Mobile Network Comparison

Everything Everywhere, the parent company of T-Mobile and Orange has announced that it will sell off a portion of its 1800 MHz spectrum before Ofcom starts off the big 4G mobile spectrum sale later in the year. This rare auction will bring the network conglomerate in line with EU competition regulations and could raise as much as £400 million.

The merger of T-Mobile and Orange provided Everything Everywhere with by far the largest share of mobile spectrum in all of the UK. The 1800 MHz frequency of the spectrum is especially valuable as it’s perfect for mobile data transfers which are coming under increasing strain. In 2010, the mobile network was asked by the European Commission, to sell around 25% of the 1800 MHz network. Everything Everywhere has already had talks with the European Commission regarding dropping the obligation to sell two lots of 15 MHz of its spectrum but a clause in the competition regulations states that the sell-off can be re-considered if market conditions change.

Until now, Everything Everywhere, has been uncertain of when it has to sell the spectrum, although reports have stated that the operator is unwilling to sell the spectrum ahead of the 4G auction. It seems clear that Everything Everywhere want to hold off their sales for as long as possible, to gain as much financial advice as possible before selling and to gauge the impact of the 4G auction. However, the company has now announced that it is negotiating with Royal Bank of Scotland to overseeing the sale and representatives have already hinted that there might be a private sale.

Now we expect the sale to go ahead some time in February but it remains to be seen whether Everything Everywhere will prefer to lose its spectrum for a lower price if they can find a buyer that’s not a direct rival. We’ll have to wait a while to see who Everything Everywhere sell to and for how much.

Does your mobile network give your phone number to every website you visit? Check whether your mobile network is affecting using our HTTP header checker.

Today, millions of UK mobile users discovered that O₂ is revealing their mobile number to every website they visit. Following a tweet last night from Lewis Peckover, O₂ users have confirmed the security breach. This is a particularly serious vulnerability as it lets hackers and social engineers know your number, network and location (through IP address) or exposes you to spam marketers.

The leak occurs as O₂ is silently proxying all web requests and adding in HTTP headers. For those that don’t know, HTTP headers are sent by all devices that access webpages and usually include important information to help with sending the request and receiving the internet site back. Web browsers can send any HTTP headers they like but they’re generally meant for things like language settings or for determining whether you’re on a phone or a computer. However, O₂ have added an additional header called “x-up-calling-line-id” that reveals your personal phone number.

According to the UK’s Data Protection Act:

“A person must not knowingly or recklessly, without the consent of the data controller (a) obtain or disclose personal data or the information contained in personal data, or (b) procure the disclosure to another person of the information contained in personal data.”

As telephone numbers are classified as personally identifiable information under the Data Protection Act, this breach is also probably illegal. The furious reaction of O₂ customers is currently going viral on Twitter and major news sources have already picked up the story. Meanwhile, a little-known talk given in 2010 by a Berlin-based security expert already warned against privacy leaks in mobile phone internet access.

O₂ have already acknowledged the breach on Twitter this morning and we’ll update the site as we hear more.

UPDATE 13:00: This issue seems to have been fixed by now. Please let us know if you still find that your number is being exposed.

The mobile era is growing rapidly, and nowadays our mobiles do so much that there has become an overwhelming variety to choose from. But with all the companies and brands trying to profit from the mobile era, we are sometimes spoilt for choices.

This is a guide to help you pick out a phone suited just for you. Before buying a new phone, the first thing to ask yourself is; how much are you going to use your phone and what features do you need? There’s no point paying over the odds for the latest technology if you just need to keep in youch with your family.

Budget smartphones

Budget phones are made in mind for those that don’t want to spend more than £200 on a mobile, these aren’t going to be as good as some of the more expensive handsets but depending on your usage they could work out perfectly.

If you were to use your phone simply for calls, texts and browsing the internet, it would be wise not to spend any more than £150. In fact, most £100-150 handsets are good enough to play a few games on and download various apps to keep yourself updated. The Orange Monte Carlo offers a 4.3 inch screen, a 5 megapixel camera and 800MHz processor for just £119!

Even better, why not look at the new Orange San Francisco II or the great-looking T-Mobile Vivacity both of which can be had for less than £90 on PAYG. These are incredibly powerful phones and give even the iPhone 3GS a run for its money with a front-facing video camera and the powerful Android operating system.

If you are upgrading from a cheaper phone and have never owned a smartphone before, any of these budget models will blow you away with all the amazing things they can do.

High-end phones

So if a £100 handset can do all this, why does anyone pay £400 to £500 for some phones? The reason is that higher priced mobiles have a lot better hardware packed into their casing, offering quicker response and more features. If you use your phone a lot, require lots of apps and a high-resolution camera, you might need to invest in a high-end handset.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy S2 offers a dual core 1.2 GHz processor and an industry-leading 8 megapixel camera. With a handset like this you’ll be able to run multiple apps at once seamlessly and play much more graphically demanding games. You can get it for £409.99 SIM free from Amazon and you can be sure that you have one of the most powerful and high-tech phones around.

Just for texting

But what if you just want a simple handset for calling and texting? You definitely shouldn’t bother forking out £500 for the newest smartphone.

There are a lot of mobiles these days which are very cheap, if you want something that you can text easily with, look for a phone with a Qwerty keypad, similar to those you use with your PC or laptop. Look at the Samsung Genio Qwerty – this stylish phone has recently been massively reduced so is great value for money and a decent alternative to overpriced BlackBerrys. It’s now available for just £29.95 from Carphone Warehouse.