Telemedia Magazine issue 41

driving value added services for voice and mobile

IN THIS ISSUE

ISSUE 41 | £4.99

6

Project 30

To celebrate its 30th Anniversary, UK regulator PPP is looking at making PRS regulation more flexible. Will it drive innovation?

10

Get Connected

How a little known GSMA project called Mobile Connect is going to totally reshape how consumers and MNOs interact.

FEATURING

REGULATION

Traffic killer or carrier billing boost – are Project 30 and Project Slimline a last roll of the dice?

PAYMENTS

Strong carrier billing making up for falling PRS voice revenues in UK MNOs have made it hard to do, but carrier billing is still strong in the UK – and just as well as PRS voice is dropping finds latest PPP survey >> 11 PAYMENTS

Fonix drives Xbox Live and Playstation carrier billing sales Fonix is delivering carrier billing for BuyGameCredit for XBox Live and Playstation Network users >> 11 PAYMENTS

Beat the bots Moves to relax some elements of PRS regulation and to make carrier billing more attractive to mainstream markets are being seen in some quarters as the last roll of the dice for carrier billing in the UK – but others in the industry are sure that it is >> 4 the impetus needed to make these services grow.

Rory Maguire highlights how mobile ticketing and payment tech could beat the touts, scalps and bots >> 13 PAYMENTS

MESSAGING

Business embracing text and chat apps as channel to regularly engage customers, finds MEF New research from global trade body Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) supported by Mblox says that 76% of consumers have received communications from businesses such as banks, healthcare and retailers via text and that 65% have engaged with companies via chat apps.

>> 4

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

Project Slimline: last chance saloon?

Are the latest MNO efforts to make carrier billing and Payforit work for the mainstream going to take off or is Project Slimline too little too late? >> 14

Driving Value Added Services for Voice and Mobile Billing

18-20 October 2016

HOTEL H10 ANDALUCIA PLAZA MARBELLA, SPAIN

MESSAGING

Veoo expands in to the Ukraine as SMS booms Veoo continues its global expansion and commitment to local markets with the launch of a presence in the Ukraine, driven by growing demand for competitions and SMS. Veoo’s presence in the Ukraine now enables clients to easily launch services in what is an extremely lucrative territory by providing a unique complete package, including 24/7 customer care, all local translations, regulatory and compliance support adhering to industry standards, allowing customers to focus on their own ‘in country’ marketing and content campaigns.

Matthew Winters, CEO of Veoo, explains: “With a population of over 42 million the Ukraine is an important country for us to have a presence. In particular we have seen a lot of take up in the country for SMS competitions around subscriber content.

The take up for this particular

offering has been amazing so far, and if you combine this with the single opt-in policy in the Ukraine, this means conversion rates are exceptionally high, creating significant revenues for our clients.”

Veoo has well established carrier relationships in the Ukraine with Kyivstar, Vodafone and Life Cell, along with dedicated country managers, which is what makes this a truly unique offering in the market.

Veoo services in the Ukraine include: • A wide range of Mobile

Payment services such as premium SMS, short codes, billing voice and video, as well as detailed reporting • Mobile Marketing - through Veoo, clients can send SMS and MMS messages to their own customers. Veoo’s mobile marketing services include: bulk SMS, online management, portal, MMS and detailed reporting • Mobile Engagement through its platform which provides a scalable environment for demand aware SMS applications, messaging traffic and reporting through a single API integration allowing you launch all Veoo territories with one single connection

Veoo has offices in the UK, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary as well as the Ukraine. Forthcoming regions include 18 additional countries in Latin America and Asia as well as the establishment of new offices in the US. In total Veoo expects to have a presence in more than 26 countries before the end of 2016.

Winters concludes: “Our service in the Ukraine is quite unique and truly differentiates us from other providers who typically offer the technology platform but can’t compete with our full service solution and our complete customer care and support packages.

Additionally we have a great accounting team who have an in-depth understanding of the financial complexities in this country and are there to support, protect and take care of our clients.”

introducing our new

mobile wallet

VS

An amazing new service which allows consumers to store loyalty cards, offers, boarding passes, tickets, gift cards and much more, making them accessible via the mobile phone Built for iOS and Android, the Mobile Wallet creates offers, loyalty cards and mobile web pages, in a single integrated interface Delivering the ultimate in convenience, providing consumers with updated offers and timely reminders For brands and marketers, the Mobile Wallet provides an app-like functionality without the need for an app. Giving you the ability to send push notifications whenever you want to end users

WWW.VEOO.COM Veoo landscape.indd 1

To find out more please contact us on sales@veoo.com 00 44 207 5803860

22/02/2016 11:33

Driving value added services for voice and mobile

3

REGULATION

Project 30 and Project Slimline

<< 1 The moves by PhonepayPlus and the network operators – the so called Project 30 from PPP and Project Slimline from the MNOs – are seeking to split services into tiers of risk and impose regulation accordingly in an attempt to reignite the failing carrier billing market in the UK. As we report on Page 6 and Page 14, PPP is looking to grade services as Low, Standard and High Risk and apply regulation with a suitably light or hard touch depending on what the services are.

MNOs have run with this and are planning, through Project Slimline, to adopt a similar

approach to services when it comes to carrier billing to make it more attractive to mainstream industries.

But many in the industry see this as a last roll of the dice for carrier billing and, while they want it to work, suspect that it might be too little too late and that the battle to use carrier billing as part of the mobile payment revolution is already lost.

There are also worries that both Project 30 and Project Slimline are a way to allow networks to drop traffic they don’t want from services such as competitions and adult, which produce disproportionately more complaints relative to rev-

enue to that which could come from mainstream use of carrier billing.

“I am cautiously optimistic but this could be the last roll of the dice,” says Kevin Dawson, sales director at Oxygen 8. “MNOs are perhaps looking at this not to save PRS but to kill traffic like competitions that they don’t want.”

Industry body AIME is more optimistic and is working hard to get both Projects implemented in a way that helps the industry.

“MNOs say that, if this is done right, then they can use PPP as a regulator with teeth to handle the high risk services and that they can step back from the

hardened Payforit environment of the past year and offer a much easier to use payforit service for low risk services,” says Rory Maguire, MD of AIME. “If a consumer is logged into a service, then you could in theory just let them click pay with Payforit and do it with one click.”

Both Projects are in the consultation phase and are likely to be in place by the end of the year and, in the words of AIME’s Maguire, is “a good opportunity rather than a last roll of the dice to get it right” and if it can start to attract well known brands into using carrier billing, then things will be very positive in 2017.

lead this space with 19% of consumers in both markets engaging via chat apps.

Messaging as an authentication channel is also on the rise. The report benchmarks password confirmation as the most popular use of application to person messaging (A2P) – globally for SMS is 30% and chat apps 25%. In mobile-first markets it’s even higher – Nigeria 49% and South Africa 38% have received an authentication message from an enterprise.

However, while text dominates A2P as the channel of choice, when it comes to person to person messaging (P2P) the ‘big two’ have edged past SMS. When asked which channel they used most, consumers chose Facebook Messenger first (56%), followed by WhatsApp (50%) and SMS (42%).

Rob Malcolm, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development, Mblox says: “The MEF Mobile messaging report is a treasure trove of data for anyone interested in learning about consumer preferences of mobile messaging. The report shows that consumers prefer OTT apps for person-toperson communications and text for enterprise-to-consumer communications. Consumers have come to expect companies to communicate with them in real time about every aspect of the service lifecycle and mobile messaging continues to lead the power of that engagement. We at Mblox are excited to be at the centre of this trend” Rimma Perelmuter, CEO at MEF adds: “MEF’s Mobile Messaging report clearly indicates globally consumers and enterprises are embracing all kind of mobile messaging channels across a broad range of uses and verticals. However, there is a clear opportunity for growth with 24% of SMS users and 35% of chat app users currently unengaged.”

