UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has agreed to make radio spectrum available for transport operators to offer faster broadband connections to passengers on aircraft, boats, railway trains and coaches.

Each vehicle could receive a data connection of around 50Mbit/sec, providing more than 10Mbps via WiFi to an individual passenger.

UK telecom regulator Ofcom has published a consultation about authorising satellite-powered broadband systems that can provide internet connections on moving vehicles, including aircraft, ships, coaches and trains.

These systems, which are known as Earth Stations on Mobile Platforms (ESOMPs), can outperform cellular signals and current satellite-based internet connections on moving vehicles.

Customers on Brighton & Hove buses can now use a mobile phone app instead of cash when they want to buy a ticket, although the option is currently only available on a few services and with certain ticket types.

Watford-based Corethree has provided the mobile ticketing platform.

The Transport for South Hampshire council partnership says local bus passengers will soon be able to enjoy free WiFi on their smartphones, tablets and laptops. The service will be rolled out from this month following a £4.5 million bid to the Department for Transport’s Better Bus Area Fund and additional investment from bus operators.

As well as providing free WiFi, the funding will be used to improve & refurbish buses, for driver training and to offer up-to-date bus timetable information via smartphones.

Public transport operator Stagecoach Group has launched a trial of NFC bus tickets in partnership with Everything Everywhere. It’s enabling some customers on the Stagecoach bus network in Cambridgeshire to use their Orange ‘Quick Tap’ NFC phones as tickets.

The scheme uses the Department of Transport’s preferred ITSO ticketing technology and is described as the UK’s first Government-standard commercial deployment of mobile contactless transport ticketing.

Mark Bridge writes:

A suggestion that UK mobile phone networks might be forced to improve black-spot coverage by allowing interconnection with their rivals is back in the news. It made the headlines in June and has returned again this week, which is why I could be heard offering my opinion on BBC local radio yesterday morning.

Mark Bridge writes:

If I'm interviewing someone for a podcast, I'll generally use my Zoom H4N recorder and a separate microphone or two. But I don't need the same level of high-quality kit if I'm interviewing someone for a written interview. Why carry an expensive recording device when your mobile phone can do the same job?

Mark Bridge writes:

Contactless payments. They're catching on, aren't they?

But mobile contactless payments haven't proved so popular.

Mark Bridge writes:

I open the iPhone 6 box and discover a phone that feels substantial. Well engineered. Practical. Despite being just 6.9mm deep, it doesn't seem unreasonably delicate.

Mark Bridge writes:

Following my online rant about the customer service I'd received when I suffered a problem with my HTC One, I wrote to Carphone Warehouse.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge return to review their mobile industry predictions from last year. Which mergers, partnerships and developments did they forecast correctly... and which didn’t work out as planned?

Later in the programme, the team anticipates some of the topics that will be hitting the headlines during 2016.

Mark Bridge learns about the mobile technology trends at Mobile World Congress 2015 by chatting to James Rosewell of 51Degrees, Dr Kevin Curran from the IEEE and Chris Millington of Doro.

They talk about wearable devices, wireless charging, mobile operating systems and much more... including some of their favourite products from the exhibition.

We're taking a look back at the biggest mobile industry news stories from February 2015, including allegations that the UK's security service tried to breach SIM card security by hacking into one of the world's biggest SIM producers.

We also talk about the planned BT and EE merger, the creation of two new UK virtual networks, some acquisitions in the mobile payment arena and a new Ubuntu smartphone.

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.

We're back with a month of mobile industry news, including takeover talks and takeover rumours. O2 and Three are said to be discussing a merger... but is there any truth in the suggestions that BlackBerry could be up for grabs?

We also discuss Apple's record-breaking quarterly figures, the highlights of CES and the launch of Microsoft Windows 10, as well as saying farewell to the current version of Google Glass.