No T-Mobile Activation Fee Until End of Year

I realize that there are only a few more days left until you get drunk out of your mind and puke all over your best friend's newly acquired Nintendo Wii, but that still gives you enough time to sign a new cell phone contract. As a last minute holiday gift, T-Mobile is reportedly waiving their activation fees (starting Friday the 28th) and they'll continue to do this until the ball drops in Times Square on Monday night.

It's not a huge savings over the regular cost of grabbing a new mobile phone, but they say that a penny saved is a penny earned. In the case of this current promotion, that's about 3500 pennies saved, which should be enough to at least handle a meal or two. Better still, you can nab the speaker-packing Samsung Beat music phone for free if you sign on the dotted line.
Source:http://www.mobilemag.com/

Drivers who use mobile phones face jail

Motorists caught using a hand-held mobile phone while driving could be jailed for two years under tough new guidelines issued today by prosecutors.

Drivers who adjust sat-navs, tinker with MP3 music players such as iPods or send text messages at the wheel could also face prison sentences.
Police now check mobile phone records after road collisions to see if the driver was making a call

Prosecutions will be brought if by using the equipment a motorist is judged to have posed a danger to other drivers, such as causing another car to swerve.

Using a hand-held mobile while driving was outlawed in 2003, but it is estimated that half a million motorists flout the ban each day.

Existing guidelines restricted prosecutors to pursuing only a charge of careless driving, for which the maximum fine is £5,000 along with up to nine points on a motorist's licence.

But under the new rules, drivers could be charged with dangerous driving, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.
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It is believed that by increasing the penalties, drivers will start to take the law seriously.

"This sends a clear message to motorists: don't mix driving and communicating, just as you would not drink and drive," said Rob Gifford, of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.

"This is long overdue. At last the law has caught up with the reality of the road, with too many people using their phone while driving."

But existing laws cover it and there are plenty of other things which are distracting."

The new guidelines mean prosecutors will be able to go for a dangerous driving charge, which carries the punishment of an unlimited fine as well as a two-year jail term.

In addition, drivers who kill while using mobile phones could be charged with causing death by dangerous driving, which carries a 14-year jail term. In extreme cases they could be charged with manslaughter for which a life term can be imposed.

A new offence of causing death by careless driving is to be created under the Road Safety Act, due to come into force early next year.

The new guidelines follow a consultation by the Crown Prosecution Service on the policy it should adopt on dealing with cases of "bad driving" brought before the courts.

Using a hand-held mobile was made illegal in 2003, when the penalty was limited to a £30 fine, but it acted as little deterrent and the latest figures show that in 2005 129,700 motorists still flouted the ban.

Drivers were also warned that similar penalties could be imposed for using a hands-free device if they were judged not to be in control of their car.

source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Mobile Markets Moving in China and India

Mobile phone users in China sent 429 billion text messages in 2006— nearly one thousand per user— according to Ofcom's "International Communications Report."

The agency also said that mobile phones accounted for 53% of total telecommunications industry revenue in 2006.

Worldwide revenue for the sector, including television, radio and telecommunications, totaled 873 billion pounds ($1,787 billion).

India added 150 million new mobile phone subscribers in 2006, which Ofcom noted was more than the UK total of 70 million mobile connections.

Mobile phone penetration in India is still relatively low, however, at only 14% of the population.

More autonomy for Motorola UK

Motorola's UK business unit has been granted increased autonomy under new senior vice president for EMEA Mike Fenger, appointed last month.

Motorola took top spot from Nokia in Latin America under Fenger’s stewardship.

He has been given carte blanche to sort out Motorola’s ailing EMEA operation, which includes the key UK market, where Motorola’s share hovers around six per cent, battling LG Mobile for fourth place.

Motorola UK and Ireland general manager Jim Michel said: “America always said, ‘we’re number one in North America and Latin America’. They’ve realised EMEA is big too – bigger than America, Latin America, China and India put together.”

Fenger’s restructure of Motorola’s EMEA operation sees Michel, for the first time, take full control of UK finances, customer accounts and product exclusives. Michel said: “We’ve always had sales people leading our region. Now, we have someone that knows how to run a multi-market business leading our region. Mike has reorganised things. I am now in charge of UK profits and losses. The local decisions now come from me.”

