Indonesian VAS Update – Join us in Jakarta, February 16th

MEF has announced a special one-day event co-hosted by Indosat on February 16th in Jakarta as a follow-up to on-going regulatory action to discuss the future of the Indonesian VAS market.

As you may recall, following concerns of widespread consumer harm in October last year all VAS subscription billing services were shut down on the direction of the Indonesian Ministry of Telecoms. As a global regulatory champion and independent intermediary, MEF has been proactively supporting collaboration between the local regulator BRTI and the industry ever since to actively resolve the situation and attempt to rebuild confidence in the VAS market. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest mobile markets with more than 250 million subscribers.

A detailed response to the draft regulations governing the Indonesian VAS market has been prepared with input from MEF members, and will be used to frame a discussion with BRTI on how new regulation might better protect consumers while allowing responsible businesses to thrive.

To this end, MEF is also co-hosting a one-day event in Jakarta with Indosat to clarify the BRTI rules around VAS and to discuss with other affected members best practises in ensuring compliance.


Global Strategies for Content Compliance

Date:     Thursday 16th February, 2012
Time:     9.30am to 4.00pm
Venue:   Indosat Office Building 4th Floor,
              Jl.Medan Merdeka Barat no 21,
              Jakarta, 10110,
              Indonesia

All global members interested in participating in this important forum are invited to join us in Jakarta and take advantage of MEF’s valuable global perspective. It promises to be a significant step in securing the long term future of the VAS market in the SEA region.

You can see the details on the MEF website, to confirm your attendance contact MEF Asia GM Linda Ruck.

MEF Asia Webinar - What Crisis? Operators embrace the OTT Challenge

MEF Asia is kicking off 2012 with a fast-paced thought leadership webinar on the 30th January on the challenge to mobile operators of OTT content and services.

Date: Monday 30th January, 2012

Time: 4pm (Singapore)

Register for this FREE MEF Webinar now

With the advent of the Smartphone, Asia-Pacific mobile connections is set to reach 4.2 billion in 2016, while the region’s mobile voice revenues will start to decline by 2014, says Ovum research. Mobile Operators face major challenges from the so called “over-the-top” players competing with traditional business models. As Telcos attempt to defend their core revenues, the need to adapt, innovate and seek new revenue streams has become essential. Adapt or die, what is the future of Mobile Operators?

We've secured a truly stellar lineup for this free MEF Webinar:

• Mark Liversidge, Chief Marketing Officer, CSL Limited, Hong Kong
• Farid Maruf, Country Technology Manager, Grameen Foundation, Bangladesh
• Gio Bacareza, Head of Broadband and Internet Data Services, Smart Communications, Philippines
• Stephen Lee, Asst VP, StarHub Advanced Multimedia Services, Singapore
• Nathan Bell, Director, Products and Marketing, Telstra International, Australia
• Wing K. Lee, Chief Executive Officer, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

The Webinar will be moderated by Colin Miles, MEF Asia Chairman & EVP InternetQ South Asia Pte Ltd.

Space is limited, reserve your place now!

Check the MEF website for more details or contact MEF Asia General Manager Linda Ruck for further information.

M-Commerce in SE Asia: Understanding the opportunities of today and tomorrow

Interested in the mobile media market in SE Asia? Thinking about expanding your mobile entertainment product into the area? Want to find out the rising trends and how to tap into the potential of the market?

Join MEF’s webinar on Wednesday 25 August and gain insight into the m-commerce opportunities available in the SE Asia mobile media market.

The mobile device combines an innovative payment platform with the power to fuel impluse purchasing and is changing the way consumers pay for content, goods and services. The panel is made up of brands with real experience in the market, including Maxis, Motricity and Tata Teleservices, to help your business take the first step with these exciting opportunities.

Confirmed Speakers

• Shea Silidker, Associate Director - KPMG (Moderator)
• Cynthia Yeo Wee Teng, International Transfer Product Manager - Maxis
• Jim Ryan, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer - Motricity
• Joerg Krahnert, Managing Director - Netbiscuits
• Pankaj Sethi, President, Corporate Strategy & Services - Tata Teleservices
• Suhail Bhat, Policy and Initiatives Director - MEF

WEBINAR REGISTRATION: Please click here to register
DATE: Wednesday 25 August 2010
TIME: 13:30 Delhi / 16:00 Singapore / 09:00 London

In addition, if you wish to join the Asia M-Commerce Steering Committee to shape activities moving forward, please contact Suhail or Miranda.

Click to download the MEF M-Commerce Guide recently published by MEF North America, featuring case studies of how brands and content owners are harnessing the mobile commerce opportunity in the US and Canada.

Stand for MEF ASIA or MEF EMEA Boards @ MWC, 15 February 2010- Barcelona

Mobile World Congress draws international delegates from the leading telco and media companies across the globe, so where better to hold elections for MEF’s Asia and EMEA boards?

Join us at the MEF meeting which will this year feature a round-up of MEF’s activities as well as elections* for both the EMEA and Asia boards. Stand as a candidate for your local region and create thought leadership, share knowledge and address issues facing the mobile media industry.

Monday 15 February
Registration at 16:45 for 17:00 start
Finish at 19:15 (MEF Connects networking event starts nearby at 8pm)
Hotel Colonial
c/ Vía Laietana, 3
08003 Barcelona

Click here to register your attendance.

EMEA Elections
To apply for one of the six available seats on the prestigious EMEA board, please submit a photo (jpeg format) and brief campaign statement (200 words max) to MEF EMEA General Manager, Sarah Roberts.

