Free Smart Pipe Enablers Webinar

If your company is looking to drive revenue by using the unique capabilities of the mobile platform, then this webinar is a must.

This is the second webinar in our series on enablers. Having previously set out the background to network enablers, we are now looking to the content community to present its position.

Hear the latest from representatives at the BBC, Yell and Gracenote who will explain how the smart enabler services currently provided by network operators allow them to deliver content with increased relevancy and reliability.

Mobile Resource Management solutions developer, Xora, will demonstrate a real life network enabler, whilst senior executives from O2 and Vodafone will outline the enablers they are developing and now they are working with content players to create compelling end-user products & services.

O2 and Vodafone senior executives will be on hand to explain the enablers they are developing and how they are working with content players to create compelling end-user products & services.

Speakers Confirmed include:
Mark Kortekaas	Controller for BBC Audio & Music Interactive & Mobile, BBC
Ty Roberts	Founder and CTO, Gracenote
Glyn Povah	Head of Content Marketing, Telefonica O2
Ray De Silva	Principle Product Manager, Enabler Commercial Partnerships, Vodafone Group
David Pearce	Head of Mobile Services, Yell
Robert Juncker	CTO, Xora

For further information please visit: www.m-e-f.org/enablers, or contact:

Suhail Bhat - suhail@m-e-f.org
Christian Rouffaert - christian.rouffaert@accenture.com

Neeraj Roy wins Outstanding Contribution Award at ME Awards 2009

Neeraj Roy, CEO of Hungama Mobile and Chair of Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) Asia, became the fourth winner of the ‘Outstanding Contribution to Mobile Entertainment’ accolade at the 2009 ME Awards on 1 October 2009.

He received the prize not just for building India’s largest mobile content company, but also for his commitment as MEF Asia Chair to driving the global mobile entertainment industry forward. The ME Awards, hosted by Mobile Entertainment magazine, reward innovation and creativity in the mobile content sector.

Neeraj is the second MEF board member to receive this prestigious award following Ralph Simon’s win in 2007. Ralph is a music industry veteran who founded MEF Americas whilst Neeraj was instrumental in the formation of MEF Asia. With previous winners Ray Anderson from Bango and Anssi Vanjoki from Nokia the Outstanding Contribution award has gone to a MEF member every year since the award’s inception.

“The MEF Board works with great commitment to support the global growth of mobile entertainment, shape its regulation and deliver competitive advantage to members, and Neeraj has been a crucial member for many years. The Board cares passionately about this $32 billion industry and invests a great deal of time and expertise in leading MEF to further the industry’s interests in every way possible, so it is gratifying to see this work being recognised. We are honoured to have Neeraj as Chair of MEF Asia." - Andrew Bud, MEF Chairman.

The ME Awards ceremony took place at the Royal Garden Hotel in London last Thursday, attracting guests from over 120 companies in media, technology and entertainment from around the world. Other MEF member winners on the night include:

• Playphone - Best D2C Company
• BBC - Best Video Company
• Flirtomatic - Best Social Media Company
• Saffron Digital - Best Video & TV Service Provider
• Shazam - Best Music Service Provider
• Netbiscuits - Best Publishing Platform
• Admob - Best Marketing & Advertising Company
• Vodafone - Best Operator

"I’m so pleased to be able to give this award to Neeraj, one of the hardest working and most respected guys in the business. He has not only built Hungama into India’s biggest mobile content company – which is itself an excellent advertisement for the industry – but he also works tirelessly for the MEF and other organisations to fly the flag for our market. He got a fantastic reception last night, and thoroughly deserved it."Tim Green, executive editor at ME Magazine.

MEF Americas Mobile Leadership Summit - Part 4

This is part 4 of 4 in a series that looks at the recent MEF Americas Mobile Leadership Summit, which took place on Tuesday 1 September 2009 at the Writer's Guild of America West headquarters in Los Angeles. You can also read parts 1, 2, and 3.

