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 Announces September In-Market Regulatory Tour of Asia

The Mobile Entertainment Forum will tour four key Southeast Asian countries to foster collaboration between regulators and members and create an environment conducive for the mobile media industry’s continual growth and vibrancy. The two week tour, from 7th- 18th of September, will cover Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.

The mobile media industry is subject to a considerable number of regulations globally. It sees a variety of content (games, music, video, ringtones) all accessed on the mobile device. Regulators and the industry alike have been trying to ensure that any regulatory regime meets the needs of consumers, affords an appropriate level of consumer protection and also supports an innovative and rapidly changing industry.

“MEF is building on its regulatory successes in the Americas and EMEA by assisting both the regulators and the industry to ensure that regulations are fit for purpose, transparent and proportionate. The industry is showing a genuine commitment to work with MEF and with the regulators to secure a more successful future to benefit everyone, including the consumers, in the value chain. MEF recognises how fragmented the Asian market is and hopes that its efforts to conduct this tour on a country-by-country basis will deliver more positive outcomes for the industry.”

- Neeraj Roy, MEF Asia Chair and Managing Director & CEO of Hungama Mobile

“I am very excited to be leading this crucial work for MEF. India and Indonesia are two of the fastest growing markets in the world, with 0.5 billion subscriptions between them, growing at 10m per month, whilst Singapore and Malaysia are defining the commercial and creative shape of 3G / mobile broadband consumption. Underpinning this growth and the future success of the mobile entertainment industry as a whole is the essential consumer trust in mobile media services. MEF is at the forefront of liaising with the industry and regulators alike in many different territories globally and want to spearhead similar successes in Asia.”

- Suhail Bhat, MEF Policy and Initiatives Director

In April 2009, MEF Americas announced the completion of the first phase of its Mobile Sweepstakes Rules Initiative with the launch of “The Sweepstakes Rules Map: US”. This interactive map of the United States is the first ever to outline the applicable rules and laws governing mobile promotions and sweepstakes on a state-by-state basis. The map was compiled by MEF Americas in partnership with MasurLaw, a leading venture law firm specialising in technology and entertainment.

In July 2009, MEF held three separate workshops on proposed regulatory changes in the UK. Written by MEF member and law firm Denton Wilde Sapte, MEF produces Guides to key pieces of legislation such as the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. In addition MEF EMEA has established a Regulatory Committee comprising of over 30 member companies with meetings held every 6 weeks to discuss regulatory issues of relevance to our members.

If you like us to incorporate your relevant concerns during this tour or simply want further details about the MEF Asia tour, please contact Crystal Chua at crystal@m-e-f.org.

MEF leadership and activities point the way to a robust Mobile Media future

Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) Global held its prestigious board elections and AGM on the eve of its 9th annual conference, MeM09, in London last week. Andrew Bud, Executive Chairman, mBlox, returns for the second consecutive year as the Global Chair, having been a founder and driving force for MEF since its launch in 2000. He is joined by Billy Wright, Global Head of Media and Games Partnerships, Nokia, who has been elected as Vice Chair and Pete Wood, VP International Mobile Business Development, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

They join existing Global Board members:

• Jim Beddows, MEF Americas Chair
• Mark Harding, Media & Digital Content Specialist, KPMG
• Gerrit Jan Konijnenberg, MEF EMEA Chair & EVP of Sales, Comfone
• Miguel Lopez-Quesada, General Manager, Zed TV
• Patrick Parodi, CMO, Amobee
• Neeraj Roy, MEF Asia Chair & CEO, Hungama Mobile
• Seth Schachner, VP, Digital Business Latin America, Sony Music Entertainment
• Ingrid Silver, Partner, Denton Wilde Sapte

Upon his re-election to the Board, MEF Chair Andrew Bud, said “I look forward to working with this exceptionally strong Board to support our $32 billion industry whose mood, as measured by our latest MEF BCI, is impressively optimistic. In this time of change and opportunity, our mission to improve, inform and protect the market for MEF members, both globally and nationally, is more vital than ever. I would also like to thank outgoing MEF Vice Chair Marco Argenti for his invaluable contribution to the board over the last 2 years.”

The new Global Board identified as its key objectives continued support for

• initiatives which accelerate and change the industry such as the recently launched Smart Pipe Enablers initiative;
• regulatory and policy activities which represent the industry and protect revenues and consumers;
• trade development activities across EMEA, Asia and the Americas and greater localization to support the growth of the mobile entertainment industry in these markets, commencing with the launch of an Italian chapter; and
• MEF metrics and intelligence which illuminate the industry and provide competitive advantage to members.

The week commenced with the unveiling of MEF’s 2^nd Quarterly Business Confidence Index (BCI) compiled by KPMG showing that the industry remains confident despite the current economic challenges and predicting average revenue growth of 28% for the coming year. The industry’s confidence was further reflected in two days of celebrations and deal-making at the sold-out Meffys Awards, attended by 350 of the industry’s top executives from over 25 countries and MeM, MEF’s 9^th annual event, which saw a recession-defying comeback to London with a 26% increase in attendees.