MESSAGING

SMS and chat being embraced says MEF << 1 The study, part of MEF’s Future of Messaging Programme, indexes the messaging habits of nearly 6000 respondents across nine countries worldwide. The move to using text and chat apps is also going to be heavily covered at World Telemedia Marbella on 1820th October.

The financial services sector is the most active in enterprise messaging, with 33% of respondents having received an SMS for activities such as account activation and balance checking. 22% have done so via a chat app.

Retailers and eCommerce (websites and email service providers) are also using messaging to engage their consumers with 24% using SMS and 17% using chat apps. 23% of consumers have received a notification for delivery of goods via SMS and 16% via a chat

4

app. The rise in demand for convenience with services like click-and-collect and last-mile notification is helping to drive this sector.

The survey reveals healthcare sector to be a key growth area. Globally 15% of consumers studied have received a message from a healthcare provider via SMS and 12% via a chat app. The UK and US

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

FROM THE EDITOR THE BIG GUY Paul Skeldon paul@TelemediaOnline.co.uk ART DIRECTOR Victoria Wren victoria@wr3n.com CONTRIBUTORS & CONSULTANTS Rory Maguire, Toby Padgham, Chris Newell, Edward Boddington, John Strand, Peggy Ann Salz, Bruce Pharoah, Paul Dunone, Jarvis Todd, Sheldon Johns, Mark Birkett, Eric Feltin, Tim Green SALES & MARKETING info@TelemediaOnline.co.uk PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Annika Micheli annika@TelemediaOnline.co.uk PUBLISHER Jarvis Todd jarvis@TelemediaOnline.co.uk TO SUBSCRIBE www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk CIRCULATION ENQUIRIES Ellie Gold ellie@TelemediaOnline.co.uk WHAT WE’VE BEEN LISTENING TO The Heavy Fish n Chips, Bad Engrish WHAT WE’VE BEEN AMUSED BY Suits WHO WE’VE BEEN FOLLOWING @anonymous WHAT WE’VE BEEN READING ABOUT Brexit AUTUMN 2016 WILL BRING...

World Telemedia Marbella TELEMEDIA MAGAZINE is published five times a year and circulated in print to qualified readers and downloaded in digital format to 12,000+ requested readers.

BUSINESS ADDRESS: Ground Floor, Virginia Cottage, Nash Lane, Scaynes Hill, West Sussex, RH17 7NJ, UK. Web: www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk Overseas subscriptions and non qualified readers can obtain Telemedia Magazine with an annual subscription rate of £15 / 20. Refunds on cancelled subscriptions will be provided at the publisher’s discretion, unless specifically guaranteed within the term of subscription. © World Telemedia Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of Telemedia Magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording on any information storage or retrieval system without the written consent of the publisher. The contents of Telemedia Magazine are subject to reproduction in information storage and retrieval systems.

Repro and Print by Trio Offset

World Telemedia Marbella: much to discuss With World Telemedia Marbella just weeks away – 18-20 October – there is much to discuss. Here in the UK, we are seeing the beginnings of things moving with carrier billing thanks to a fundamental mood shift among the regulator PPP and the MNOs around how they assess the risk of a service which is great news.

But at the same time, the competition and adult services – and the affiliate marketing used to promote them – continue to be a talking point.

And the two things are inextricably linked.

While carrier billing has been hugely successful elsewhere in the world – something that delegates at the show will learn from numerous speakers, sponsors and exhibitors – the UK market opening up could well be

something that makes this form a payment truly mainstream.

At the same time, this softening of approach from the MNOs that makes this possible is also being seen as a possible war on higher risk services such as competitions and adult and could, while opening up carrier billing to the mainstream, actually be a way to stop these lucrative services?

Part of the problem that MNOs and regulators alike have with these services is how they are often promoted by programmatic and affiliate marketing. This can often obscure where the service originates, makes it impossible for consumers to complain to the service provider and so burdens operators with all the complaints.

While Project 30 and Project Slimline – Phonepay Plus’s and the MNOs respective projects to

implement these changes – are a great leap forward for making carrier billing more attractive to mainstream businesses, there is nothing being done to address the way complaints from the small number of services that do cause problems.

That said, World Telemedia Marbella will allow those in the industry – from the UK and elsewhere – to look at all the opportunities around the world for telemedia services outside the UK. With Brexit uncertainty hovering over us all, this year’s show is possibly one of the most crucial for the industry. www.telemediaonline.co.uk @telemediaTweets @MrSkeldon

Paul Skeldon. editor

We help brands build relationships, not just audiences We empower brands to use mobile to transform their business through truly personalised mobile campaigns. Our cloud-based platform delivers customer interactions for Fortune 1000 companies across the globe.

We help brands build relationships, SMS | PSMS | MMS | Payforit OTT | Push | IVR | Social

www.mGage.com

Driving value added services for voice and mobile

5

REGULATION

30 THE MAGIC

NUMBER? On its 30th Anniversary, Phonepay Plus is shaking up how it regulates services in a bid to increase innovation and take much of what the industry does into the mainstream. Paul Skeldon takes a look at the hows and whys of Project 30 and what it might mean This year is the 30th anniversary of Phonepay Plus. Of course, it wasn’t called that when it started and it won’t be called Phonepay Plus for much longer, but it has been regulating PRS in the UK for three decades. But its not just its name that is in flux: its very role and approach to how it regulates the industry is also changing.

Project 30 – named for the 30th anniversary of the organisation – sees PPP attempting something that the industry has been wanting for many years: fairness of regulation.

The changes (see panel) are out there and make a lot of sense, but the real issue what has motivated it and why now.

“We are 30 years old and we have a new chairman [David Edmonds CBE] and we want to evolve our approach,” says

6

Jo Prowse, CEO of Phonepay Plus. “We have moved to be outcome based and we now want to be more flexible. We want to see PRS conform to the regulations and we have to protect consumers, but we also have to encourage innovation.”

And this is the crux of what is going on. As we report on page 11, Phonepay Plus’s own research shows that carrier billing is on the rise, but standard premium voice services are declining.

The answer is to make carrier billing more popular, but to do that Phonepay Plus and the industry have to take the heat off some of the services that produce large numbers of complaints. Carriers have put the brakes on carrier billing ever since it tried to roll out

Payforit 4.0 more widely. A lot of subscription services and competitions leaped on it and the complaints flowed.

To make it work, something had to give. The answer has been for PPP to look at how to segregate types of services into standard risk, low risk and high risk in an attempt to make regulation easier.

No one is saying it, but basically if you are a big well known brand, you’ll have to jump through fewer (or even no) hoops to get your carrier billed service up and running than, say, if you are an adult service provider or running competitions.

This has also spilled over into Project Slimline among the MNOs – see page 14 – who are adopting a similar low, standard and high risk approach to

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

applying their own carrier billing rules, to again encourage brands to get in to using it.

But there is nothing new in this. Network operators have already given ground to the likes of Google to run carrier billing paid for services. This just formalises the process.

“App stores are already an exception as they have their own tough procedures before they get going,” says Prowse.

“We want to extend this approach so that others that have their own high standards can start to make use of these services. We want to see new services and new models where they can demonstrate they have the controls that make them safe to use and encourage consumers to use them.”

The move has been welcomed by industry trade body AIME. “We welcome the move and are behind the project but, along with Project Slimline, it’s a tough job trying to align all the parallel spinning worlds towards a single centre of Gravity,” says Rory Maguire, MD of AIME. “It is a great opportunity, but could be the last chance for carrier billing as we know it.”

