Timico, which offers internet, VoIP, fixed-line and mobile telephone services from its Nottinghamshire offices, has acquired Hampshire-based internet service provider NewNet plc. NewNet was established in 1995, has worked with thousands of businesses and is regularly rates as one of the UK's fastest ISPs.

BT Wholesale has announced a five-year managed services agreement that will see it consolidate O2 UK’s mobile and fixed core networks into a single network using BT’s 21st Century Network (21CN) platform.

The two companies already work together; BT Wholesale currently provides a range of services to O2 including core network management support for O2’s mobile customers as well as a managed network service that enables O2 to provide fixed and broadband services for business customers.

From 1st April 2010 Virgin Media will let its customers make free calls from their home phones to mobiles. The new deal will let new Virgin Phone customers and over four million existing fixed-line phone customers call Virgin Mobile users without charge. (Subject to terms and conditions that include a maximum 60-minute call).

The company points out that 10% of its customers subscribe to all four Virgin Media services - broadband, digital TV, fixed-line phone and mobile – which means nearly half a million people will be able to benefit immediately from free calls from their Virgin fixed-line phones to their own Virgin Mobiles. In addition, all Virgin home phone customers will be able to make free calls to anyone with a Virgin Mobile phone.

Following on from last week's report that said the worldwide mobile phone market had grown 10% year-on-year in Q4 to reach 324 million units, Strategy Analytics has released some smartphone-specific statistics.

It says the final quarter of 2009 saw global smartphone shipments up 30% year-on-year to reach 53 million units; a record figure for the industry and the strongest period of growth since Q3 2008. Annual smartphone shipments reached an all-time high of 173.8 million units in 2009, up 15% from 151.1 million in 2008.