Mark Bridge writes:

We head into the weekend with the News of the World admitting voicemail hacking was more widespread than previously thought. Mobile networks had already made it much harder to access voicemail remotely… and now the NotW is saying sorry and preparing to pay compensation.

Talkmobile, the UK virtual mobile network from The Carphone Warehouse, has launched a series of 'pay monthly' tariffs that include what's being described as "unlimited mobile internet data".

Prices start from £12 per month for a two-year minimum term contract with a free phone plus 200 inclusive minutes and 200 inclusive texts per month.

New figures from GfK Retail and Technology UK show that the Android operating system is becoming increasingly popular.

Smartphones accounted for almost half of all mobile phone sales in February 2011 (48.7%). When it came to 'pay monthly' contracts, 83.1% were smartphones... which means only a sixth of all contract phones sold were non-smart.

In this week's edition of The Fonecast we catch up with Bob Sweetlove of HSC. He tells us the secret of winning a Mobile News Award - HSC picked up the 'best airtime distributor' prize earlier this month - and discusses some of the current trends in distribution.

Plus, as usual, we take a look at all the big news stories that affect the UK mobile industry… from developments with the BlackBerry PlayBook to a brand new mobile payment service.

The Mobile Money Network, which was founded by Charles Dunstone, Monitise plc and Best Buy Europe last year, says it'll reveal details of its first service tomorrow.

New non-executive Chairman Sir Stuart Rose is set to announce Simply Tap, a service that'll allow consumers using any mobile phone on any network to buy anything from retailers signed up to the platform.