This view is echoed by the telemedia industry. “I am cautiously optimistic, but could be the last roll of the dice for carrier billing,” says Kevin Dawson, sales director at Oxygen 8. “It could well be just a move to kill competitions once and for all rather than ‘saving PRS’ and there has been a distinct lack of any real information,” he says.

One area that many are concerned with is that there is no clear outline as to how of whom will be assessing what is a high, standard or low risk service and how it will be regulated.

But does this matter? Carrier billing has great potential to open up mobile commerce to

millions of people. It should be up there with all the other types of content billing that people use and this move could see that happen. Less onerous regulation of it for some mainstream brands is just what it needs to get it there.

That said, the likes of Oxygen 8 and others are seeking to make more from mobile payments via the e-money licence route and compete with the likes of Apple Pay and Google Pay. Project 30 is a positive move and one that could see PPP deliver on its pledge to aid innovation and development rather than just be punitive and it will be interesting to see how things pan out in early 2017 when we start to see it in practice.

What is in the Project 30 box?

So what is Project 30 proposing? Well there are many things that cover everything from how regulation is applied and how that feeds through to how Payforit is used to looking at PPP’s own culture and image. But the things that really concern the industry are around changes to regulation and the special conditions.

“Our regulatory framework workstream is looking at what we could improve to best support innovation and growth without diminishing consumer protection,” says Jo Prowse, CEO of PPP. “This work is to ensure that our regulatory approach remains capable of keeping pace with developments in the market and technology, whilst ensuring everyone can use premium rate services with confidence.”

This will cover: • Development of an objective framework against which to assess whether services are ‘higher risk’; • A clear process by which Exemptions from the Code will be applied; • Scoping out support from relevant regulators for regulatory handling of new digital services or pay-

ment models and other appropriate joint working and considering the value of commissioning a ‘regulatory map’; • Joint monitoring to better join up the intelligence available to both the regulator and the industry.

On the special conditions, PPP is proposing additional regulatory requirements, in the form of Special conditions, for online competition and adult services.

PhonepayPlus receives disproportionately high complaint numbers for online competition and adult services. Independent consumer journey research commissioned by PhonepayPlus and undertaken

by Craft Realities into online competition and adult services, highlighted a number of concerns including: • It is quite possible for a consumer to provide unintentional consent to an online competition or online adult service.

• Opt in and opt out mechanisms are insufficiently robust or transparent from a consumer perspective.

• In relation to subscription online competition and adult services, consumers can remain unaware that consent to recurring charges has been given.

SALES@RELIANCECOMPLIANCY.COM

Driving value added services for voice and mobile

7

COMPLIANCE

Con Air meets con artist There is a major and developing browser security issue called ’Clickjacking’ – AKA User Interface Redress Attack (UIRA) – that is set to cause havoc with consumers and brands alike: are you ready for it? Declan Pettit talks us through what it is and how to combat it Clickjacking is taking the internet by storm – but not in a good way.

It is a malicious technique of tricking a web user into clicking on something different to what they thought they were clicking on, so by simply by browsing a seemingly innocuous web page, the user’s confidential information is potentially compromised or, even worse, they lose control of their device.

It involves a little bit of embedded code that can execute without the user’s knowledge that appears to perform one function, but actually performs another.

It is relatively new to the web, but there are already many examples of it and it is a growing problem when looking at how your site works and, especially for telemedia companies, what it means for compliance.

Examples seen out there in the web range from tricking users into making their social networking profile information public; downloading malware allowing a remote attacker to take control of device; fooling users to follow someone on Twitter or sharing links on Facebook; and Clicking Google AdSense ads to generate pay per click revenue.

But this is the tip of the iceberg: they can get much more ugly. One recent attack we have tracked on our Veriscanner monitoring tool involves an attacker building a website that has a button on it that says “click here for a free iPod”. However, on top of that web page, the attacker has loaded an iframe with the victim’s email account – and lined up exactly the “delete all messages” button directly on top of the “free iPod” button. The victim tries to click on the “free iPod” button, but instead actually

8

clicks on the invisible “delete all messages” button. In essence, the attacker has “hijacked” the victim’s click, hence the name “Clickjacking”.

Another example where clickjacking can be put to even more sinister use is where an attack is

made against the Adobe Flash plugin settings page. By loading this page into an invisible iframe, an attacker could trick a user into altering the security settings of Flash, giving permission for any Flash animation to utilize the computer’s micro-

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

phone and camera.

Clickjacking has also made the news in the form of a Twitter worm. This clickjacking attack convinced users to click on a button that caused them to re-tweet the location of the malicious page, and propa-

gated it massively.

There have also been clickjacking attacks abusing Facebook’s “Like” functionality. Attackers can trick logged-in Facebook users to arbitrarily like fan pages, links, groups and more.

Clickjacking is sinister and, where many examples are more like pranks, there are many that give the hacker an in into the private world of the PC and all the information therein.

CLICKJACKING AND PRS

Click Jacking, in the context of Premium Rate Services, is usually experienced when the Operator or Aggregator’s payment pages are, in some way, ‘interfered’ with. So when a user, on a Mobile Gateway connection, clicks on a merchant landing page to go to the payment page, the attacker can obfuscate the page (or a portion thereof) with some innocuous-looking

‘play’ or ‘continue’ button using iframe masking.

A methodology we have seen recently: Victim opens a ‘child’ (subordinate) page, which shifts their focus to it while keeping the ‘parent’ page invisible and with the aid of some simple scripting instructions from one to the other, a variety of java scripting methods are used by the attacker to auto-click confirmation buttons.

Other forms of click-jacking are possible in non-gateway environments; the most typical one being a request for MSISDN-entry while obfuscating the price.

I have mentioned a few defense tools in the box, but programmatically detecting all sources of Clickjacking is virtually impossible. At MCP, our solution is to detect the net effect – ie the incompliant payment pages. MCP has being working on a solution for some months

and can now provide this capability to protect merchants against such attacks.

Declan Pettit is Technical Director at MCP monitoringcompliancepartners.com

Tools for the defence

There are a few defense tools for website owners that may help protect them from these attacks: • X-Framing Options will protect your website from being compromised: • Using HTTPS on all of your websites • Using HTTP header (HTTP Strict Transport Security - HSTS) should ensure communications between your website visitors and servers are safe.

• Framebuster JavaScript can be used to detect that your site is being placed in a frame so you can then reload it.

• Move elements on your pages – A recent Facebook attack was possible because the Share link button was always placed in the same spot. When someone frames your site, he’s “blind”. Your browser knows where to render a button but it won’t be possible for an attacker to check where this button is. So position your button randomly.

The above helps, but here is no perfect solution for clickjacking protection yet. Given methods are not perfect, mostly because they affect your regular users and make it a bit harder for them to use your pages.

Driving value added services for voice and mobile

9

TELECOMS

Get yourself connected As a collection of words ’a federated and global mobile identity ecosystem’ isn’t likely to set any pulses racing. But that is exactly what the GSMA’s Mobile Connect programme is seeking to do – and it could have some interesting consequences, finds Paul Skeldon

Back in February 2014, at Mobile World Congress, the GSMA launched Mobile Connect to little fanfare. By March 2015 MNOs covering 17 countries had signed up. Today it’s more than 20. Quietly, something very interesting has been happening with mobile – the creation of a federated and global mobile identity ecosystem.

The Mobile Connect service enables customers to create and manage a universal identity that will securely authenticate them and allow them to safely access mobile and digital services such as e-commerce, banking, health and digital entertainment, as well as e-government portals, via their mobile phones.

Or to put it another way, mobile phones are finally being leveraged across the world as an ID. “Mobile Connect is designed to simplify consumers’ lives by offering a single, trusted, mobile phone-based authentication solution that addresses the vulnerability of online passwords, while also respecting online

10

privacy,” says Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA. “The industry has made important progress in rolling out the service around the world, giving users control over their own data and enabling consumers, businesses and governments alike to interact and access online services in a convenient, private, and trusted environment.”

