Phones

Three has backtracked on a promise it made to customers last year not to hike prices mid-contract.

BT home phone customers should check their bills, as well as those of older relatives, to see if they're unnecessarily paying to rent their handsets – some say they've unwittingly paid the fee for 20 years.

MSE update: Friday 12 June, 10.47am – since this story was published, Vodafone announced that from 10 August, its new access charge for 08, 09 and 118 calls will be 45p/minute, up from the 23p/minute charge it will be bringing in from 1 July. This will make Vodafone the most expensive provider in terms of its access charge.

Mobile phone users who send a smiley or sad face, or any type of picture icon in a text, could be stung with massive charges – one MoneySaver told us her son racked up a £209 bill.

O2 says it's fixed a 'network equipment' problem which left some users unable to make calls, send texts and access the internet on Monday evening. But if you've lost out financially as a result of the issue, complain and ask for a reimbursement.

BT has upped the price of its least expensive line rental for the third time in just a year, making its upfront-payment plan the most expensive among those offered by major providers – £50 more than the cheapest offering.

Carphone Warehouse has today launched its own mobile phone network called iD, "piggybacking" off Three's network, but are its deals any good?

Sky TV customers have recently been hit with price hikes pushing annual bills up by up to £54/year. But whether you want to beat the hikes or are just trying to get a better deal, we explain how to haggle to cut costs.

EE customers who haven't already requested a code for a 'free' power bar – a portable smartphone charger – will have to wait until the end of June before they can get one. Here's our Q&A on the deal.

EE customers can get a 'free' power bar – a portable smartphone charger – just by texting to get a code (costs 35p) and showing it in-store.