Government ministers are talking to mobile network operators about the possibility of allowing ‘roaming’ between UK networks, according to news reports.

It means that ‘black spot’ areas of poor coverage would be reduced.

Customers with a Vodafone UK contract are being told that charges for services outside their monthly allowance of minutes, text messages and data are increasing.

However, the basic monthly charge is unchanged and roaming rates in the EU are falling.

Two complaints about promotional material for Telefonica’s O2 Travel service have been upheld by the UK Advertising Standards Authority.

An in-flight magazine ad promoted O2 Travel without mentioning the daily limit, while the O2 website promoted a collection of apps and services for travellers but didn’t explain how much data these could use.

This week's podcast starts with news from Microsoft about an update to its Windows Phone platform and a cost-free OS offer to hardware manufacturers.

There's also a new flagship smartphone from Nokia, a roaming announcement from the European Parliament, a UK virtual mobile network from The Co-operative Group, a change at the top for Mozilla, retail expansion for Vodafone and an awkward end to BlackBerry's relationship with T-Mobile in the USA.

The European Parliament has voted to end mobile phone roaming charges from 15th December 2015 as part of a package of proposals that also promises ‘net neutrality’.

It means that customers travelling to other EU countries from the UK wouldn’t pay any additional cost for making calls, receiving calls, sending text messages or using mobile internet services when abroad.