Orange, which was the world’s first mobile operator to launch HD voice calls, has made the first international end-to-end HD call between two mobile networks with different infrastructures.

Customers using compatible phones on the Orange networks in Moldova and Romania can now enjoy HD voice quality when making calls between the two countries.

Following an agreement that the UK’s new 4G mobile spectrum would be available for use by next summer, Everything Everywhere has confirmed a launch date for its own 4G service and its EE brand.

EE will launch 4G in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Sheffield on the 30th October 2012. A third of the UK population is expected to be covered by the end of the year.

Everything Everywhere, which was given the go-ahead to use its existing 1800MHz spectrum for next-generation mobile services last month, has revealed its 4G plans for the UK. It’s also said it’ll be branding the new service - and the parent company - simply as ‘EE’.

Its EE 4G LTE network is being switched on for testing from today and is expected to be available to customers in 16 cities by Christmas 2012, covering a third of the population.

The European Commission has approved the proposed creation of a UK mobile commerce joint venture between Vodafone, Telefónica and Everything Everywhere.

It had been investigating the planned m-commerce partnership - nicknamed ‘Project Oscar’ - since April as there had been concerns about the potential size and power of the scheme.

The Samsung Galaxy SIII is the first Android smartphone available with Orange’s Quick Tap contactless payment service.

Customers will be able to load money onto the phone using any UK MasterCard or Visa card and can then pay via NFC technology.