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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, June 18, 2012

Adding a little extra to every mobile sale will make a big difference

Mark Bridge writes:

Is there any product that offers as much potential for additional sales as the mobile phone?

When I visit a coffee shop to buy a coffee, I’m often asked “would you like any pastries or muffins with that?”

On the one occasion that I bought a new car, I was offered the option of paying extra for different colours, for floor mats and for a fancy stereo.

When you buy a DVD player or a games console, it’s pretty obvious you’ll be paying extra for entertainment.

Yet, when you consider the variety of add-ons available in the mobile industry, I’d say smartphones were in a league of their own.

Mrs Bridge bought a new smartphone at the weekend. Her aging Sony Ericsson developed software problems, so it was time for an upgrade.

First, credit where it’s due. Well done Carphone Warehouse. Our local branch dramatically outperformed the network-run shop we visited first, both in terms of customer service and price as well.

Upgrade complete and contract signed, we turned to the question of transferring contacts from the old phone to the new one. Would our new friends at CPW help us?  Yes, they would. They’d whip out their Cellebrite machine for a one-off charge. Alternatively, the service was available as part of a monthly ‘tech support’ Geek Squad subscription. Nicely done. However, as Mrs Bridge is under the impression she’s married to someone who knows about mobile phones, we declined.

Insurance we also declined, although it’s not been ruled out in the longer-term. Time for some comparison shopping before we commit.

Next came the case. Having just turned down insurance, putting the phone inside an attractive leather pouch definitely made sense.

Then there was the screen protector. Mrs B has skipped this for the moment; it seemed a shame to reduce the quality of the display by sticking something on it.

And still to come are any number of chargeable apps and cloud-based services - and accessories ranging from the Bluetooth oven thermometer to the remote-control helicopter.

What struck me after all this wasn’t the ‘hidden’ cost of buying a smartphone. Not the inherently incomplete nature of the new device.

No, it was a point made in the recent results announcement from Carphone Warehouse Group. Along with a slight drop in retail revenue, the company noted “our newer format Wireless World stores offer a wider range of mobile and other connected devices and an enhanced level of service. These stores have proved popular with customers and have delivered compelling returns.”

It went on to talk about “moving more deeply into tablets, accessories, and app-cessories”, adding that this non-cellular sector had significant potential for growth.

Ignoring the pain that the word app-cessories causes me, it seems that Carphone Warehouse is definitely heading in the right direction.

Back in the 1990s, some mobile phone shops would attempt to sell ‘value-added services’ that either added very little value or alternatively were almost-essential services that should have been included anyway.

Today, the smartest retailers are offering additional products and services that consumers actually want - and don’t mind paying for.

The UK may have reached saturation as far as mobile phone connections go. But the market for accessory sales and additional services just keeps growing.

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Recent Podcasts

Podcast - 11th June 2010

Ben Whitaker of Masabi talks about mobile ticketing, including his company's recent partnership with thetrainline.com that'll enable almost any mobile phone user to buy train tickets when they're on the move. (An extended version of the interview from Wednesday's podcast).
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Podcast - 9th June 2010

Apple announces the iPhone 4, Iridium prepares 72 new satellites and Orange reveals a phone charger powered by hot feet. In addition there's a conversation with Ben Whitaker of Masabi about his company's plans to introduce rail tickets on mobile phones across the UK.

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Podcast - 2nd June 2010

HipLogic CEO Mark Anderson talks about his company's information and entertainment application, which is being preloaded onto mobile phones at The Carphone Warehouse. And, as usual, there's a look at all the week's other major mobile industry headlines.

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Podcast - 26th May 2010

Iain, James and Mark discuss the week's headlines, from the Nokia/Yahoo! partnership and Google's AdMob approval to one-sided phone calls. There's also an interview with Andrew Grieve and Paul Erickson from fSONA; a company that offers 'optical wireless' technology to relieve network capacity problems.

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Podcast - 19th May 2010

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