Global News Update: Monday, December 1, 2008

In today's podcast: EU proposes caps for roaming text message, data charges; British prosecutors investigate BT for privacy law violations; and Nokia plans to release home-automation system.

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European telecommunications ministers gave their backing on Thursday to a plan to cap retail prices for sending SMS text messages and browsing the Internet using mobile phones while abroad. In September, the European Union's executive body, the European Commission, proposed slashing both the retail and wholesale prices for text messaging by introducing caps of [euro]0.11 and [euro]0.04 respectively. Average retail prices are currently estimated at around [euro]0.29, the Commission said. It also proposed a cap on the wholesale price for downloading data of [euro]1 per megabyte, and called for further reductions in the cost of voice calls when roaming.

British prosecutors are investigating whether incumbent operator BT illegally tested an online advertising system without users' consent. The inquiry focuses on Webwise, a system from the company Phorm, which monitors a person's Web browsing and search terms in order to serve up related advertisements. An internal BT document leaked in June showed BT conducted a two-week test involving 18,000 subscribers in September and October 2006 but did not inform those users. Privacy activists have suggested the trials violated wiretapping laws as well as posing data security and privacy concerns. BT maintains no laws were broken.

Nokia is developing a device to link mobile phones to home automation systems. Using a mobile phone, consumers will be able monitor and control security, heating, and ventilation systems via its gateway Home Control Center. With appropriate equipment, users will be able to see who is ringing the doorbell at home, via the mobile phone. They can then talk to the person, and for example open the door to a handyman. Nokia's first systems are expected to become commercially available by the end of 2009. The heart of the Nokia system is the Home Control Center, a piece of hardware which will act as gateway between different systems for home automation and the mobile phone, or any device that is equipped with a browser.

Singaporean operator StarHub is rolling out a femtocell service that allows mobile subscribers to make calls at home using their broadband Internet connections instead of the cellular network. StarHub's Home Zone service costs S$16.05 (US$10.62) per month with a 1-year contract. Users must also have a mobile-phone and broadband Internet accounts with StarHub for the service to work. When Home Zone users are at home, voice calls, text messages and video calls are sent over the broadband Internet connection. Users connect their mobile phones to the Internet using small, cellular base stations, called femtocells, that redirect calls over the Internet.

...And those are the top stories from the IDG Global IT News Update, brought to you by the IDG News Service. I'm Sumner Lemon in Singapore. Join us again later for more news from the world of technology.