What this corporate doublespeak conceals is that there is something of a revolution happening here. Yes, Mobile Connect does leverage the personal nature of the mobile as being a way to authenticate who a person is or indeed that a person is indeed a person. But it really does something very powerful for operators and telemedia companies.

As a secure universal log-in solution, mobile connect is quite simple to understand. Simply by matching the user to their mobile phone, it allows them to log-in to websites and applications quickly without the need to remember passwords and usernames. It’s safe, secure

and no personal information is shared without permission.

But there is another more subtle power a work too. It can also help a company go get basic data about consumers from the MNO. Now, we aren’t talking about how many calls you’ve made to Domino’s or if you have been using Grindr, but more that it will let companies that have the agreement of the consumer to leverage things like name, address and date of birth to streamline and personalise services more widely.

“It’s much like PayPal,” explains AIME MD Rory Maguire.

“When you log in to PayPal, it now automatically will use your billing address as the deliver address – unless you tell it otherwise – so that the payment app does the paperwork for you sort of thing. It streamlines the process. This is the same thing that can happen to logged in users through Mobile Connect.”

The beauty of Mobile Connect is that it works on pretty much any device, so long as the user has a contract of course, and in

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

any part of the world. It makes the mobile phone – often the only bit of real 21st Century tech that many people in developing parts of the world have access to – something much more powerful.

“It also maximises the investment that both consumers and MNOs have made in mobile and opens up what both get out of it,” says Maguire. “It plays into how mobile, mobile payments, mobile marketing and operators and data all work together to make life easier for consumers.

It could really revolutionise how services are delivered.”

There is no doubt that Mobile Connect will have a long and profound impact on mobile and identity. But it will also influence how services are delivered and, in time, how the very services themselves are created.

And it will make it something that everyone, anywhere in the world, can benefit from. Maybe ‘the creation of a federated and global mobile identity ecosystem’ should set some pulses racing?

Direct operator billing in motion

Beat off the bots How can mobile payments and ticketing technology beat the touts and make life better for everyone?

13

Project Slimline

Can MNO efforts to make Payforit more attractive to the mainstream actually work this time? Let’s hope so: it’s make or break

14

Charity changes

is

Shake ups in the world of charity regulation look set to make mobile giving something even more useful to the telemedia industry than it today

17

PAYMENTS

Strong carrier billing growth makes up for falling UK PRS voice revenues Despite MNO issues with actually turning carrier billing into a viable service in the UK, carrier billing revenues now account for a third of all UK PRS revenues – but voice revenues are in decline.

So finds this year’s Annual Market Review from PhonepayPlus, the UK phone-paid services regulator. Soon to be

renamed The PhonePaid Services Authority (PPSA), the review finds strong growth in operator billing revenues,

which have increased by 55% from 2014/15 to 2015/16 and account for almost one-third of total >> 12 PAYMENTS

BuyGameCredit offers carrier billing for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network content through Fonix Microsoft Partner BuyGameCredit.com is set to enable players to purchase Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Network subscriptions, Gift Card credit and games instantly on their mobile phone, using carrier billing in a deal with Fonix.

BuyGameCredit, from Irish company Phonovation, allows players to purchase Xbox Live and PlayStation Network subscriptions, and content simply by sending an SMS text message. Customers then receive a text message containing their content code, with the cost of their purchase being charged to their mobile phone bill.

Alternatively, customers can enter their mobile phone number and network to complete

a purchase. Using this method, it’s also possible to deposit funds into the BuyGameCredit wallet.

Buying Xbox and PlayStation content via mobile has proved an extremely popular channel with gamers. In fact, in a recent BuyGameCredit customer survey, 93% said they’d never buy games credit using any other payment channel than mobile.

Fonix has direct connections to all the UK

mobile networks and is also a Vodafone Platinum Partner and EE Performance Partner. This has enabled Fonix to maximise commercial and operational efficiency, ensuring Phonovation, a Micrsoft Partner, receives the most competitive rates alongside a robust and reliable service.

Gavin Carpenter, CEO, Phonovation, adds: “BuyGameCredit has proved to be a huge success for Xbox and PlaySta-

tion and a real hit with gamers, who now prefer to buy content via mobile, than any other channel.”

“As a result, we’re really pleased to be able to work with the team at Fonix to ensure that the service continues to deliver the levels of convenience and efficiency consumers have come to expect.”

Anthony Baladi, Com-

mercial Director of Fonix, adds: “From the research it’s clear that 93% of customers prefer the simplicity of mobile as their primary payment method.

We’ve worked hard with our network partners to create a competitive solution and provide great value, reliability and efficiency.”

Direct operator billing in motion

11

PAYMENTS

Mobile payments goes live in Baghdad as Ideal Payments looks to create M-Pesa style digital ecosystem in Iraq Ideal Payments, a payment solution provider in the Middle East, has partnered with Taif Money Transfer, Iraq’s premier money transfer company, to implement Taif eWallet. The service will be Iraq’s first mobile payments app, allowing customers to make and receive payments using their mobile phones.

The service aims to create a holistic payments ecosystem used by multiple agents in the economy including retail merchants, ecommerce platforms, private companies, and government institutions. The vision is to offer the service users a one-stop-shop mobile payment service through which they can receive

their salaries, pay their bills, and transfer money to friends and family.

Iraq, a country of 35 million inhabitants, remains a cash based society at large with a significant unbanked population. Bank account penetration is below 10% and debit card penetration below 3%. Issues such as inaccessibility,

inefficiency, and unaffordability deter customers from using traditional financial services. Trust

PAYMENTS

Strong carrier billing growth << 11 PRS revenue. This has contributed to an overall stabilising in the market after five successive years of dropping revenues. Operator billing revenues are projected to grow still further in 2016/17.

Sectors including games on social media, gambling, music and video content have experienced substantial growth. Revenues from music or video content have risen by 47% from last year as the trend for purchasing digital content to a phone bill is predicted to continue its rise.

Whilst the market is projected to maintain this stability into the 2016/17 financial year, voice-based revenues are continuing to decline. The declining revenues of more tradi-

12

tional forms of PRS and the growth in other areas has led to charity donations replacing directory enquiries as the single largest premium rate service in the UK. UK consumers donated £122m million through charity text giving in 2015/16 and accounted for 18% of all PRS consumer transactions.

The review also found that consumers have a more positive view of PRS than 12 months ago.

Jo Prowse, Chief Executive of PhonepayPlus explains: “The Annual Market Review highlights the positive ways the phone-paid services market has developed, with a number of sectors growing rapidly. Operator billing, and in particular the growth in purchasing digital content to a phone bill, shows that

consumers like the convenience phone-paid services offer.

She continues: “PhonepayPlus, which becomes the Phone-paid Services Authority later this year, has worked hard to provide a regulatory framework which allows new services to start and existing services to evolve. We will continue to work with the industry to support positive innovation which is good for consumers and good for the industry.”

Phonepay Plus introduced its new Code of Practice yesterday, with a new mission statement to be “The UK regulator for content, goods and services charged to a phone bill”. The new name – the Phone Paid Services Authority – comes in to effect in the autumn.

More news, views and analysis at www.telemedia-news.com/c2m

also remains a key issue for the Iraqi banking sector, which customers hold in low regard following decades of mismanagement and corruption.

Ideal Payments, a company set up and run by a team with experience from both global and local financial services, including banks such as Goldman Sachs and the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI), sought to solve these fundamental issues by implementing the latest mobile payment technology and introducing low transaction fees to make the service accessible, seamless and affordable to the entire population. Furthermore, Ideal Payments partnered with one of Iraq’s most trusted financial institutions, with a proven track record in the payments industry, to instil trust with customers.

