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:

Mobile networks aren’t what they used to be. As last week’s interview with Vince Russell of The Cloud demonstrated, more and more customers are relying on WiFi to augment their mobile data service.

Truphone is now planning to do exactly the same with voice calls and text messages by linking its mobile network with WiFi for even wider coverage.

Mark Bridge writes:

We’re moving into that time of year where product announcements are replaced by promotional campaigns and sales figures. Apple revealed it had sold three million assorted iPad tablets in just three days, while Samsung said its Galaxy SIII smartphone had sold more than 30 million units since its launch in May.

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s a smartphone autumn, as prophesied a few weeks ago by the Carphone Warehouse and many others. The frenzy of big-name announcements led by Samsung at Berlin’s IFA has given way to stand-alone media presentations from Nokia, Motorola and Amazon.

Mark Bridge writes:

Back in the 1960s, Hertz was the number one hire car company in the USA. Avis was trailing a long way behind. Looking for a new advertising campaign, CEO Robert Townsend spoke to Bill Bernbach - the ‘B’ in ad agency DDB - and a few months later “We try harder” became the Avis tagline.

“Avis is only No.2 in rent a cars” the headlines admitted. “We try harder. When you’re not the biggest, you have to.”

It’s a message I was reminded of when I met Andreas Bernström at Mobile World Congress last month. Andreas is CEO of Rebtel, the world’s second-largest mobile Voice-over-IP company. With Skype seen as market leader for VoIP services, I asked Andreas whether Rebtel also needed to try harder.

Mark Bridge writes:

The TV in the bedroom switches on. "It's 6.45am. Good morning, Mark. Here are your news headlines for Tuesday 14th June 2016."

This week there's our usual look at the biggest mobile industry headlines - including Google's new photo-powered mobile search service - and Chris Caudle from the IMPDA tells us how the UK's independent mobile phone dealers have coped with the last 12 months.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge discuss the week's mobile industry headlines, from Samsung's touchscreen success to the future of Nokia's manufacturing business. There's also an interview with Guy Phillipson of the IAB about mobile advertising, consumer concerns and online mobile services.

This week we talk to Shazam CEO Andrew Fisher about the mysteries of mobile music discovery. And, as usual, there's a look at the week's mobile industry news - from T-Mobile's data leak to the launch of O2-backed virtual network giffgaff.

Mobile VoIP provider Nimbuzz launches an international calling service, so we talk to company CMO Neal Fullman. And we also take a look at the week's other headlines, from Samsung bada to text messages in GCSE exams.

This week we're talking to Simon Wainewright from SitexOrbis about using mobile technology to protect lone workers. And there's a lot of other industry news as well, from EU Telecom Reform to Rick Astley's iPhone worm.