AMTA Snapshot Edition 135

Minister flags new measures to protect consumers of mobile premium services The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, has flagged new measures ?to work in parallel? with the new Mobile Premium Services Industry Code to ensure consumers are protected. ?A new draft industry code is now available for consultation and I encourage consumers, industry bodies, and other interested parties to respond and contribute to the future mobile premium services regulatory framework,? he said on Tuesday in a statement.

Strong handset shipments in October Mobile phone shipments to Australia are holding up well this year despite uncertain economic conditions with more than 1.3 million handsets shipped in the month of October, according to Informark industry figures.

Christmas mobile phone splurge not short on choice With all the doom and gloom that goes with the global economic crisis, the resilience of the Australian mobile handset shipment figures in October offers a glimmer of light in a murky economic picture. The following story from the Courier-Mail shines more light on Australia's very competitive mobile telecommunications industry as it weathers the economic storm and highlights AMTA's handset manufacturing members: Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Research in Motion and i-Mate.

Trade Practices Act: Clarity in Pricing Bill 2008 The Government announced on Wednesday 12 November that it had passed the Trade Practices Amendment (Clarity in Pricing) Bill 2008 that ?will increase pricing transparency so consumers will know the total price they are required to pay for a good or service?.

Mobile Carriers Forum calls for co-operation with Perth Councils on restrictive planning policies This week the Mobile Carriers Forum wrote to the CEOs of 15 Councils in the Perth metropolitan area seeking their cooperation to remove restrictive policies from their local Planning Schemes regarding the siting of mobile network telecommunications facilities, such as new poles and antennas.

MobileMuster on show at international telecommunications industry summit on sustainability AMTA?s Manager, Recycling, Rose Read, was a guest speaker at the Global Green Telecoms Summit in Berlin from 10-12 November. Rose presented a paper on Facility mobile phone recycling in Australia and participated on a panel to discuss the topic: ?Recycling Initiatives are in place but the majority of consumers are not recycling ? what more can be done to increase consumer input?

Mobile Phone Product Stewardship The Environmental Protection and Heritage Council has welcomed the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association Statement of Commitment and acknowledged the work by AMTA to improve mobile phone recovery and its commitment to achieve ambitious performance targets over the next five years.

A tale of two mobiles: making payments easier and bringing help in a life-and-death situation This week brings two stories of different applications of mobile phones from different parts of the world. One application of mobile technology is changing the way we shop and pay for our goods and services and the other can mean the difference between life and death.