Mobile internet optimisation specialist Flash Networks has acquired rival Mobixell Networks.

Flash Networks works with mobile networks including Orange, SingTel, MTS, T-Mobile, SK Telecom and Telekom Austria, while Mobixell’s clients include Verizon, Vodafone, Bharti, Orange, XLcom, TIM and Telefonica.

Macario Namie writes:

As the connected car phenomenon gains pace, 2014 will see global automotive firms embracing LTE. Machina Research predicts 90% of cars sold in 2020 will have some form of embedded connectivity – that connectivity roll-out continues strong in 2014 and LTE is pivotal to its long-term success.

This week we're talking about a UK government deal to prevent bill shock, good news for some UK consumers visiting the USA, a court threat to HTC sales, new high-speed satellite broadband, mobile search, mobile shopping and much more.

Join Iain Graham, James Rosewell and Mark Bridge for an informed and entertaining look at all the major mobile industry news stories from the past seven days.

Inmarsat, the mobile satellite communications business that was originally created by the International Maritime Organization to help ships stay in touch, has launched the first of its Global Xpress satellites today.

When these satellites are in place, Inmarsat will use Ka-band radio frequencies to deliver download speeds of up to 50Mbps and uploads of up to 5Mbps to mobile or fixed devices.

A new study by GSMA Intelligence shows that LTE is expected to account for about one in eight of all mobile connections worldwide at that point, up from 176 million LTE connections at the end of this year.

By 2017, it’s predicted that 465 LTE networks will be in service across 128 countries, around double the number of LTE networks today.