The second panel, moderated by Nielsen's Puterbaugh, was entitled Holy Grail or Holy Fail? Straight Talk on Mobile Entertainment. It featured Lawrence Harris (SVP/Analyst CL King), Bill Lowenthal (VP Limelight Networks), William Quigley (Co-Founder, Clearstone Venture Partners), David Shrehlow (Director Media Solutions, Huawei), Kevin Arnold (CEO IODA), Gary Schwartz (CEO Impact Mobile), John Orlando (CMO LiveWire Mobile). Again the topic really went out the window and discussion focused on the 4 areas outlined below:

Are The Carriers Dumb Pipes?

• LiveWire’s Orlando sees a trend amongst more progressive players, like Sprint, to embrace more open systems. Generally the smaller operators are strongest value added service partners. Frustration with the big guys stems from lack of marketing support for mobile entertainment product
• Arnold thought they were mostly dumbpipes, with a couple of non-US exceptions like Telefonica.
• Leventhal suggested that mobile entertainment providers need work with the carriers to enhance the content experience over their networks
• Schwartz said that to be a dumb pipe you have to be pretty smart (interesting point…it takes a lot for big companies to realize their limitations)
• Strehlow advised that operators are hungry, rich and unloved…and that mobile content creators should use them now while they are desperate
• Following up on this, Harris said Verizon's and AT&T's wireline businesses are declining. ARPU associated with voice is declining, and thus these operators are focussed on their data businesses. 30% of revenues are now come from data. With the US mobile market saturated, Data ARPU is THE growth area for operators

How Will The OEMs Participate?

• Quigley suggested that from his standpoint, if you look at management teams at handset manufacturers (or carriers), they don't have the right people to run mobile entertainment businesses... it's not in their DNA. He thinks there are real opportunities for big entertainment companies like Disney who want to work with handset manufactures
• CL King's Harris suggested that you have to look beyond the established handset guys. The business is coverging with the PC business and vice versa…Nokia is making a netbook, Apple is making a tablet, HP & Dell are desiging similar devices. He believes there will be a lot of touchscreen devices, between a mobile phone & a laptop, well suited for video & ebooks.
• Orlando said there's a new category of converged mobile/portable devices called MIDs (mobile internet devices). OEMs like Dell are looking at devices that use both wifi and sideloading (at kiosks or via SD cards), which can very disruptive. Handset manufacturers will play a big role in this space.
• Leventhal said we're moving from the session based to an always connected internet, driven by social nets like Facebook or Twitter. Mobile networks are beginning push consumers to open internet devices that use these data heavy apps.
• Schwartz complained that you can’t get all the content you want, when you want it in mobile. Convergence is hot topic…but handsets are not content companies…they're just using content as a vehicle to sell hardware. Content anywhere has to be OTA…but wifi is the best experience…better than expensive mobile data networks
• Quigley raised an interesting issue, he suggested that carriers wouldn't have the networks to support the data usage if everyone had a smartphone; they're still using old technology.
• Strehlow thinks Nokia bundling Ovi with handsets is a good example of an OEM driven content service not tied strictly to operators...but it's mostly happening outside the US. He reminded the audience that the World is a much bigger place than the US.

What Is The Most Exciting Area of Mobile Entertainment For Your Business?

