Insurance and assistance company CPP says British consumers are willing to make false insurance claims on their mobile phones in order to get the latest handsets.

It says the number of phones reported missing in May and June 2009 rose by 11%, which is when the Apple iPhone 3G was released. However, just 4% of mobile users say they’d be prepared to file a dishonest claim to get their hands on a new phone.

Even with an element of doubt about the number of fraudulent insurance claims made, mobile phone theft is certainly a problem for the UK. 20% of people in Edinburgh and Sheffield have been the victims of mobile phone theft, 8% of Londoners and 6% in Cardiff & Liverpool.

In fact, 21% of Brits have had their phones lost or stolen more than once. Almost a quarter of all mobile theft victims were pick-pocketed, one in five had their phones taken from pub or restaurant tables and 5% had handsets stolen from their office desks.

With James and Mark back from Barcelona, this week's edition of The Fonecast returns to its usual format. There's a review of the week's major mobile industry news, there's a discussion about this year's Mobile World Congress and there's an interview with Rolf Schmitz about Dolby's new mobile phone offering.

Iain, James and Mark are all back in the UK for a Mobile World Congress retrospective, a look at the week's mobile industry headlines and an interview with Rolf Schmitz from Dolby Mobile.

The United Nations' International Telecommunication Union has released a new report - Measuring the Information Society – that looks at information and communication technology usage across 159 countries. It says the global number of mobile cellular subscriptions is likely to exceed five billion this year, while the price of telecommunication services is falling.

The UK is the tenth most advanced ICT economy, according to the report, with Sweden in first place.

In the 'developing' world, average mobile penetration passed 50% in 2009. Average penetration in 'developed' countries now averages 113%, with more than 70 countries having over 100% mobile penetration.