Mark Bridge writes:

It’s all gone a bit quiet. Is it the calm after the Mobile World Congress storm... or is it the knowledge that an Apple announcement will push anything else out of the headlines, even before the product itself has been revealed?

Either way, the last seven days have had significantly fewer news stories than the beginning of the month. But that’s not to say they’ve been completely news-free.

Three UK is launching a range of new price plans tomorrow with a fixed data allowance that can’t be exceeded.

Its ‘Essential’ tariffs will include a 250MB data allowance with a guarantee that charging will stop when the limit is reached. Alternatively, the company’s ‘Ultimate’ and ‘The One Plan’ tariffs include unlimited mobile data.

The European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee says it wants to see wholesale roaming service suppliers cutting prices below the EU price cap. It’s approved legislation that would allow consumers to buy roaming services separately from their ‘home’ mobile service.

The new rules would also set limits on retail data roaming charges and would further reduce roaming price caps for calls and SMS text messages.

Ofcom is calling on the UK mobile industry to address the problem of consumers receiving unexpectedly high bills. It follows recent research that suggested 1.4 million mobile phone ‘contract’ customers may have been affected by ‘bill shock’ in the past six months.

The regulator says it may introduce new rules if mobile networks don’t tackle the problem.

Mark Bridge writes:

I don’t mind paying for a spot of WiFi when I need it. Admittedly I’d prefer to find a coffee shop with a free hotspot but I’ll pay if I really need a connection. Not just here in the UK but abroad too.