Payment processing business MasterCard has announced a five-year partnership that’ll see it working on mobile and digital payment solutions for Everything Everywhere’s UK customers.

The two companies are already planning a co-branded pre-paid solution that’ll allow customers to make payments using Near Field Communications technology via mobile devices.

Mark Bridge writes:

It’s been a busy day for Everything Everywhere. Alongside its 4G news came rumours that the company was planning a rebrand, with ‘Orange’ and ‘T-Mobile’ eventually being dropped in favour of the ‘Everything Everywhere’ branding.

There’s now an official statement from Everything Everywhere:

Everything Everywhere has published interim results for the first six months this year.

Service revenue for the six-month period until the end of June 2012 was £2,989 million. That’s a 1.8% drop year-on-year, although removing the effect of Ofcom’s mobile termination rate cuts would show a 3.1% increase.

Mobile phone coverage in the Channel Tunnel is now available for Eurostar and Le Shuttle customers travelling between France and England. Coverage in the opposite direction - from England to France - is due to be launched by UK network operators later this year.

The northbound service has been introduced by Eurotunnel and French mobile network operators Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR. It uses a GSM-P optical fibre system for 2G and 3G connectivity with equipment developed by Alcatel-Lucent.

The GSMA, the trade organisation that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, has announced a new scheme to help consumers understand and manage their data usage when abroad.

24 major network operators have agreed to implement a number of measures to help customers who are using their mobile phone abroad, reducing the risk of ‘bill shock’ when they return home.