This year's Communications Market Report from telecomms regulator Ofcom has revealed a surge in smartphone ownership. In June 2010, 26.5% of people in the UK said they had a smartphone, more than double the number two years previously. Growth in the last 12 months was particularly strong, up 81% from 7.2 million users in May 2009 to 12.8 million in May 2010.

James Rosewell writes:

Yesterday I received the following text message from O2: “You’ve gone over your data allowance on your mobile. You need to cut down or get a bigger Bolt On to keep using the internet.” I thought this was strange as I’ve an unlimited data bolt on applied to my O2 UK contract so I decided to telephone O2 customer services to find out a little bit more. Here’s what happened.

Vodafone UK has launched the Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi, a WiFi-enabled mobile broadband device that allows up to five people to simultaneously connect to the internet over the Vodafone network. Similar devices are already available from Three UK and The Carphone Warehouse.

US network operator Verizon and internet giant Google have published a proposal to deal with issues of "network neutrality" and an "open" internet.

They want to see internet service providers prohibited from any prioritisation or blocking of information or services on the internet (as long as that information/service is legally available).

Vodafone is running its Mobile Clicks challenge for the third successive year, searching for the best mobile internet start-up in the UK, the Netherlands and Portugal.

Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2010 is open to any start-up – either existing or planned – in the field of mobile internet products or services. The closing date for entries is 22nd August 2010. There's a €100,000 prize for the winner and €50,000 for the runner-up.