Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has just published its Connected Nations report, which shows how the UK’s communications infrastructure has changed in the past 12 months.

It notes that the roll-out of 4G coverage means that 67% of premises in the UK can now get 4G service from three of the ‘big four’ operators. That compares with 37% in 2014.

UK communications regulator Ofcom has decided that the annual mobile fees for mobile operators will treble, following a government direction that the fees should reflect ‘full market value’.

Ofcom has concluded that mobile operators should pay a combined annual total of £199.6m per year for the 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum bands.

Mark Windle, head of marketing at OpenCloud, predicts that this year’s reduction in the number of traditional telecoms operators in some countries will provide an opportunity for other operators to innovate and capture market share in 2016.

He says next year will be a year of rapid change for telecoms… whether it’s MVNO disruption, competitive tariff pricing or simply defence from the ‘dark art’ of hacking.

Mark Bridge writes:

The most memorable moments in life often go unrecorded. You don't have your camera in your hands. Your finger is still hovering over the 'pause' button on your audio recorder. Or you were simply too busy experiencing whatever was happening. It's all about the one that got away.

That's where Kapture can help.

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?

The Fonecast this week includes the announcement of iPhone OS v4.0 and the new Microsoft KIN mobile phones - along with details of other social networking handsets, takeovers, rumours and delays.

In this week's podcast we talk about faster mobile number porting, lower mobile termination rates, smartphone ownership, free Twitter access and the Apple iPad. In addition, Mark Bridge samples a variety of mobile social networking services on his wedding day.

This week's edition of The Fonecast packs in everything from mobile security to smart meters. There's also good news for mobile gamers, good news for old phones... and good news for anyone who's fed up with SMS spam.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge look back at last week's Mobile News Awards and discuss the other industry headlines from the past seven days.

This week's podcast covers Wayfinder's closure, NFC mobile phones, Digital Britain delays... and an interview with Jim Bryan, co-founder and managing director of Retrieva Limited, whose company produces a tracking and anti-theft dog collar that combines GPS, GSM and RFID technologies.