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Monday, August 4, 2014

Ofcom publishes a guide to help UK consumers unlock their mobile phones

UK communications regulator Ofcom has published an online guide to help customers unlock their mobile phones.

Mobile network operators may electronically ‘lock’ mobile phones to their network when customers buy the phone. This prevents the device from being used with another network at home or abroad.

It’s necessary to unlock these phones before they can be used with a different network provider… and this is sometimes chargeable.

Ofcom notes that EE (including T-Mobile and Orange) and Vodafone always lock their phones. By contrast, Three has stopped doing this since December last year.

Some operators will always charge for unlocking - for example, EE asks for £20.42 - while others will only charge if a customer asks for unlocking within the first 12 months of a contract. The amount of time between a request and the unlocking also varies.

A new law in the USA has just made it legal for Americans to remove this type of ‘SIM lock’; it had been prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) since last year.

[Ofcom: Mobile Phone Locking and Unlocking]

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Opinion Articles

Operation Mobile as military prepares to synchronise with smartphones

How Mobile Apps are changing the way the military operates in the field

Kevin Deal, Vice President of Aerospace & Defence at IFS North America, writes:

It is difficult to believe that the idea of a hand-held mobile phone was an alien concept only a few short decades ago. From brick-sized analogue devices to wafer thin smartphones with processing capabilities comparable to those of laptops, new technology is constantly pushing the boundaries of what we can expect from our phones. And, in a reverse of the normal pattern of technology innovation, a development driven by consumers is set to have an important impact on aerospace and defence (A&D).

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Last week at The Fonecast: 19th November 2012

Confusion by numbers

Mark Bridge writes:

The last few days have been particularly busy for UK telecoms regulator Ofcom. It started the week by announcing its rules for next year’s UK 4G mobile spectrum auction – expect services to go live in around six months – and it ended the week with plans to avoid a 5G capacity crunch.

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Consumer privacy, opt-in marketing and the future of mobile

We talk to Henry Lawson of nFluence media

Mark Bridge writes:

Today’s consumers receive a seemingly never-ending stream of online information from their social networks, from websites, in their email and on their mobile devices. But is there a way to let individuals stay in control whilst also helping companies advertise their products?  According to nFluence Media, there definitely is.

To find out more, I spoke to Henry Lawson, co-founder and CEO of nFluence, and started by asking him to explain exactly what nFluence did.

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Doro aims at the sweet spot for easy-to-use mobile phones

Mark Bridge writes:

Here’s a statement that’ll come as no surprise to anyone who works in the UK mobile industry.

For many people, their mobile phone isn’t just a communication device. It’s a personal statement.

Of course it is. Why else can you buy a gold-plated iPhone, a diamante-encrusted Blackberry or a Samsung Galaxy SIII in colours “inspired by the Earth’s richest materials”?

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Ofcom asks "Which type of communicator are you?"

New analysis of the UK’s communication habits has found that people can be categorised into five different groups of communicators, ranging from the ‘always on’ to the ‘detached’.

Earlier this year, Ofcom’s Communication Market Report revealed that the UK is now texting more that talking. Further analysis of the research, published today, looks at the methods and frequency of communication, as well people’s attitudes towards it.

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Recent Podcasts

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Looking back at February: from security scares to multiple MVNOs

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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.

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Interview with Chris Millington of Doro about mobile retailing, wearables and technology for older consumers

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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.

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A month of mobile: O2 counts on 3, Microsoft counts to 10 and Apple counts its profits

Podcast - 30th January 2015

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.

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