OFCOM (the independent regulator for mobile in the UK) is trying to make sense of it all in its upcoming ‘Mobile Sector Assessment’. Their aim is to see what can be done to make mobile better for all of us – consumer confidence in mobile is lower than all other services considered in a report conducted for the government last June. In preparation OFCOM released a consultation report with a series of questions that have been investigated over the last year. In the consultation they highlighted some key issues:

Tariff confusion:
According to OFCOM only 15% of consumers find it ‘very easy’ to choose a contract. This isn’t surprising to BillMonitor: maintaining our comprehensive tariff and bundle information is serious work – tariff information is unstandardised, with bundle information scattered across many network’s webpages, and with much of the details only in small print terms and conditions. We think that having a choice between over 100,000 tariffs is a good thing – it means there is a tariff out there that is great for you – but an unclear choice is no choice.

These factors can lead to consumers being on a more expensive contract than is right for them. We see the effects of these problems in our results, as almost every one who uses our bill assessment could be on a significantly better tariff. In fact, we’ve been busy number-crunching to find out exactly how much people should be saving – the results will be in our interim mobile price index report, some of which makes for some eye-watering reading.

Billing and cost clarity:
Both the OFCOM consultation and a recent report by Consumer Focus talk of the hidden costs in billing. Often operators charge for itemised paper bills, even though without itemised billing it is impossible to see where your money is being spent. Different networks bill the same types of calls in inconsistent ways such as (depending on the network) rounding up calls, deferring charges and excluding voicemail from your inclusive allowances. BillMonitor takes these kind of things into account when working out the best tariff – but we often have to phone up the networks to find out exactly how much a certain type of call will cost. Compounding this is the fact the each network presents their bill differently and with varying levels of detail.

Ease of switching:
The current economic situation is making many mobile users think about switching. A recent survey by Booz & Company found that 43% are considering changing to a cheaper contract. Switching mobile network while keeping your number should be easy – you just get a PAC code from your old network and give it to your new one. It’s never quite that simple though; one of the BillMonitor team recently spent 45 minutes being bounced around a call centre, finally being put on silent hold for 10 minutes before he finally managed to get a PAC! Even though most BillMonitor users still save when they switch to a better tariff with their current network, consumers should be allowed to move to a good deal on a different network without this hassle.

Problems like these are exactly the reason why we created BillMonitor and we’re looking forward to see what OFCOM has to say.

Bloggers provide a more personal insight into the industry which can be invaluable, and often, a lot more interesting than the news sites! We follow Jonathan Jensen, James Whatley, and Ben Smith, all of whom have written for MIR and are well worth a read. MJelly also presented a column on MIR and continues to provide news about the latest mobile services entering the market.

Carnival of the Mobilists is an incredibly interesting news source. Each week it is hosted by a different mobile blogger and aims to digest the weekly news and pick out the best stories. It travels all over the place but you can always keep track of it on the carnival homepage!

We’ve recently subscribed to The Fone Cast after MIR posted a link and we’ve found it to be an invaluable resource, providing a podcast full of all the mobile news worth hearing about as well as a quality news blog. MocoNews is another fantastic source for industry headlines. For mobile reviews, we keep an eye on Mobile Phones UK and Top Mobile Phone Reviews.

If you’re interested in a particular brand of phone or network, chances are there’s a blog to suit you. We watch All About iPhone and The Nokia Blog, for example, as well as TMoNews for all the T-Mobile news.

Finally, something exciting and shrouded in mystery. Rumour has it that The Really Mobile Project (Now on Twitter!) is going to be the next project from some of the old MIR people. At the time of writing, very little is known about exactly what it’s going to be, but it’s sure to be well worth a look if you’ve got an interest in mobile.

Oh, and, of course, don’t forget to compare your tariff on BillMonitor to make sure you’re getting the best value for your money.

Have we missed any? Let us know your favourites!