Ideal Payments’ local partner, Taif Money Transfer, will operate the service, using its existing agent network across Iraq to serve customers.

Ideal Payments role is

to select and customise the appropriate technology, prepare the business plan and execute the strategy to spread the service in Iraq. The technology is powered by Monniz, a Belgian mobile money service provider.

At the launching announcement, which took place at TEDx Baghdad, an event that was attended by Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, Ideal Payments’ CEO said “we are delighted to be one step closer to our vision of digitalising payments in Iraq and serve the country’s unbanked population by reducing the cost, time, effort and risks associated with making cash payments.

Our service will disrupt the financial services industry in Iraq, offering customers and business a highly secure and very fast way to make payments and manage their money. Our goal is to replicate the success of and the value created by mobile payment operators in developing countries, such as M-pesa.”

Beat off the bots With bots scalping tickets left, right and centre, could mobile change the face of entertainment and ticketing? Rory Maguire thinks so. Here he explains how – and what’s at stake Early August saw the release of the first batch of tickets for the highly regarded Harry Potter and the Cursed Child after a successful and completely sold out preview season that was a game changer in the way that shows are launched.

The £10 preview tickets sold on the secondary market for up to £250 each (down from their original value of £2,500) when the tickets were first sold), fuelling the hype value of the tickets for the proper show. Within minutes of the ticket systems opening, one agency had crashed and the other was managing a queue of 65,000 “people”.

The reason for the quotes is that behind this impressive queue are around 50% real people and 50% robots (or bots).

The bots are pre programmed to sit in queues and seize tickets on an industrial scale to be resold via touts at significant mark-up. Anyone studying economics will know that the sell-out aspect of the show, caused in part by the bots, pushes the value of the product way beyond its face value.

The same happens inside the music industry and for bands with a loyal fan base, it damages the relationship when

the prices are inflated by touting. So much so that five Music Managers joined forces to launch FanFair Alliance (www. fanfairalliance.org) to gain awareness of the issue and to try to persuade the UK government to create legislative changes to stop touts hiding behind the relative anonymity of the secondary market systems – two of which are owned by ticketing agencies who also benefit from sold out primary ticket sales.

How could Charge to Mobile create opportunities for ticket sales and suppression of touts?

The potential solution is created by three significant developments with overlapping benefits.

The first is the move to mobile-only experiences.

Many venues and gigs are giving their audiences end to end experiences concentrated to the mobile device. Ticketing is just the first part of the experience with artist information, updates, travel plans, sample tracks, artist blogs, in-event info, voting, chat back and refreshment booking all enriching the user’s enjoyment of the show. With the ticket and experience delivered solely to the consumers handset, it is very difficult for touts to muscle in on this other than to

purchase a bulk load of devices just to carry the barcoded or embedded “ticket”.

The second development is a GSMA initiative known as Mobile Connect.

This takes the mobile operators customer data and encrypts it for access by external parties, either as an identity check without passing any open information or as a permissionbased open transfer of data. This ID check does not allow the third party to decrypt the information but performs a match of the information held by the network with the information provided by the consumer to the third party. The open transfer is a similar function to that offered by PayPal to its merchants to provide (with consumer permission) the personal information of the consumer to enable delivery of physical product.

Mobile Connect is currently undergoing trials with a limited set of operators worldwide and is being implemented by two of the UK operators.

It will enable identification checks linked to mobile number at the time of ticket purchases, removing one of the weaknesses that touts exploit by being able to hide behind relative anonymity provided

by secondary market systems. Touting tickets is in breach of consumer laws and the venues terms.

The third potential development is the ability for consumers to purchase or make a deposit on tickets using Charge to Mobile.

With a change made to EU regulation for Payment Services (thanks to AIME and UK Treasury), mobile operators can now place charges for transport and entertainment tickets onto the consumers mobile bill. This becomes law in December 2017 but carries some restrictions on maximum values. These values will cover typical cinema and comedy show tickets prices but will only act as a deposit on high value tickets for music gigs and theatre.

The deposit facility will take away one of the major issues with shortduration, high volume sales as the amount of time needed to collect the consumers address and payment information after a ticket booking occupies valuable server time. With Charge to Mobile operating in the background as a charging and identity facility in one, the selection of the ticket can be made and secured in seconds instead of minutes, particularly for shows where limited seating and date

options are being offered.

The significant additional advantage over touts is that it is very difficult to programme robots to seize tickets if the only sale option is via Charge to Mobile. A bank of mobile phones, all carrying credit and linked to micro computers to simulate human interaction is expensive and difficult to operate.

By securing the high price ticket with a fairly low deposit, the consumer can complete the purchase at a later stage using their credit card once the rush is over. The potential opportunity for Charge to Mobile is large, AIME is championing this development and although we will meet resistance from existing Ticket Agencies, at least five Music Managers, with their passion being towards the unique relationships between fans and the bands will be the early adopters and pave the way.

Rory Maguire is Managing Director of AIME www.aimelink.org

Direct operator billing in motion

13

Last chance saloon?

Carrier billing promised so much 18 months ago, but rules, regulations and some good old scams got in the way. Now MNOs are looking at new ways to make it work.

Paul Skeldon takes a look a Project Slimline and wonders: is this what m-payments needs or whether, if it doesn’t work, it’s game over

14

There are changes in the telemedia industry in the UK that are potentially the most seismic that have ever been seen. As we have seen on page 1 and page 6 of this very issue, Phonepay Plus is in the process of changing a lot more than just its name – it is looking to radically shake up the way PRS in the UK is regulated.

Off the back of this change – which essentially boils down to not treating all services the same and viewing some as less risky to consumers than others, as well as trying to bring PRS regulations into line with

all the other regulations out there that also impinge on these services – network operators in the UK have done something almost unprecedented: they are looking at changing the rules.

While Phonepay Plus is delving into trying to make the regulatory world a bit easier for mainstream services to navigate – as part of its pledge to try and use regulation to innovate rather than stymie the

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

industry – MNOs have been inspired to take a similar approach and look at how they can make it easier for businesses to use Payforit.

And they have launched Project Slimline.

“When we go and pitch Payforit to many new organisations as a simple and quick way to charge things to mobile and make check out a lot easier they all get it and are keen to learn more,” says Kevin Dawson,

sales director at Oxygen 8 Group. “But once we show them the rules and regulations around making it happen it’s like dropping a massive book of rules on the desk: boom. And they immediately realise that to make this work they have to create a whole department that will manage it. Suddenly it’s a lot less attractive.”

This problem has been echoed across the industry for more than a year – ever since MNOs decided that Payforit was generating too many complaint calls – off the

back of just one or two rogue services – and made it almost impossible to use outside of the traditional PRS world.

“Most brands don’t really think about how payments works – they just want to plug it in and start making money.

Payforit and carrier billing is really easy to plug in and get going; it is also very simple and clear for consumers to use; and payouts are now really good and comparable with credit card. It’s just the regulation and hurdles are so tough that no one wants to use it when they see the hoops they have to jump through,” says Dawson.

– these are the competitions and services that PPP keeps a close eye on and which sale close to the wind in terms of wording and how they work. Many of these services are ones that consumers are driven to by advertising and affiliate marketing and carry some risk. These services would be subject to the full level of PPP scrutiny and the current strict rules and regulations.

They would also be very closely policed.

