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.

Bluestreak Technology, a Canadian company that provides technology for delivering multimedia to various consumer devices, has listed the top 5 most important technology trends it expects to hear about at Mobile World Congress 2011.

2010 was a year of tremendous change in the technology industry...

Mobile phone recycling has become increasingly mainstream, with many millions of people in the UK handing in their old mobile phones and electrical gadgets for cash. It's a growth industry that's seen more and more companies and websites offering cash bonuses to customers selling mobile phones.

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Adam Taylor writes:

The mobile phone industry is an attractive proposition. Over 90% of the UK population has a mobile, and the seemingly non-stop developments in mobile technology are doing a great job in satisfying the UK’s thirst for anything that provides a quicker, more efficient (or in some cases, more fun) way of doing things. With such a demand, naturally supply tends to follow.

Mark Bridge writes:

Sorry, but I find it hard to get excited by financial results. Actually that's not strictly true. I find it hard to get excited by financial results that aren't unexpected.

Mark Bridge writes:

I just wanted to have a few words about the Sony PlayStation Phone. I know I’ve been wrong about things in the past – and I have little doubt I’ll be wrong again – but I’d like to suggest a lot of people have been looking in the wrong place.

Listen to the latest mobile industry news headlines for the UK, covering everything from Netflix and China Mobile to the innovation that's been shown off at CES. As usual, Iain, James and Mark offer an opinion on all the news stories that matter.

Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge look back at last week's Mobile News Awards and discuss the other industry headlines from the past seven days.

The Fonecast team discusses the Mobile News Awards, reviews the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and brings you the latest news and rumours from around the industry.

The team pick over the winners and losers of the Mobile News Awards, review the Alcatel OT-C825 and look at Midnight Pool & PhotoProfessional V2.20 for your mobile.