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:

In recent years we’ve seen many a newspaper headline about the high charges for mobile data when abroad. Horror stories that warned of bills exceeding £1000 per week.

James Rosewell writes:

The merger of T-Mobile and Orange on 1st April 2010 is one of the most significant events in the evolution of the UK mobile industry since the original creation of Orange and 1-2-1 in the 90s. From now on the UK will have 4 mobile networks, and one of those networks will have ~35% of the market. A 35% market share comes with a lot of potential. Not only can standards be influenced in a way previously unimaginable in the UK, but economies of scale can be translated into profits.

Iain Graham writes:

This is a true story. It may not be a particularly relevant story - but it is a true story.

I think I have just realised that I have to be serious about my new career as a Grumpy Old Man (GOM) and come to terms with the fact that it is not new, just a natural progression from so many years as a Grumpy Young Man (GYM)!

James Rosewell writes:

The mobile techie community has known about mobile networks and indeed some handsets providing unique information about mobile devices and customers for a long time. Collin Mulliner, a graduate student at the Technische Universitat Berlin, has recently bought the issue to the attention of the public during a talk at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver.

In today's programme Mark Bridge talks to Chris Millington, who's Managing Director for Doro UK and Ireland.

They discuss the state of mobile retailing in the UK, the future of wearable devices and - as you might expect - smartphones for seniors.

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.

In this special feature we're talking to Chris Millington, Doro's MD for UK and Ireland. Doro, which produces easy-to-use mobile phones for older people, is releasing its first touch-screen smartphone this month.

As well as explaining the phone's benefits, Chris also describes the advantages of Doro's tablet and PC software. In addition, we take a few minutes to look at Doro's plans for the future.

Colin Aitken from Burnside Telecom talks about the company's new mobile telecare products: the MoniCare GSM remote monitoring solution and a 'fixed cellular phone' designed as a landline alternative for elderly users.

Mobile usability is the main topic of this special podcast, which includes Chris Millington from Doro UK and Jérôme Nadel of MobiWire (recorded at Mobile World Congress). Conversation topics include the user interface, encouraging usage and designing mobile phones to suit a specific customer group.