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:

Internet veteran Yahoo! provided last week’s biggest news, at least in terms of press coverage. It appointed Marissa Mayer as its President and Chief Executive Officer, having enticed her away from Google after 13 years.

James Rosewell writes:

Just in time to make it into 2010, the Wholesale Application Community has gained some important but relatively unreported publicity courtesy of Opera. It’s a slightly early Christmas present for Peters Suh, WAC CEO and a man keen to ensure the industry is presented with a story showing WAC meeting its targets.

This week’s edition of The Fonecast includes a report from Apps World, which took place in London on 30th November and 1st December. As the name suggests, the event was all about mobile applications, their development, the technology that’s used and the ways that apps are marketed.

James Rosewell writes:

Mobile network operators have responded en-masse to the success of Apple’s App Store. Apple should be very concerned. The Wholesale Application Community (WAC) has been formed as a corporate entity today with representation from AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, GSMA, KT Corporation, NTT DOCOMO, SK Telecom, Smart Communications, SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp., Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, Verizon and Vodafone. Not many major Mobile Network Operators (MNO) are missing from the list.

This week Iain and Mark look at mobile industry headlines from the last 7 days and interview Paul Smith about the cashback problems that hit Mobile Media Systems - the owner of Phoneboxdirect. They also review the Sony Ericsson W960i: an 8GB music-playing touch-screen handset.

Download this week's free podcast from TheFonecast.com to discover the mobile industry news headlines from the last seven days, including an assortment of closures, takeovers, departures and developments. The Fonecast team also reviews the new 3G-equipped Nokia 8800 Arte.

This week The Fonecast interviews Russell Raynor from Mobile Business Solutions about the problems of being a dealer, we chat to Faisal Sheikh about unlocking the Apple iPhone, we look at the week's industry headlines and we review the BlackBerry Pearl 8120.

This week Iain talks to John George from JAG about his company's recent expansion. Iain, Mark and James also discuss the week's industry headlines - including the latest iPhone and gPhone stories - and look at the new 5-megapixel Samsung G800.

We review the 3 USB modem, talk to Crispin Thomas from TMTI and Stuart Turner from Fonesure - and discuss the week's mobile industry headlines.