mobile Communications continued its transformation with news that President and CEO Bert Nordberg was stepping down. The new man is Kunimasa Suzuki, who’s been with Sony for approaching 30 years.

At this point I feel I ought to end with an egg pun. Well, that’s un oeuf for now.

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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