• Standard services – these are the services that people are happy to use and readily and voluntarily use (so they aren’t driven there by advertising or links). Here the consumer is likely to SLIMLINE COCKTAIL So what exactly does Proj- be more trusting and the ect Slimline involve? Cur- brand more trustworthy rently, it is just a proposal (my words, not PPP’s nor the MNOs’) and so the that has been looked at standard wording and over the summer and which is out for consulta- Ts&Cs can be delivered via the Payforit screen tion among interested schemes. This means parties, such as industry that just two screens trade body AIME. are needed to complete Essentailly, what the MNOs are proposing is to the payment, making it take the idea of different much more likely for the consumer to complete. levels of service risk pro• Low risk services posed by Phonepay Plus’s – These are seen as Project 30 and apply services that consumers that to how the Payforit scheme is run. This means will be logged into and that, for reputable brands have already accepted running low-risk services, all Ts&Cs and so can just hit Pay and use Payforit the onerous cocktail of as a one click payment rules and stipulations tool. This is the sweet around implementing spot for many as it opens the Payforit scheme – as up carrier billing to a well as on screen wordmuch wider market of ing etc… – can be largely merchants and consumtaken away. ers and really plays into Under the proposal, showcasing how easy services would be catcarrier billing should egorised as: make mobile payments.

• High risk services

Why Project Slimline is important

The crackdown in regulation of carrier billing has seen Payforit almost drop out of the land grab in mobile payments. The move by MNOs to try and get this back in track – called Project Slimline – is a welcome move to try and get it back in play.

And there is everything to play for. The mobile payments space is burgeoning right now and competition is hotting up. Apple and Android Pay are both going live as ways of doing one click, finger print authenticated ways to pay for online goods using a mobile this Autumn and there is every reason to believe that, between them, these two behemoths can stitch up the mobile payment eco-system front end by Christmas.

But the likes of Amazon and PayPal aren’t going to go down without a fight and they are both making moves to, in Amazon’s case, shill out its One-click payment platform to third parties while PayPal is doing all it can to make itself a simple, integrated one-click service across web and mobile too.

Carrier billing has to fight its way into this congested market and do battle with three of the world’s global superbrands. Can it do it? Of course it can – so long as carrier billing is simple and safe to use, it promoted well and actually works.

And this is where the circle needs to be closed. Project Slimline should make it more attractive for big brands and merchants to start using Payforit, but they too have to be confident enough in it to promote it to get critical mass.

Interesting times lie ahead for carrier billing and mobile payments.

It is this latter segment – and to some extent the standard services segment too – that makes Project Slimline interesting as it puts carrier billing up their with the super-easy-to-use m-payment tools such as Apple Pay and Android Pay, as well as Amazon one-click.

It also makes it so much less difficult from a regulatory point of view to introduce. And, in theory at least, should not generate the vast number of complaint calls to MNO call centres as it would be used by reputable brands, in a reputable and transparent way that consumers understand.

of mobile payments, or is it going to be another lemon and its game over for mainstream use of these services?

AIME’s MD Rory Maguire is optimistic. “I think this could work and we have been working with the MNOs to make it happen,” he says.

“Interestingly, there has been a change in attitude and approach to carry billing in certain MNOs that has really helped to move this along. The time is right to get this working and it has great potential. Along with PPP’s Project 30 this is a really interesting time for telemedia in the UK and mobile payments.”

Oxygen 8’s Dawson is less convinced. “I really want it to work and I am LEMON OR LIME? But will it work: is Project cautiously optimistic, but there is also a sense Slimline’s plan going to that it’s this or bust for create the potential for a mainstream role for Payforit to compete in carrier billing. We are the fast evolving world

pushing it still, but we are also very much on to the e-money licence route too to tap into mobile payments for real world goods. I want to hear more before I get excited and so far MNOs are telling us very little about how this would actually work in practice.”

Dawson is going to have to wait until October to learn more: that is when more details are likely to emerge as interested parties meet to assess the proposals in detail, but AIME’s Maguire is optimistic that there should be some movement on what is going to happen by mid-October.

“Hopefully there will be much more to say about this at World Telemedia in Marbella,” he says, “and we could see this in use by early 2017.”

Gin and Slimlines all round if that happens.

Direct operator billing in motion

15

FRAUD

Dealing with CNP fraud in an EMV world

insights into the cardholder’s order by providing shopping cart level data through the financial institution’s platform.

This deeper level of data can help cardholders better understand their purchases and avoid filing false cases of fraud that result in lost sales.

This primary line of defense is invaluable as it provides the cardholder with the information they need to remember the charge while enabling the online banking platform or the issuer’s call center to obtain vital information about the purchase without having to leave their existing customer service screen and open up the merchant’s website.

By providing all of the relevant order details The introduction of EMV car technologies has been great for stores – not so great for card-not-present fraud online. Matthew Katz takes a look at through the financial institution, this level why it has been such an issue and what can be done about it of insight helps reduce cardholder confusion It’s no secret that the Present channels. Lookchants lost £1.1 billion and creates a far better UK’s adoption of EMV ing forward, as consumto fraud in 2015, accard technologies is con- ers continue to shop with cording to Action Fraud. cardholder experience while benefitting the sidered one of the most more connected devices, Wise merchants have card issuer. successful in Europe. fraud rates will continue already bolstered their Without this level of Guided by an innovative to increase. risk management with a data, card issuers are awareness campaign In addition to criminal multifaceted operation that integrated the fraud, friendly fraud that enables a merchant limited in their ability concept of chip and pin presents its own chalto manage multiple anti- to remedy the situation and often revert to into shoppers’ everyday lenges. When cardholdfraud tools in real-time. filing a fraud or chargelives, the UK completed a ers fail to recognize a Each merchant action is back claim. As a result, successful roll-out in four charge to their account, based on analytics proyears and mitigated tens they often avoid convided by fluid data points issuers see their costs spike downstream when of millions of pounds tacting the merchant to and back-end feedback legitimate charges get in Point-Of-Sale-based dispute a charge directly loops. challenged again during credit card fraud. and instead report to the representment protheir issuing bank.

Unfortunately, we A PRIMARY LINE OF cess as merchants seek The result is oftentimes DEFENCE discovered that Newton’s to protect their sales. an expensive chargeback For merchants who Third Law of physics – every action has an equal due to friendly fraud. In wish to strengthen their most cases merchants and opposite reaction – risk management – and INTEGRATE DIRECTLY also applies to payments bear the total cost of the counter friendly fraud – Today it’s also possystems. By mitigating chargeback including a the ideal line of defense sible for a post billing POS fraud, EMV comrefund of the sale, lost permits merchants to get chargeback notification pelled criminals and product, fees and eminvolved during the initial platform to process fraudsters to focus their ployee time and effort. call to the issuing banks. hundreds of thousands energies on Card Not Here in the UK, merMerchants can provide of cases monthly and to

16

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

enable almost near realtime collaboration for both fraud and non-fraud chargeback disputes. By integrating directly with card issuers and redirecting disputes from the issuer to the merchant for resolution, disputes can be resolved before they escalate and become chargebacks.

The strategy may sound complicated, but with the right tools, the fraud prevention process can be optimized to save time and money. Ideally, CNP fraud should be detected and prevented before the transaction becomes a chargeback.

The core of this multifaceted operation is a post-billing chargeback notification platform that enables near real-time collaboration for both fraud and non-fraud chargeback disputes. By integrating directly with card issuers and deflecting disputes from the issuer to the merchant for resolution, disputes can be resolved before they escalate and become chargebacks.

Ultimately, dealing with CNP fraud in an aggressive and analytical manner ensures that everybody wins; merchants avoid costly fees, fines or penalties; issuers experience lower operating expenses while supporting cardholder satisfaction through timely resolution and card holders avoid unnecessary chargebacks for items and services they truly purchased.

Matthew Katz is CEO at Verifi www.verify.com

C2M CHARITY

In 2015, a series of widely publicised issues around charitable fundraising and marketing to consumers, culminated in a parliamentary select committee investigation, a Cabinet Office sponsored review of fundraising self-regulation and a review by the Information Commissioners Office into data sharing within the charity sector. These reviews resulted in a a new Fundraising Regulator, which includes the operation of a Fundraising Preference Service, a new Charities (Protection and Social Investment) Bill in March 2016 and new powers to the Charity Commission that sets out responsibilities for charity trustees, particularly when employing professional fundraisers. ..

