British regulators launch mobile content inquiry

Britain's premium-rate services regulator PhonepayPlus announced it will launch a review of the U.K.'s mobile premium services market following a spate of consumer complaints. PhonepayPlus said the first three months of 2008 alone yielded more than 4,500 consumer complaints specific to premium mobile services, translating to 80 percent of all complaints received and a 40 percent increase over Q1 2007 totals. Between January and March the regulatory body adjudicated on 15 mobile service complaints, resulting in fines of £223,500 (roughly $441,000 U.S.), with recent adjudications on four additional cases resulting in fines of £68,000/$134,000. By comparison, in 2007 PhonepayPlus adjudicated on 33 mobile services, with total fines topping £360,000/$710,000. The review--which PhonepayPlus plans to publish in July--promises to identify critical issues impacting consumers, in particular unsolicited promotions (in particular text messages), price transparency and "free" content, and subscription services.

For more on the PhonepayPlus inquiry:
- read this release

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