Asia Elections
To apply for one of the six available seats on the newly expanded Asia board, please submit a photo (jpeg format) and brief campaign statement (200 words max) to MEF Asia General Manager, Linda Ruck.

A list of candidates for each board will be announced via email in the run up to MWC.

We look forward to seeing you in Barcelona!

MEF Team

*Note
Election will be by written ballot of all full members present or by absentee/proxy ballot.

MEF Free AFME Southeast Asia Webinar

MEF Asia, with support from Telecom Asia and Wireless Asia, invites you to join our webinar to understand the progress Ad-Funded Mobile Entertainment (AFME) has made across Southeast Asia and to get updated with the latest trends and real-world situations.

Date: 27 August 2009
Time: 4.30pm (SIN) / 9.30am (UK)
Duration: 45min

Click here to sign up

Outline Agenda:

1. 1. Introduction - Joerg Krahnert, MEF Asia Board Member & Managing Director of Netbiscuits
2. Highlights of the AFME Southeast Asia Report - Suhail Bhat, Policy & Initiatives Director, MEF
3. Interactive Panel: Let’s get real with ad-funded mobile entertainment!

• What types of entertainment works best with ad-funded as a business model?
• What are the best tricks of the trade to work AFME for your business?
• Lessons from abroad

Moderated by:

• Joerg Krahnert, MEF Asia Board Members & Managing Director, Netbiscuits

Panelists:

• Bernie Tay, Head of Performance Advertising, APAC, Admob
• David Booker, VP Sales – International, Amobee
• Andreas Behrens, SVP Business Development Asia Pacific, Fox Mobile
• Kugan Thirunavakarasu, SGM, Head of Product Development & Infotainment, Maxis Communications

MEF will provide an overview of its AFME for SE Asia report which projected growth across Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to be worth $2.6m by 2013. This significant growth was predicated upon several factors including the wide adoption of 3G, the development of viable business models and the understanding of brand marketing objectives within the value chain. You can access the full report here.

Following the report overview, our panelists will each give their views on how the market has changed since the study was published and discuss what now needs to be implemented to deliver further success with AFME business models.

This webinar will provide all participants with the following:

1. an understanding of the current business realities for AFME in SE Asia
2. an opportunity to question the thought leaders on the panel by sending in questions and comments in real-time via IM
3. insights into future opportunities for exploiting AFME in the region
4. a FREE copy of the AFME SE Asia report

Click here to sign up

For further information regarding the AFME Southeast Initiative please visit: http://www.m-e-f.org/initiatives/current_initiatives/ad_funded_mobile_entertainment/

Or contact:
Crystal Chua crystal@m-e-f.org

MEF Asia rounds up latest mobile media events

The MEF Asia regional chapter have been busy over the last few months, having a significant presence at the key mobile and media events taking place in the region. General Manager for MEF Asia, Crystal Chua, outlines some of the significant highlights from three of these events below.

1. Mobile Broadband Asia Pacific Summit 2009, 5 May 2009, Malaysia

MEF Asia Marketing Chair, Colin Miles, was there to share his insights on the “Is mobile advertising a viable play in emerging markets?” panel alongside Yahoo!, Ericsson and OmnicomMedia Group. Some MEF members also took advantage of the complimentary passes to join us at the event.

The key takeouts:

• It was an excellent, highly focused event which was well organised, with about 150 attendees including all the mobile operators
• MEF had a strong presence within the program, with the AFME report for Asia being discussed during the Mobile Advertising session
• Most panelists and audience agreed (with the findings) that it would take a while to mature, and metrics were the key to adoption

2. MEF/CASBAA Mobile TV CXO Summit, 7 May 2009, Hong Kong

Some 42 senior industry players were present at this closed door event to address the pertinent issues on Mobile TV. Thanks to the kind sponsorship from i-POP, SpeedCast, Hungama Mobile & Dolby, MEF, jointly with CASBAA, was able to draw out some key issues such as:

• Mobile TV depends upon all-you-can-eat data plans becoming standard, on this there was complete consensus
• The industry was still wrestling with content Licensing models and revenue share challenges
• Mobile advertising is still some way from becoming business model that is taken seriously for Mobile TV
• Some great case studies, such as CSL were given, and it was felt VOD is critical to the user experience
• The KPMG/MEF survey results (issued at CTIA) got an airing to a highly discerning group of industry leaders!

3. Music Matters, 2-4 June 2009, Hong Kong

Now in its fourth year, Music Matters is a forum created with, by and for the Asian music industry and has become a permanent, must-attend fixture on the global music industry calendar.

Social networking, brand awareness, mentoring sessions, digital music downloading and closer relationships between telecommunications and record companies were among the topics that dominated this year’s event. While the ever present issue of piracy was on the minds of many execs, other industry leaders focused on the user experience of consumers during today’s every changing digital age. Many speakers also predict that the US digital music market will be overtaken by Japan in less than 10 years.

An interesting new player in the music scene which was highlighted was none other than Google Music. Google Music was launched in China very recently to develop a potential new revenue stream for labels via a better product experience. Representatives demonstrated the use of an online music search “bubble” which will allow users to find similar tracks in a range of genres.

Supporting Music Matters for the 4^th time, the MEF Panel brought about an interesting discussion on “Music Goes Mobile”. Here are the highlights:

• Optmising the mobile device continues to be key in improving the customer experience for mobile music
• Cellcos must take better advantage of their partnership with the music labels
• Creative bundling and pricing strategies can help cellcos enhance the users’ perception of the value proposition