The clampdown on grey market trading is a part of a wider Motorola initiative. Michel takes charge of the UK purge.

source:http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk

Mobile sector to undergo Ofcom review

The telecoms watchdog is launching a new investigation into the mobile phone sector
An investigation into Britain’s multibillion-pound mobile phone sector is to be launched by the telecoms watchdog amid fears that regulation is not keeping track of radical changes in the industry.

The review — the first of its kind by Ofcom — is to be launched early next year. It could lead to cheaper mobile calls and new wireless services for consumers. It is also expected to address competition issues in areas such as network-sharing, under which previously fierce rivals such as Vodafone and Orange are planning to merge their phone networks in an effort to cut costs.

It could also examine ways to prevent a second “mis-selling scandal” of the kind that is overshadowing the industry at present.

An Ofcom spokesman said: “The project will assess our future approach to the mobile sector. It will consider the changes facing the sector and any implications for Ofcom’s future regulatory approach. ”

The mobile sector has come under the spotlight recently after a series of concerns about alleged irresponsible and anti-competitive behaviour by the network operators.

Unlocked in Singapore, iPhones are available on the internet

It is the world’s most-hyped mobile phone, but Apple’s iPhone could be yours without the rigmarole of changing network provider and being tied into an 18-month contract.

What started as complicated instructions to unlock the device on technical websites has now gone mainstream. British buyers can now buy the iPhone unlocked from Far Eastern retailers and auction websites for little more than the £269 O2, the official UK seller, charges.

Yesterday 700 unlocked iPhones were selling on the British version of eBay, at about £300 each, but without the mandatory O2 18-month minimum contract of £35 per month.

Such is their alarm that Apple has now threatened to sue retailers in Singapore who are unlocking the phones and selling them over the internet. Shopkeepers said they had received letters from Apple threatening to sue for S$1,000 (£340) for every unlocked iPhone they had sold.
The iPhone operated using a touch screen and as well as having all the functions of a normal mobile phone, it incorporates an iPod and the capacity to browse the internet.

Phone networks fought hard to win the right to sell the iPhone, with O2 entering into a five-year exclusivity deal with Apple. The network provider has so far refused to reveal how many handsets they have sold since the iPhone’s UK launch on November 10, saying only that sales have been “in line with expectations”. Two thirds of buyers are new customers stolen from other networks.

A spokesman for O2 cautioned that anyone buying a locked phone ran the risk of finding it rendered inoperable by new software updates. He said: “We don’t really understand why anyone would want to buy an unlocked phone. If you’re spending that amount of money on the phone and then unlocking it you run the risk of turning it into a useless brick.

“Every update that Apple releases reverts the phone to a locked state. We’re scratching our heads as to why people would want to run the risk of losing all that money.”
Source:http://technology.timesonline.co.uk

T-Mobile keeps German iPhone monopoly

A Hamburg court has ruled that T-Mobile can sell Apple's iPhone exclusively in Germany, overturning a restraining order granted to Vodafone that had forced the sale of unlocked handsets.

The move will be a blow to other mobile networks which had hoped for a repeat of a similar case in France that forced Orange to sell unlocked iPhones.

But the Regional Court of Hamburg has ruled that the exclusive contract between Apple and T-Mobile is legal.

"From the beginning we were convinced that this offer was legal and really good for the customer," T-Mobile spokesman Klaus Czerwinski told the International Herald Tribune after the ruling.

Marco Hartmann-Rüppel, a competition lawyer at TaylorWessing in Hamburg, insisted that the verdict was not unexpected.

"The ruling is no surprise and I do not think Vodafone can change things on appeal," he said.

But the case raises the possibility of a challenge under European law, given that different member states have different policies on 'exclusive' contracts.

The ruling will certainly make Apple more careful over plans to extend sales of the iPhone.

source:http://www.vnunet.com

Drivers warned over mobile phones

Almost 10,000 fines have been handed out to drivers using mobile phones since tougher penalties were introduced in February, figures show.

A total of 9,574 fixed penalty notices were given out by five of Scotland's police forces between February and the end of October this year.

That equates to more than 1,000 people a month being penalised with a £60 fine and three points on their licence.

Police said the figures should be a warning to drivers.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk