Expats spending more on mobiles than food

Mobile VoIP service provider Vyke says young Asian expats in the UK are spending more on mobile calls than they spend on food. Its recent survey says the majority of expats aged between 16 and 24 spend more on making mobile phone calls than they do on food, and a quarter of people who call abroad are spending over £60 a month on their mobile calls and texts. [Press release]

Europeans are ditching fixed-line phones for mobiles

A European Commission study says about a quarter of homes in the EU have a mobile phone but no fixed-line connection. There's a higher proportion in Eastern Europe: 39% of households are mobile-only, compared to a fifth of homes in Western Europe - although in Finland, 61% of households only have mobiles. The report also says last year there were nearly 112 handsets for every 100 European residents. A report a couple of weeks ago put the US number of mobile-only households at 17%. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

Almost 20% of mobile revenue is from data

Almost 20% of worldwide mobile operator revenue comes from data, according to a report from Chetan Sharma Consulting - with some major operators receiving 40% of their revenue from data. The USA is now leads the world's most lucrative mobile data market, having pushed Japan into second place this year. Its operators are earning $17.5 billion in total data revenue, although Japan has the highest-earning individual operator: NTT DoCoMo has made $6.8 billion in data revenue during the first six months of 2008. The UK's O2 network is number 9 in the world. [Source: FierceWireless.com]

Vodafone offers in-store charging for flat batteries

As we mentioned last week, battery life is behind one of the biggest criticisms of mobile phones. Vodafone has just launched a scheme to help by offering in-store charging if your mobile's battery is flat. Selected stores have a secure locker with a variety of charging plugs - not just for mobiles but also for music players and games devices. 30 minutes will cost you £1, 90 minutes is £2. The service is initially available at just six locations. [Sources: shinyshiny.tv; Pocket-Lint.co.uk]

UK Porting group suspends operations

UKPorting, the UK telecommunications industry group that was working to speed up the transfer of mobile phone numbers between networks, has decided to suspend its operations. The decision follows last week's judgement by the Competition Appeal Tribunal that said regulator Ofcom hadn't taken enough care with its proposals. Ofcom says it's disappointed with UKPorting's decision, which was taken after at least one of the networks involved decided to withdraw from the group. [Source: ZDNet.co.uk]

Management changes at Vodafone

Vodafone UK is getting a new Chief Executive. Current CEO Nick Read is moving to run the Asia-Pacific & Middle East Region, while Guy Laurence, currently CEO of Vodafone Netherlands, will become CEO of Vodafone UK. He will report to Michel Combes, recently-appointed CEO of the Europe Region. Guy was previously CEO of mobile internet business Vizzavi and had also been Vodafone's Global Consumer Marketing Director. [Press release]

Mobile-only householders think differently

The Pew Research Center, which conducts public opinion polls, says leaving out households that don't have a fixed-line phone may cause an inaccurate result in polls. Their new study shows that organisations only conducting telephone interviews using fixed-line connections may end up with skewed results. Two years ago, researchers said mobile and fixed-line users had similar views... but the new report says "this assumption is increasingly questionable". It says having contacted Americans under 30 who only used mobiles, 62% were Democrats and 28% were Republicans. However fixed-phone users showed less separation: 54% Democrats and 36% Republicans. One of the reasons for the difference could be that fixed-line owners were more likely to be married and own their own homes, said Pew Research Center's director of survey research. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

Touch-screen Nokia 'Tube' expected next week

Nokia still hasn't launched a touch-screen phone... but that's expected to change next week. Its prototype touch-screen phone (codenamed 'Tube') is rumoured to be announced in London on Thursday 2nd October. [Source: Reuters.com]

A quarter of mobile phone features never used

A study by wireless support specialist WDSGlobal says a quarter of mobile phone features are never discovered by users - and only 20% of a mobile phone’s features are ever used regularly. Most people struggled to name more than half-a-dozen features, with regular usage generally just voice, text messaging, contacts, camera and alarm clock. The company said users felt overwhelmed, blaming poor user interfaces and complex menu structures. [Press release]

