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Nokia’s operator-branded messaging (OBM) business has been conditionally acquired by UK-based companySynchronica. The OBM business unit provides email and instant messaging (IM) services to ten tier-one mobile operators in North America, including AT&T, Bell Canada, Rogers Wireless, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless. Six million users actively use the email or IM service. Synchronica plc is a developer of next-generation mobile messaging solutions, and its current customer base consists of more than 80 mobile operators and eight device manufacturers across Europe, Latin America, Africa, Russia, and Asia....

The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office has partnered with UK mobile operator Vodafone to trial a new emergency text message service which will alert Vodafone customers and those connected to its network when there has been a major crisis – such as a natural disaster or civil unrest. The Foreign Office will pilot its service for a period of one year, initially sending free text messages to mobile phone owners in the UK with plans to explore the delivery of important information via a range of mobile and online tools, including smartphone apps and social media....

The UK Government is reportedly to spend part of its £530 million broadband investment fund on helping bring “very high speed broadband in cities,” theTelegraph reports. The plans, detailed in part in a civil service job advert for a Programme Management Office and Finance Lead, included a reference to broadband upgrades in cities, with the Broadband Development UK unit of the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) noting: “BDUK is also taking forward other ministerial priorities such as proposals for very high speed broadband in cities”....

Back in May, wereportedthat the UK government was developing a single log-in system that would work across all its websites, such asHMRCandDVLA. It is designed to encourage uptake of its public sector services online. It was reported at the time that the government was working with a number of private companies that already hold personal consumer data, such as Visa, which would potentially allow users to sign-in with their credit card details....

In March, the UK governmentcut its electric vehicle grantfor the fourth time in ten years. Specifically, it reduced the subsidyby $700 (£500) to $3,480 (£2,500), and capped price eligibility at $49,000 (£35,000) from $68,000 (£50,000). On Monday, during an interview withAutocar, Transport Decarbonization MinisterRachel Maclean defended the government’s decision and hinted that the “Plug-in Grant” might be disposed of altogether. Supporting the cut She explained that the reduced EV grant is now targeting “lower-priced vehicles” because “that’s where people are less likely to be able to fund the cost out of their own pocket entirely....