Orange Austria is to be sold to Hutchison 3G Austria, subject to regulatory approval.

France Telecom-Orange currently owns 35% of the business, while Mid Europa Partners controls 65%. Both parties have agreed to sell their combined stakes to Hutchison.

Mobile advertising network madvertise has arranged more than $10 million in new funding, with US-based Blumberg Capital and previous investor Earlybird Venture Capital both agreeing to provide funds.

Berlin-based madvertise has grown over the last two years to become market leader in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, making it one of the largest mobile ad networks in Europe. Last week, the company announced that its turnover had increased more than 300% in the first half of 2011.

Analyst firm Berg Insight says HSPA and LTE mobile technology accounted for 20.6% of the total number of broadband connections on PCs and tablets in Europe at the end of 2010.

The number of mobile broadband subscribers grew by 33% year-on-year in 2010 to 33.9 million and is expected to keep growing to 96 million by 2016. In North America the figures were lower, with mobile broadband accounting for just 13.2% of the total number of connections.

Mark Bridge writes:

A few weeks ago I received a phone call out of the blue. It went something like this:
“I think my partner's cheating on me. How can I get into the GPS on his phone to find out where he is?”

I'm no secret agent. Nevertheless, it got me thinking.

Mark Bridge writes:

The last couple of weeks have seen the ‘embedded SIM’ making headlines.

The term ‘embedded SIM’ has previously been used to describe non-phone equipment with a SIM card pre-installed in a built-in 3G modem. Technically the modem was embedded, not the SIM – but it looks as though genuinely embedded SIMs could be just around the corner.

Mark Bridge writes:

Head to any major city, look around and you’ll see tourists recording their visit. Some have digital cameras, some have phones and some are shooting video.

It’s the same kind of scene when you go to a concert. The performer on stage will be looking at a sea of blue faces, all illuminated by their smartphones. This, I reckon, could be the beginning of the end of privacy.

James Rosewell writes:

Any healthcare solution involving some component of mobile technology seems to come under the banner mHealth. A solution that captures information about diabetes sufferers' blood sugar levels via prompted text messages and relays this information to a physician would be considered mHealth. Providing feedback to the diabetes patient about a change in dosage following review by the physician makes the solution even better. Linking devices that automatically monitor blood sugar levels and dispense insulin involving a remote computer and physician to monitor the real-time situation moves the solution on a level still. All these examples show how mobile technology can be used to improve quality of life.

Mark Bridge writes:

Do you want to know how to foul up your customer relationships?  How to use mobile marketing to reduce customer loyalty?  Then gather around, dearly beloved, for I have a case study you're sure to appreciate.

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.