Mobile data comes home

Within the next five years, more than half of all mobile data is expected to be generated at home. New research from Informa Telecoms & Media says 40% of last year's mobile data traffic was generated at home but it's expected to reach 58% by 2013. Voice usage at home is also expected to increase, from 42% in 2008 to 49% in 2013. [Source: Telecoms.com]

Sony Ericsson to launch unlimited music service

No sooner has Nokia planned its Comes With Music for the UK - thank you, Rupert Englander, for talking to us on this week's Mobile News podcast - than Sony Ericsson previews a similar service. It's called PlayNow plus and it'll be available in Sweden later this year, with other countries added in 2009. Unlike the Nokia service, music can be downloaded directly to the phone - first will be a special version of the Sony Ericsson W902 Walkman - as well as 'sideloaded' via PC. [Press release]

Use your mobile to unlock your car

Mobil manufacturer Sharp and Japan's DoCoMo network have created a mobile phone that incorporates Nissan's Intelligent Key system, which will enable it to unlock compatible Nissan cars made since 2002. (No, not all of them). It's only a prototype at the moment, with commercial production expected in 2009. [Source: Cellular-News.com]

4 billion worldwide mobile users this year

Informa Telecoms & Media has calculated there will be 4 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide by the end of this year. However, it says the five billionth subscription won't be connected until the end of 2011. The International Telecommunications Union agrees with the 4 billion figure... and this ties in with figures from Portio Research, who say 5.8 billion people - 80% of the world's population - will be using mobiles by the end of 2013. [Sources: Telecoms.com; ITU press release; Portio press release]

Mobile networks work with Internet Advertising Bureau

The Internet Advertising Bureau has been chosen by the UK's major mobile networks as the trade body to work with when it comes to mobile advertising. Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and 3 will provide funding to the IAB, which is expanding its remit to cover the mobile market. [Press release]

New Mobile News podcast now available to download

In this week's edition of the Mobile News podcast, Iain Graham talks to Nokia's Rupert Englander about his company's new Comes With Music service. Mark Bridge previews the forthcoming HTC Touch HD and James Rosewell joins in for the team's usual irreverent look at the week's industry headlines and rumours. As always, you can download or listen free at TheFonecast.com and on the Mobile News website... and you'll find us on iTunes and via RSS too.

Iridium sold (again)

Satellite company Iridium Holdings has been bought by Greenhill & Co's GHL Acquisition Corp to create a business called Iridium Communications Inc. Iridium currently has over 305,000 subscribers using satellite telephone services worldwide. [Press release]

Android-powered Google G1 mobile phone launches

The G1 mobile phone, which is made by HTC and uses Google’s Android operating system, was officially launched in New York today. It’ll be available in the US from 22nd October and is expected to reach the UK in November. In the UK it’ll be free on a T-Mobile contract costing £40 a month. The phone itself has a touch screen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. [Sources: MarketWatch.com; Guardian.co.uk]

Ofcom expresses concerns about EC termination plans

Ofcom and the government Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform say that the European Commission's plans to cut termination rates could cause problems for people on low incomes. In a joint statement, the two organisations said cutting cross-network termination charges could result in lower bills for the caller but higher costs for the person receiving the call. This could mean that costs were increased, particularly for prepay tariffs. Ofcom added that it has already agreed mobile phone termination rates in the UK until 2011 and it is reluctant to alter those rates now. [Ofcom pdf document]

3G femtocells to be launched commercially

There's been a lot of talk recently about femtocells: tiny base stations that boost your mobile phone coverage at home by connecting to your broadband service. Well, Japanese network SoftBank is about to be the first service provider to launch 3G femtocells commercially. It's launching in January next year, although pricing hasn't been confirmed. And yes, it really is the world's first 3G femtocell service. American network Sprint announced femtocells for some customers a few months ago but only for voice calls. [Source: Telecoms.com]

O2 reviewing dealer commission

O2 is changing the way it pays commission to its business dealers next month, paying them a monthly share of revenue instead of commission when the customer connects. The move could see dealers earning more in the long term, although the lack of an initial subsidy may affect handset prices and connection incentives. [Source: Mobile News]