Mobile phones were first actively marketed during the 1980s, and since the late 1990s have become an essential part of most people’s lives in the UK. Ownership is almost universal now, with young people especially keen users. Of all UK consumers, for example, 16-19 year olds are most likely to own and use a mobile phone. During the same period mobile handsets have become ever more sophisticated. 3G networks allow higher-speed access to the mobile internet, and improvements in computing functionality continue to create opportunities for innovative, feature-rich applications and content. Much of this content is charged to the user’s mobile phone bill, which brings such services under the regulatory remit of PhonepayPlus. Most phone-paid services are spontaneous, low-cost and provide users with instant gratification. They have entered mainstream society, to the extent that almost every other person in the UK (48%) has used a phone-paid service. Consequently, UK consumers have derived a great deal of value, use and entertainment from them. As well as downloading ringtones, pictures and games, millions of people use their mobile phone to participate in television programmes, receive news alerts, find contact details and enter competitions. The result of this is that consumers spent £464m on mobile phone-paid services in 2007/08. This represented 46% of the total phone-paid services market and, for the first time, meant that mobile was the biggest single segment of that market. Unfortunately, a significant increase in complaints accompanied this growth. PhonepayPlus received more than 8,000 mobile related complaints in 2007/8, a 108% increase on the previous year. This upward trend continued into 2008. Each month we receive close to 2,000 complaints relating to mobile content services…

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