3, the “next generation” mobile phones operator, manage to reduced its losses in last year.

Pre-tax losses in the year to December 2008 narrowed from £1.4 billion five years ago to £152 million, and down from £791 million a year ago. Revenues at the group, owned by Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong, jumped 18 per cent to £1.5 billion.

3, which has 8 per cent of the British market, with 4.9 million customers, has faced problems since it launched in 2003. A strategy based on securing high-spending customers through gimmicks such as video-calling flopped and the group was forced to lure customers with cheap tariffs.

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Giant mobile phone operator, Vodafone’s reputation for giving customers a fair deal has been called into question by The National Consumer Council (NCC). The NCC has stated that the mobile phone firm has effectively misled its customers by increasing its minimum call rates by 25%.

The NCC which has examined the terms of Vodafone customer contracts said that these customers were allowed to terminate their contract and not incur a financial penalty if the phone company hiked its prices by more than 10%.

But customers who contacted Vodafone in order to end their contracts because of exorbitant price rises were told that they would be charged. The NCC said that Vodafone were not being truthful to their customers. Vodafone recently criticised the European Union for seeking to impose a reduction in mobile termination charges.

Mobile industry watchdog Ofcom is seeking the views of consumers on the services and tariffs that are being offered by providers

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Giant mobile operator, Vodafone, has said that around 40 million consumers may have to discontinue using their mobile phones if the mobile industry is forced to succumb to proposed European Union telecoms regulations. The firm has warned that it will be left with no other option than to increase its phone tariffs if the EU reduces mobile termination charges by up to 70% by 2012.

Mobile termination fees are the charges that mobile providers impose on each other when calls are connected to networks. The EU Telecoms Commissioner, Viviane Reding, said that this system of charging is excessive and should be tackled.

Vodafone, who are clearly unhappy with the EU’s position, carried out their own survey which they used as evidence to attack the EU’s proposals.

Industry experts have estimated that Vodafone may lose as much as £1 billion if they fail to stave off the EU’s recommendations.

British telecoms regulator ,Ofcom, also joined the debate by suggesting that mobile termination fees could be abolished in the UK after 2012.

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Shopping giant ,Asda, has unveiled its latest mobile phone deal in the pay-as-you-go price war.

The retailer announced that it would halve its current flat-rate calls from 16p to 8p and the cost of text messaging will be reduced from 5p to 4p.

It is estimated that Asda has around 150,000 mobile phone customers and has now laid claim to being the cheapest pay-as-you-go supplier in the UK- a title that had been previously claimed by Ikea after it had introduced a mobile phone package that charged calls at a rate of 9p per minute.

Industry experts believe that the ability of major retailers to undercut each other will benefit Britain’s 46 million pay-as-you-go customers. However, traditional mobile operators such as Vodafone,02 and Orange have announced that they will increase their tariffs.

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Giant mobile phone operator Vodafone has announced that it will increase the prices of its pay-as-you-go rates by around 30%.

Millions of British consumers, who are already under considerable financial pressure from the credit crunch, now face being hit with a sudden increase in mobile call charges. The mobile industry appears to be following the energy industry and major food retailers in adopting widespread price-hiking practices.

Vodafone, which currently has around 11 million pay-as-you-go customers, will increase its call charges from 15p to 20p per minute. Contract customers have not escaped the price increase and will see their charges rise from 12p to 15p per minute if they exceed their agreed monthly limits. The changes are expected to take place in September.

The price increases come as the EU raised concerns about consumers being forced to pay excessive mobile phone charges whilst abroad

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Apple’s 3G iphone ,which has already sold out in various countries, is about to face its first serious contender for the title of the world’s leading smartphone. Mobile provider T-Mobile has revealed that it will be the first British network to stock the Blackberry Bold smartphone.

The phone will be on sale from September 2008. This is the first Blackberry model to feature 3G internet capabilities. Owners of the handset will also be able to stream video and download attachments such as Excel.

The news of this launch will be welcomed by consumers who are set to benefit from additional competition in the 3G mobile phone market.

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Giant mobile phone operators O2 and Vodafone have unveiled new music features for a selected range of handsets. Both mobile providers have chosen to introduce these new offerings in an effort to gain more customers.

O2 has launched its MyPlay service which allows the user to purchase tracks for 99p and videos for £1.50.

Vodafone’s new service ,which is called Vodafone Music, allows those customers who have acces to certain Nokia and Sony phones to download tracks for 99p. Album downloads are priced at £7.99.

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The Mobile Data Association ( MDA ) has reported that consumers no longer see their mobile phones as basic communication tools for making voice calls. Increasingly, handsets are being viewed as ,must-have, devices for surfing the internet, recording and/or playing music, taking pictures, filming video clips, playing digital games and sending text messages.

The organization revealed that British mobile phone owners exchange around ten million photographs and videos and approximately 1.5 billion texts each week. There is little sign that this consumer trend will slow down and many market analysts have predicted that the current advances in mobile technology will continue to feed the expansion of the mobile market.

The MDA ,itself, predicts that mobile internet usage will increase by 20% in 2009. Additionally, the MDA expects that mobile internet use will become as popular as accessing the web via computer.

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ABI research has predicted that the mobile phone industry will benefit from the current series of smartphone releases. The market intelligence firm also said that the unveiling of further hi-tech handsets will see the mobile market experience a significant sales growth during 2008.

As further proof of ABI’s analysis, there has been a series of reports which state that over one million Apple 3G iPhones were sold in its first week of release. Most United States and UK stores have sold out of the device. There is also excitement within the mobile phone sector at the news that RIM will launch a new Blackberry model.

Mobile phone providers are quickly becoming aware that the average consumer is no longer satisfied with phone models that offer ,what they consider to be, basic functions. Research has shown that the market for low tech mobile phones, is suffering from a decrease in popularity which translates to poor sales figures.

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Shopping giant, Tesco, has announced that it will no longer offer its current mobile phone tariffs as they are to be replaced by a single tariff that offers cheaper calls to your most frequently dialled phone numbers.

A survey conducted by Tesco Mobile revealed that 80% of those polled only dialled five phone numbers. This has caused the retail firm to have a rethink on its mobile marketing strategy and introduce a tariff that charges 10p per minute for phone calls and 5p for text messages.

If you dial any other numbers outside of your five favourite numbers you will be charged at a rate of 20p per minute whilst texts will cost 10p

Those shoppers who possess a Tesco Clubcard will receive four points for every pound they spend topping up their pay as you go phones.

The tariff deal does not come with a free handset . Phone prices begin at £14.97 . The cheapest nokia model will cost £17.97 but the device also comes with a £10 top up.

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