Consumer Mobile Phone News

Europe puts halt on mobile payments scheme

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:16:00 GMT

A plan by most major UK mobile phone operators to launch an industry-wide scheme for customers to make purchases using their phones looks set to be delayed by European officials.

The plan is the work of O2, Vodafone, and Everything Everywhere (which owns both T-Mobile and Orange.) Their idea was to combine forces to launch a new company that would allow users of all networks to make mobile payments through the same system.

The plan would work on near field communications, a wireless technology similar to Bluetooth or Wi-Fi that works only over a few centimetres, reducing the risk of interception. Users would link their handset to a debit or credit card account.

The European Commission was required to examine the proposals because of the risk for unfair market domination. It had initially been expected to approve the plans right away but it now seems likely it will carry out a fuller investigation. Although mobile operator Three had complained about the plan, in which it was not included, this isn't thought to be the reason for the delay.

The move means it is now highly unlikely that the companies will achieve their target of getting the system in operation

European roaming costs to fall again

Sun, 1 Apr 2012 21:12:00 GMT

European Union officials have confirmed a deal to further reduce roaming charges across the continent this summer.

The move had been long expected, but now politicians, European Commission civil servants and ministers from the member states have reached a preliminary agreement on the details of the cuts. They'll be formalised later on.

Under the deal, from July this year the maximum cost of calling the UK from another EU country will be 24 pence per minute, with text messages cut to 8 pence. There'll also be a 59 pence per megabyte cap on data use charges. Officials are also cutting the limits on how much the foreign operator can charge the customer's own network to handle the transmission.

This year's cuts are part of a long-term plan that should mean that by 2014 there'll be no significant difference between domestic and roaming call charges. The EU says it will enforce caps until at least June 2017, and will want to see clear signs of effective price competition before it removes

Major changes to mobile phone market underway

Thu, 8 Mar 2012 16:47:00 GMT

A newly-published review could mean significant changes to the rules that affect UK mobile phone companies and customers. Here's what you need to know.

What is the review?

Communications regulator Ofcom has been looking into the problem of bill shock, a term used for customers receiving much higher bills than expected for a variety of reasons. It estimates that up to 1.4 million customers may have experienced this in the last six months alone.

What causes this problem?

The three main causes identified by the review are: unexpectedly high charges for data use, both in the UK and abroad (caused partly by the fact that there's little connection between time spent online and data used); high costs for exceeding voice call limits or making calls to number that turned out to be excluded from monthly limits; and costs incurred by users after a phone had been stolen or lost.

What is Ofcom going to do?

It's proposed working with the industry to introduce voluntary measures to tackle the problem. However, the regulator hasn't ruled out mandatory changes to regulations if this doesn't work.

What are the main proposals?

There are four suggestions from Ofcom.

European legislation already means users can set a

Parents in dark over child smartphone use

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:29:00 GMT

The vast majority of children with smartphones have no parental control or security settings in place according to a newly published survey.

According to the YouGov survey of 1,000 children aged eight to 15, almost half of those questioned owned a smartphone rather than an ordinary handset or no phone at all. One in five children said they had seen either violent content or pornography on a phone. Not all of these cases were deliberate: some said they had stumbled across images while searching for more family-friendly material.

The survey also found that barely one in ten child phone users had security settings or filters activated. A separate questioning of parents found nearly half were unaware such settings were possible or necessary.

The researchers also asked the 15 year old respondents about bullying, with 18 percent saying they had been victims of bullying via a smartphone or had taken part in it. Another 27 percent said they had received unwanted calls or

Shopping centres tracking mobile phones

Sat, 7 Jan 2012 20:36:00 GMT

If you take your mobile phone when visiting a major shopping centre, there's a good chance that Big Brother is watching you.

