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:

I like hotels. Free biscuits in your room and all the portions of UHT milk you can drink. But the phone calls... that's a different story.

Dearie me, you're paying for that hospitality tray when you pick up the phone.

Mark Bridge writes:

A Charlie Chaplin DVD includes an image of a woman using a mobile phone in 1928.

That’s the suggestion surrounding a YouTube clip that’s currently received more than 2½ million hits since it was posted online last week.

James Rosewell writes:

Most Sat-Nav applications are now obtained via the Application Store used on the mobile phone. Navigon have gone so far as to remove access to their application via any other route. Application Stores are now the only choice. This move to a platform-specific sales model is a massive mistake.

Mark Bridge writes:

Mark Zuckerberg's girlfriend breaks up with him acrimoniously. So off he goes and creates Facebook. Yes, there's nothing like an insult to fire up the creativity. Well, that's certainly what the plot of The Social Network would like you to think.

And, you know, it's got a point. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that sticking two fingers up at the opposition seems to be the new way of doing business.

Mark Bridge writes:

Wouldn't it be great if mobile customers loved their networks so much that they'd fight for them?  Ofcom would be inundated with complaints from O2 users about its decision not to allow GSM frequencies to be used for 3G services. Vodafone customers would demand that Nokia pre-loaded the N8 with a Vodafone 360 application. Orange users would be sending petitions to radio stations, asking them to implement HD Voice on phone-ins. And giffgaff users would take to online forums to defend the service they receive.

Oh, hang on. That last one's already happening.

In this week's podcast we're talking about the potential purchase of the O2 UK mobile network by BT.

We also discuss new tablets from Nokia and Jolla, the end of a patent battle, mobile payments via instant messaging, app development for the Apple Watch and plans to make even more spectrum available for mobile broadband in the UK .

Time for another podcast presented by Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge. They begin this week's programme by talking about the latest enterprise-friendly developments from BlackBerry.

Next comes a new survey from Ofcom about the UK's 4G data speeds, followed by news about TalkTalk's MVNO deal with Telefonica, the growth of WiFi in the home and a report from AVG about social media sapping smartphone performance.

This week's podcast begins with news about the new 'quad play' television service offered in the UK by EE.

We also talk about HTC's new camera, an ethical smartphone, a complaint from Ofcom, mobile payments, machine-to-machine connections and yet another online security breach.

We begin this week's podcast with stories that go beyond the mobile industry, as HP plans to split into two companies and eBay prepares to separate itself from PayPal.

We're also talking about the Microsoft/Samsung legal case, a new Tesco tablet, BT's updated text relay service, a new way to avoid buying a stolen iPhone... and #Hairgate.

In this week's podcast we talk about two of the big announcements from Google I/O: a new version of Android and the retail launch of smartwatches powered by 'Android Wear'.

We also talk about Android-based smartphones from Nokia and Blackphone, network complaints in the UK, a reduction in European roaming charges and mobile ticketing.