• Lowenthal said video is driving business for Limelight. He heard Bill Nygren of The Oakmark Funds speak recently about how devices are the window into media and the media kids were watching was video (not reading newspapers), therefore he was biasing his portfolio accordingly. LTE will make mobile video network
• Quigley pointed out that there are lots of cool mobile entertainment businesses that make no money, but he thought mobile casual games have a real business model
• Harris likes text messaging; most US consumers are doing it, teens are driving it and it still growing at 75%...SMS is still big opportunity
• Schwartz thinks discoverability and CRM are the big opportunities. It's still a challenge to find content on mobile devices
• Orlando still likes full tracks, ringbacks, tones, etc., but sold off deck. On deck there are 6 vendors (at least) starving trying to sell this content. LiveWire has had a lot of success with an off deck store where it can create its own rules and bundle content the way consumers wants it.
• Arnold likes the rise of music subscription services. It's been difficult on iPhone because they've resisted services that compete with iTunes, but he's encouraged by the approval of Spotify (which bodes well for Rhapsody, etc. on that device).
• Like Harris, Strehlow likes good old SMS because it has the best margins of anything a mobile operator sells. However, he’s also encourged by Uverse’s (AT&T’s landline IPTV product) demonstration that you can push a lot of data through old infrastructure. In mobile he thinks compression and sessionless video from Flash and Silverlight will overcome limits at towers and that wireless video via wifi and mobile networks is the future.

MEF Americas Mobile Leadership Summit - Part 2

This is part 2 of 4 in a series that looks at the recent MEF Americas Mobile Leadership Summit, which took place on Tuesday 1 September 2009 at the Writer's Guild of America West headquarters in Los Angeles. Part 1 was published here. You can also read parts 1, 3 and 4.


Next up was Eric Puterbaugh, Director of Client Services for The Nielsen Company, who presented 26 slides of data, which we've been promised a copy of. In the meantime, here are some broad strokes to whet your appetites:

• The mobile content business continues to grow and is now worth $32bil worldwide
• Premium off-deck services & applications are bright spots for carriers ...but carriers are losing significant revenue to iPhone
• Rapid consumer movement to media ready smartphones is driving increased data usage
• iPhone sets the standard for usability & iPhone is massively overindexing in data
• Carriers benefit from higher data ARPU, the value of an iPhone customer to AT&T is $3.8k vs $1.7k for those with other handsets
• Consumers typically look for the "Best Available Screen" to consume media
• Young people behave differently on mobile...many more text, many fewer calls
• Social networking and search are driving consumer adoption of the mobile web
• Most consumers are watching streaming video on mobile through WAP sites, not apps
• Most iPhone users download up to 5 paid or free Apps

Read Part 3 in the series >>

MEF boosts regulatory and initiatives commitment with appointment of Policy and Initiatives Officer

We're delighted to announce the appointment of Miranda Roberts as Policy and Initiatives Officer. The new appointment underlines MEF’s commitment to driving mobile entertainment adoption, shaping regulation and delivering competitive advantage to its members.

In her new role, Miranda will be providing support and engaging with all stakeholders on key MEF initiatives and policy work. Miranda brings extensive experience of regulatory affairs and project management gained in her previous role at PhonepayPlus, the UK premium rate regulator, and will be working closely alongside Suhail Bhat, Policy and Initiatives Director.

The appointment comes after MEF established an EMEA Regulatory committee which comprises 30+ members to provide an effective mechanism for shaping policy so as to protect member revenues and ensuring a positive consumer experience. As part of its regulatory remit, MEF has also recently taken a leadership role in mobile media regulation in Asia, established a US Sweepstakes initiative with Masur Law and published extensive ‘how to guides’ compiled by member DWS to complex EU legislation, providing members with cost-effective vital intelligence and representation.

“Miranda’s hire highlights MEF’s dedication to regulatory and policy work and our focus on member engagement. Her experience into the world of regulation, mobile content, policy development and stakeholders’ relations offers an invaluable addition to MEF and its members, uniquely bringing together a team with a combined 19 years of regulatory experience.”

- Rimma Perelmuter, Executive Director, MEF

“I’m delighted to come on board with the MEF team and look forward to supporting MEF’s policy and initiatives work and the continuing development of the mobile media market.”

- Miranda Roberts, Policy & Initiatives Officer, MEF

Additionally, Kim Arazi has been promoted to Member Relations Director, in recognition of her work in this area and as Meffys director. Ksenia Arkhipova, also joins as Office & Marketing Coordinator.