Er... where are the details? Almost as sparse in the article as they are on the MX Telecom site (Google PayForIt, it looks like they're behind this).

So what happens when your phone gets stolen (not exactly a rare occurence)? It becomes a credit card without a signature or chip and pin.

In response to Crime, Most phones can be locked until a pin inputted.

I would like to see a special application running on the phone to handle the payments once a password was inputted, hence not relying on the phone manufacturer to implement security. Also seen some Japanese phones with Finger Print recognition.

starting from a penny and up to a tenner - only on Vodafone. The others have set price points, even Orange and T-Mobile which have on-bill still require you to match their points; £1.99, £2.50 etc. £3.33 isn't possible.

Mobile billing systems are often characterised by a core system; originally designed to count voice minutes, onto which a messaging system has been bolted, with some form of pre-payment slapped on top; the whole thing being pasted together with a sticky tape and string. - lol. Sooooo true!

Don't know about the rest of you, but my wallet is _already_ mobile. Carry it with me most places I go out, in fact.

"Industry experts" have been telling us for years that mobile phones were the micropayments holy grail and that they would be Real Big Real Soon Now. It's not happened yet, apart from reverse-charge SMS for fringtone "clubs", so why is this one going to be different? The first obvious difference may be that this one gives the network operators a bigger cut, but in doing so it must increase the price the end punter actually pays (cut out the middleman, etc, doesn't apply here - they're adding middlemen).

What kind of UK telephone number starts with 0200000 - mbill's does ?

...this June 2006 (SIX) one: http://www.160characters.org/news.php?action=view&nid=2037

Maybe this one is V2.0, as V2.0 is very important now.

C'mon El Reg, rather than reposting PR puffs, how about some ANALYSIS?

O2 and T-Mobile are STILL using SMS for their billing. They don't have real billing systems - only SMS-based ones. Three do have a real billing system, but haven't managed to launch it yet so are stuck on SMS.

T-Mobile uses "silent SMS" where the user receives an SMS but the phone doesn't show it, but O2 don't, so their Payforit experience is no different to using traditional PSMS. it's a poor alternative to a real billing system.

Vodafone and Orange are way ahead on this.