Additionally, the Information Commissioner rewrote their guidance to ensure that; although no new data protection rules were needed, that charities knew what those rules were particularly around data sharing.

Stephen Dunmore was appointed as Chief Executive of the Fundraising Regulator and George Kidd (ex of ICSTIS / PhonepayPlus) as the chair of the Fundraising Preference Service, the latter allowing individuals to opt-out of communications from the charity sector.

The Fundraising Regulator has taken over control of the Code of Fundraising from the Institute of Fundraising, has rewritten the Code and has worked with the charity sector to implement their Code.

How will this affect the

Charity marketing: a changing landscape It’s all change in the world of charity: a new fundraising regulator, a new charities bill and new powers for the charities commission. What does this all mean for charity donations by text, the great success story of charge to mobile to date? Rory Maguire explains

charity sector, a lot of whom use text donations as one of its successful donation mechanics for spontaneous donations on the back of direct response advertising or broadcaster campaigns?

The first impact will be on the Trustees as they will be held to account for the issues created to consumers by the practices employed by their outsourced fundraising agencies. Some agencies developed tactics for fundraising that breached data protection laws and privacy regulations, but went mainly ignored as the fundraising aspect

took priority. Trustees will now be on the hook for breaches and it is likely that some Trustees will completely de-risk compliance constraining their fundraising activities.

The second impact will be on small charities as they do not have the regulatory and legal resources to advise them on how to ensure compliance during their fundraising campaigns.

The significant regulatory impacts are on the handling of donor’s personal data and the communication to donors after the donation particularly with electroni-

cally acquired data.

For a long time, it was assumed that if you received the donors personal information including an email or phone number, it was fair game to ask for more donations using the same data. This has never been permitted in law, but never became an issue until it transpired that charities were swapping or trading this information.

The “soft opt-in” rule, available to organisations selling products is not available for donations.

If a donor sends a text to donate, they have to agree – at that point in

time – to receive further marketing from that charity. This creates complexity on the billboard advert or the broadcast call to action with one shortcode used for donating with marketing and another for donating without marketing. This may not work.

Commercial entities take note. A recent EU consultation into data privacy concluded that consumers favour an optin model but businesses don’t. EU tends to favour consumer opinion.

However, where regulatory controversy exists, creativity soon follows.

AIME has issued to its Charity and Charity support members a comprehensive guide to both the existing regulations and the new Code in respect to the successful Text Donation mechanic which includes suggestions of successful (and legitimate) post donation communication with consumers, using the “soft opt-in” rule successfully and also contains hints on keeping the mobile operators happy and on board.

While a charity cannot ask a non-opted in donor for more donations, most donors really appreciate being told how their previous donations have been used. A video, or even a music track goes down well with donors and makes them feel special. This alone will encourage further engagement and loyalty.

Rory Maguire is Managing Director of AIME, the Association for Interactive Media & Entertainment

Direct operator billing in motion

17

SHOW PREVIEW

World Telemedia Marbella Preview Content and billing to engage & convert anywhere Now in its 26th year, World Telemedia is for any business that wants to engage and commercialise “connected consumers” – as they use their telephones, smartphones and other “online” devices – to respond and interact with premium content and service propositions across an ever expanding range of media distribution channels and payment platforms.

The event has become an established trading and information exchange for domestic and international providers in a value chain where the currency is typically based on minutes, messages and traffic.

This year we return to Marbella and the issues of the day around payments, international telecoms and engagement are

augemented this time by detailed looks at marketing and advertising through programmatic ad services and affiliates.

With much changing in the world of telemedia over the past 12 months, the industry finds itself at something of crossroads – and this year’s event is where these issues will be talked out and future mapped out.

18-20 October 2016 HOTEL H10 ANDALUCIA PLAZA MARBELLA, SPAIN

Over the next few pages we will give you an overview of the key things taking place at the show and hearing from key sponsors, speakers and delegates as to what they will be putting up for

discussion.

As ever, all things here are up to date at the time of going to print, but for the latest line up please see the website www. wtevent.co.uk

Why I’m going to World Telemedia Marbella OXYGEN8

OX YGEN

We want to meet new customers who are looking to integrate mobile payments.

Oxygen8 staff are well experienced within telecommunications and are happy to consult and advise new players in the market about the global payments space and GROUP how mobile has such a compelling role moving forward.

We have an increasing Africa footprint: Oxygen8 remain a leading mobile payments provider globally and we are increasing our connections in South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique and Kenya during 2016 & 2017. Mobile Money in Africa – Similar to Safaricom’s MPESA solution, Oxygen8 can now offer the purchase of physical goods via carrier billing in Africa with up to 97% payouts.

We also offer USSD in Africa – USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data) is an old technology (2 way conversation) which works good in Africa as most people have low level phones. In the UK we offer Virtual Mobile Numbers (VMN), VMN voice & text, International voice and domestic PRS and we are focusing on DCB opportunities. We are also launching of physical goods mobile billing for UK merchants, through the use of Oxygen8’s own e-money licence and platforms. Launching in collaboration and partnership with UK MNOs.

TELECOM2

Telecom2 and its team have been attending World Telemedia for many years, for anyone involved in the payments, telecoms fixed and mobile space this is the must attend show for new business, building existing relationships and informative sessions to keep you up to date on the latest innovations and regulatory changes.

Telecom2 will be available for discussing the new Spanish ranges from our Spanish company Advanced Voice and our 2Reach product that comes as our standard package for customers to easily view our ranges for access from particular countries and from mobile and fixed networks to find the right number range for you and your customers. Alan Partington will also be hosting a session entitled Addressing billing disputes and AITs in UK domestic voice. Over the last few years there has been a lack of clarity on following contractual detail and commercial awareness that means an increase in spurious and blanket retentions and an increase in billing disputes resulting in operators being penalised with businesses and reputations damaged. The aim is to look at how to handle disputes and AIT cases and to discuss what can be done to encourage Ofcom to take an active role in the regulation of the Standard Interconnect Agreement, If you are a business owner, Billing manager or financial Manager or Director then this is a must attend session at WTM this year.

18

More news, views and analysis at www.telemedia-news.com/c2m

VEOO The Veoo team are really excited to be strategically involved with World Telemedia this year. With new products, new global offices and an increased product range, Veoo really is putting mobile on the map. Catch Veoo CEO, Matthew Winters expand on mobile wallet features, new to market content, charge to mobile updates and much more. Mobile technology is without a doubt the most consistently used technology by any age group and breakthroughs in handset resolution, data capacity, pricing and security mean that 7/10 tasks can be managed from a mobile. In the UK alone, 97% of the population keep a mobile with them at all times, so the hard work has already been done! Potential customers are already walking around with a single device that consolidates things they use on a daily basis. The ball is now in the court of individual businesses to put an already established engagement technology at the centre of their marketing strategy. In a growing and changing market Veoo and World Telemedia will show that expansion can mean innovation rather than saturation.

PHONEGROUP

TALK TALK BUSINESS

Phonegroup has been a leading IPRS aggregator for over 12 years - continually striving to provide better and more innovative services the Telemedia industry year on year.

They believe that by not having their own call centre and by only focussing on providing International Premium Rate solutions – their resellers and content providers can be confident that that customer CLIs remain safe. They also don’t offer factoring; which means that they are never in competition with their clients. With a long standing reputation for secure payments and excellent traffic management, Phonegroup now have a range of exclusive interconnects with carriers that don’t generally accept VAS promotions on their network. Phonegroup are the official aggregator for Globalstar Europe and Middle East, Oration, UPT, and many other exclusive ranges for voice and SMS, so make sure you visit Piero Bertini at Mini Lounge 10 and find out about exclusive ranges, new rates and access points.