The Daily Telegraph reports that four firms operating more than 30 major shopping centres across the country are using technology that tracks the movement of mobile devices. The aim is to keep track of patterns of behaviour such as the order in which people visit particular shops, and the time they spend in each shop. It's also being used as a way to track the overall numbers of visitors at particular times of the day and week.

The operators insist the technology is completely anonymous and that no data about individual phones or users is collected. They say the scheme benefits customers and stores as it allows shopping centre planners to arrange stores in a way that reduces how far shoppers have to walk to get to the various stores they want to visit.

But privacy campaigners aren't convinced, arguing that it's wrong to track shoppers without their knowledge and without giving them the opportunity to opt

Gang jailed over mobile phone VAT scam

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:27:00 GMT

15 people have been sentenced to an average of six years in prison after being convicted of defrauding the taxpayer of £250 million through mobile phone sales.

The complex scam involved taking phones from the UK and moving them to Europe, before importing them back, thus registering them as free from VAT. The scammers then sold the phones and included VAT in the sale price, but didn't pass on this cash to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

In some cases the fraud became even more complicated, with the same batches handsets passing back and forth between the UK and Europe multiple times through bogus companies, the idea being to claim bogus VAT rebates. The police investigation involved the seizure of 130 hard drives and more than half a million documents.

The fraud took place between 2001 and 2003, sparking off a lengthy legal investigation. The first convictions were made in 2008 but were not allowed to be reported as this could have prejudices other trials, the last of which concluded this week.

The final man convicted, Nasir Khan, had originally run a mobile phone accessories store. Business declined when the craze for accessories faded away, at which point Khan became involved in the

Brits lead the way in smartphone use

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:17:00 GMT

The proportion of Brits owning a smartphone has almost doubled in the space of 18 months. UK residents are now more likely to own such a phone than people anywhere else in Europe or the United States.

Communications regulator Ofcom found that as of August this year, 46% of Brits have a smartphone -- a classification usually loosely defined as a handset on which third party applications can be installed. That compares with just 24% in February 2010.

In a comparison with other European countries, Ofcom found the UK was leading the way: 45%of Spaniards have a smartphone, with the figure being 32% in Germany. A recent US report found 44% of Americans currently have a smartphone.

The report also found that 46 percent of people in the UK use their phone to access the web. That means that whatever number of smartphone owners don't bother with mobile surfing is matched by people who access the web on a standard mobile, albeit often at a slower speed.

Ofcom also found that mobile phone services in the UK as a whole are not only the cheapest in Europe, but have actually dropped in price over the past year, though the costs

Mobile phone research suggests beneficial Alzheimer's link

Fri, 9 Dec 2011 19:42:00 GMT

A new study appears to link mobile phone radiation to restrictions or even reversals on the effects of Alzheimer's. But it's far too early to say if the findings could be safely applied to humans.

The research at the University of South Florida began with the hypothesis that mobile phone use might worsen Alzheimer's. The project involved a sample group of mice that had previously been genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's for research purposes.

Researchers gave the mice two one-hour doses of mobile phone radiation every day for between seven and nine months. That's equivalent to several decades in a human lifespan, helping overcome the lack of life-long research on human phone users.

Contrary to expectations, the research found the exposure led to the disappearance of a brain protein that causes problems to Alzheimer's sufferers. Meanwhile younger mice without the disease showed signs of improved memory abilities.

The research isn't likely to change medical advice or beliefs about mobile phone use, but could prompt further study into radiation treatment for human Alzheimer's

"Unlimited" tariff confusion raises regulatory concern

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:15:00 GMT

The communications ombudsman has urged mobile phone operators to be clearer about the use of the phrase "unlimited" when describing monthly packages. Lewis Shand Smith said too many firms were failing to make clear that there were often "fair use" limits for downloading data.

He explained "This is an emerging problem which we think could cause real consumer detriment – we want mobile phone companies to take action before it becomes more prevalent."

Shand Smith noted that advertising regulations currently allow use of the term "unlimited" as long as the customer is told about any limits that do apply. He added that such tactics were only permissible where the limits would not be exceeded by a typical user.

