Mobile payment business Boku has acquired carrier billing specialist mopay.

The deal makes Boku the largest standalone provider of carrier billing-based mobile payment services in the world, with a combined customer base that includes Electronic Arts, Facebook, Gameloft, Sony, Spotify and Valve.

Online payment provider mopay has announced a carrier billing partnership with Telefónica, giving it direct access to the BlueVia billing platform.

It’ll improve the customer experience when consumers use mopay to buy digital goods and services that are charged to their phone bill.

Online payment specialist mopay has introduced a new service that lets customers charge web site purchases to their mobile phone account with a single click.

The new process is currently being offered via Telefonica and Vodafone in Germany.

Customers who’ve bought goods and services by adding the charge to their mobile phone bill tend to make further mobile purchases, according to a new study by payment provider mopay.

The company analysed information from 300 of its clients, accounting for more than four million mobile transactions in over 80 countries during the past three years.

Mobile payment solution provider mopay has announced a global partnership with Fon, which describes itself as the world's largest WiFi network.

Fon is enabling mopay mobile payments, making it easier for smartphone and tablet users to pay for access to a Fon hotspot. Customers will be able to get WiFi access simply by providing their mobile phone number and adding the Fon cost to their mobile account.

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?

We begin this week's podcast with a discussion about the Heartbleed bug, the effect it's having on the mobile industry and the wider issues for all internet users.

We're also talking about the future of BlackBerry, UK 4G coverage, new CEOs, Bluetooth connectivity, privacy concerns and the next generation of mobile processors.

This week's podcast starts with news from Microsoft about an update to its Windows Phone platform and a cost-free OS offer to hardware manufacturers.

There's also a new flagship smartphone from Nokia, a roaming announcement from the European Parliament, a UK virtual mobile network from The Co-operative Group, a change at the top for Mozilla, retail expansion for Vodafone and an awkward end to BlackBerry's relationship with T-Mobile in the USA.

Acquisition announcements from Facebook and Intel are the first stories in this week's look at the latest UK mobile industry headlines.

They're followed by news about mobile payments, mobile banking, a phone with an invisible solar panel, customer complaints, low-cost 4G smartphones, productivity apps and an intriguing case of WhatsApp-itis.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge are reunited for their regular weekly look at the latest UK mobile industry headlines.

Today they're talking about smart watches, an Apple iPhone announcement, the new HTC One M8, the closure of Ovivo Mobile, text spam, peer-to-peer messaging, government hacking and mergers.

Producing mobile phones for older customers requires much more than big buttons and a simple interface. At Mobile World Congress last month we spoke to two major players in this growing sector: Swedish company Doro and Austria's Emporia Telecom.

Our first conversation was with Harald Obereder, Chief Technology Officer at Emporia, who spoke to Mark Bridge about handset design and user interface design. This was followed by an interview with Chris Millington, Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland, about research and development in the 'senior tech' market.