UK mobile operator O2 has partnered with leading mobile money company Mi-Pay to offer its eight million customers a new range of new automatic top-up services, allowing Pay & Go customers to better manage their call credit. Mi-Pay will deliver weekly or monthly low-balance auto top-up services for customers who use their credit or debit cards to add money to their Pay & Go balances, providing a simple online platform that allows users to set up and manage balance top-ups using O2’s existing online portal....

No sooner had news emerged thatBSkyB was in talksto buy UK public Wi-Fi network The Cloud, than Telefonica-owned mobile operator o2 announces that it is to do the same, just a day later. The Independentreports that the operator wants to differ from its rivals by offering what it calls the first “truly free, public Wi-Fi platform” in the UK, making it accessible to both its customers and any other person who wishes to use it....

New Media Ageis reporting that UK mobile operator o2 will apply to the Financial Services Authority for license that will allow the company to roll out its own wireless payment systems without needing to partner with a bank to do so. The license will allow o2 to become an independent financial services provider and it is highly likely that the company would release a smartphone application that can hold customer funds in a virtual wallet, provide the functionality to make contactless payments or send money to other people....

UK mobile phone network O2 is launching a trial of a new VoIP service for customers to use across WiFi networks. O2 Connect will allows smartphone users to use voice and text services from their normal mobile number to any UK mobile or landline number. It will initially be available via a dedicated app on iOS and Android devices only, though it plans to roll it out to other devices in the future if the initial trial proves successful....

Three of the UK’s top mobile operators havetoday announcedthat they are to partner with each other and offer UK consumers mobile marketing and payments services, a deal that is the first of its kind in the UK. The partnership, that includes O2, Vodafone and Everything Everywhere, is pending approval by the relevant authorities but will see users delivered targeted offers and also provided with payment services like a mobile wallet. If approved, the service is expected to launch at the end of the year, possibly launching in other European countries thereafter....