According to Shand Smith, regulators can only step in where there is a lack of information, or consumers are misled, not in cases where phone users ignore clear warnings. He also suggested phone companies could do more to make customers aware of how much data they have actually used and whether they are likely to hit any

Liquid accidents greatest cause of mobile phone damage

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:32:00 GMT

More than one in six people have damaged their phone by dropping it into a toilet according to a new survey.

The poll of 1,937 adult users found that 31% of people said they'd damaged a phone with liquid. Of those, 47% of cases involved a toilet bowl, while 21% involved spilling a drink or (in a few very unlucky cases) dropping a phone into a drink.

Meanwhile 12% involved dropping a phone in a bath or shower, 7% the kitchen sink, and 3% of cases came from leaving a phone in a pocket of trousers being washed.

The survey was designed to promote specialized mobile phone insurance, though users should remember there are a wide range of options for cover. Policies sold by phone manufacturers, retailer or networks may not necessarily be the cheapest or best cover, and users may find the phone is covered by home insurance or can be added as an optional extra.

As for those unlucky enough to have their phone make an unintended underwater trip, the best advice seems to be to wipe down the phone surface, switch the phone off completely, then leave it inside a sandwich bag filled with rice for at least 24

Mobile phones officially taking over

Sat, 5 Nov 2011 19:26:00 GMT

For the first time, there are now significantly more mobile phones than people in the UK. Ofcom statistics show there are 76.4 million handsets in use across the country's 61.9 million population.

The figures only count those in active use, not those sitting in the back of drawers getting dusty. Although more than 90% of adults have a phone, that means that a huge number of people have multiple handsets, often one for work and one for personal use.

Around 27% of adults own a smartphone, of which half bought a handset in the past year. Given the average two-year contract on new purchases, that suggests the vast majority of smartphone owners are upgrading as soon as they get the chance.

Mobile phones aren't just an optional extra for some people any more. Around 14% say they've ditched a landline completely, while around 7% use their phone in place of a computer for internet and e-mail

One-armed man will never lose phone

Sat, 5 Nov 2011 16:22:00 GMT

A Somerset man with only one arm has found a novel way to make operating his smartphone easier: he's had it built into his prosthetic limb.

Trevor Prideaux has had a special "dock" carved into the limb that allows the phone to sit snugly, though it can still easily be removed. The set-up means he can now use the touchscreen without the need to find a flat surface to balance the phone one. It also means he can still have his hand free while making a call.

Prideaux originally approached Apple to ask for a blank iPhone casing but the company wouldn't help out. Instead he worked with staff at the Exeter Mobility Centre to take a fibre cast of a Nokia X7 phone and then build it directly into a new prosthetic arm.

He now hopes the concept can be developed to help other people with prosthetics, particularly those who have lost limbs rather than had them missing from

Supermarkets come top in mobile phone survey

Wed, 11 May 2011 15:38:00 GMT

The annual customer satisfaction survey conducted by Which? Mobile has revealed that supermarkets are considered the best for both contract and pay as you go mobile phones by customers.

Of the 8,001 users polled in the survey, Tesco Mobile was rated the best network by monthly contract and sim only customers and Asda Mobile was voted top by pay as you go users.

Users of contract phones gave Tesco Mobile a rating of 74% whereas 3 was rated lowest with a score of 49%. Pay as you go customers voted Asda Mobile best with a 78% rating, Tesco Mobile second scoring 66% and O2 third with 65%. T-Mobile and Virgin were ranked bottom by pay as you go users with customers awarding them 51% and 52% satisfaction scores.

It also appears that high street retailers have some way to go with their staff training as scores for knowledge and service were very average with Vodafone achieving top spot with just a 58% rating. Online stores didn't fair much better with the best provider being O2 scoring 59% from it's customers.

You can read more about the survey on the Which? Mobile