TalkTalk Business offer a full range of business-grade communications products and services, spanning internet access, data, voice and mobile. Our mission is to deliver what matters most to our 180,000+ business and public sector customers, and 800+ Partners, through consistently reliable, easy-to-use, innovative, great value solutions.

At TalkTalk Business, our heritage in voice services spans over 20 years.

Following on from the NGCS changes and the recent review for 20 additional price points, we have the ability to offer all non-geographic and Premium Rate number ranges including Higher Rate Premium Rate Services. Aggressive and frequent out-payments give our Partners the flexibility required in a well-established market. Our online portals also allow full call management and reporting, enabling you to have full control and visibility of your services.

Earlier this year we also unveiled our latest SIP innovation, a World SIP and International Numbers proposition, which allows Partners to unlock this highly profitable, untapped market. The International Numbers service allows UK companies to choose either a freephone or local landline number from over 110 countries, diverting it to any existing fixed line or mobile number. This makes it easier for Partners’ international customers to reach them by using our cost efficient International Numbers service.

GOODMAN ASSOCIATES We’re bringing out more people than ever before - Armando Trozzo, Andreas Sheritis and I have dealt with more telecom focussed advertising and marketing than any other agency in Europe!

We’re looking forward to discussing the communication and route-to-market requirements of the businesses attending and their clients. In a world that’s changed as much as ours has keeping abreast of developments has never been more important.

While TV, radio, out of home and press still provide valuable marketing opportunities it’s the efficiency, measurability and tracking of digital inventory that has driven new levels of customer engagement and response.

Digital advertising, social media and search marketing has created more change in the last 3 years than the 30 preceding and the demise of most forms of traditional adverting and marketing methods has meant the advertising industry has had to largely re-invent itself.

Programmatic media planning and buying has introduced efficiencies that can make digital marketing many times cheaper. It’s therefore vital for anyone spending on any form of advertising to become more competitive and partner with advisors that have invested in a dynamic DSP (demand side platform) and apply experience and years of know-how to making their investment perform better, increase return and drive response.

This is still a business based on relationships despite the rise of machine learning and automation. High level contacts at media owners ensures that through us our clients are given the information to make well informed decisions about their media strategies and their buying tactics. We are all looking forward to meeting attendees and exhibitors at what promises to be the best WTM yet!

Driving value added services for voice and mobile

19

SHOW PREVIEW

Conference Tuesday 18th October

17:30 Keynote: The Growing Importance of VAS to MNOs John Strand, CEO, Strand Consult Christian Göetz, Team Leader, BDO Global Telecoms Chaired by Rory Maguire, MD, AIME

Wednesday 19th October

10:30 The Expanding World of Payments Alastair Walton, Business Development Director, ACI Worldwide Tim Green, Editor, Mobile Money Revolution Matthew Winters, CEO, Veoo Chaired by Nick Lane, Mobile Insight Analyst, MobileSquared 12:00 Carrier Billing To Engage & Convert Nick Lane, Mobile Insight Analyst, MobileSquared Rory Maguire, MD, AIME Kevin Dawson, Head of Payments, Oxygen 8 Chaired by Tim Green, Editor, Mobile Money Revolution 14:45 Digital Advertising & Marketing of VAS Rory Mudie, MD, Redbox Mobile PLC Mostafa Kamel, CEO, Crazy 4 Media Online Chaired by Paul Skeldon, Editor, Telemedia Magazine 16:00 Connecting Merchants To Customers Acquiring “safe traffic” at the right price Affiliate traffic & social media Can Ad Networks manage affiliates?

The balance of power for mpayment traffic Boris Pelliccioni, CEO, black6ADV

EMPELLO COUNTRY UPDATES

Debuted at last year’s WT, Empello Country Updates have been built on a very popular format. Empello and a local gateway partner are presenting on the conditions for Premium Rate in 12 countries. The presentations look at what types of services are selling well, demonstrate real payment flows (in search of the elusive single click ones!), and explore the key compliance issues.

Each 30 min Session Features Gavin Dent, Co-Founder, Empello Jeremy Flynn, Co-Founder, Empello PLUS Country Managers from Empello together with co-presenters representing billing gateways, aggregators, service providers and / or network operators – will be on hand to answer all your questions about these exciting markets.

Market Overview Latest News Top Services Major Content Providers Billing & Subscription Options Carrier & Regulator Rules Compliance Overview Marketing & Ad Flow (examples) These sessions proved to be extremely popular at last year’s event [in Prague], and Empello have promised an even stronger line-up for World Telemedia 2016, so be sure to drop by the Empello Country Update Theatre during your visit to Marbella and meet the team.

Tuesday 18th October

15:30 Middle East & North Africa 17:00 UK Kevin Dawson, Head of Payments, Oxygen 8

Wednesday 19th October

09.30 Turkey 10.00 Russia & Ukraine Sergey Bohuslavsky, Business Development Manager, Fbilling 11.30 Germany Bettina Sommer, Sales Unit Manager, Online Media, DIMOCO Florian Heuberger, Manager, Product Marketing, DIMOCO 12.00 Italy Paolo Brunella, Senior Manager, Pay Reply

15.30 Belgium & Switzerland Léon Dijksman, Sales Director, Globway B.V 16.00 Spain 16.30 South Africa 17:30 Research Presentation How Price Points Affect Complaint Levels Mark Robinson, Head of Business Development, Infomedia Sanjay Mistry, Chief Platform Officer, Infomedia

Thursday 20th October 10.30 East Africa 11.15 Brazil 13.00 Mexico

PLATINUM SPONSORS

Thursday 20th October

11:45 Creating Value From OTT Messaging – WhatsApp & Facebook Rory Mudie, MD, Redbox Mobile PLC Rob Malcom, Global Board Member, MEF Christian Göetz, Team Leader, BDO Global Telecoms 14:30 Telemedia FOR The Media Clive Goodman, Director, Goodman Associates ATL direct response trends – UK & Europe Content publishers & paywalls Broadcast opportunities / applications Using customer data to enhance services

20

OX YGEN GROUP

COMPLIANCE & INSIGHTS SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS

COMPLIANCE & INSIGHTS SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSORS

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

Networking T52 Golf Day

One of the great benefits of taking World Telemedia to southern Spain is that we’re guaranteed some fantastic late summer weather! What better way to kick off the show than a very friendly round of golf on one of regions finest courses. €TBC supplement to be paid.

Sponsored by Telemedia Magazine, Speak2Save, Oxygen 8, Goodman

Open to all pre-registered delegates, this year our opening party will be held in one of Marbella’s coolest night spots – La Sala (which is located just around the corner from our hotel venue). Enjoy a thoroughly sophisticated start to the show with first class local cuisine, great music and a glass or two of champagne thanks to our generous Platinum Sponsors.

Sponsored by International Premium, Mobile Life, Oxygen 8, Telecom 2

Directors Lunch

Central to our networking schedule; you’re guaranteed to make high quality connections over an excellent lunch. This event is only open to senior representatives from each attending company, plus sponsors and invited guests. By invitation only / one representative per company / €50 supplement for non-sponsors.

Sponsored By MCP, Kwak, VEOO, Telecom 2, Oxygen 8, Mobile Life, International Premium, Empello

Check out the magnificent “Veoo” as the sun goes down on another frenetic day at World Telemedia. Join the team for drinks, canapés and a few surprises that promise to make this a truly memorable event. Don’t miss another great opportunity to meet this expanding global mobile consultancy and leading provider of mobile messaging solutions – before you head off for client dinners and the Gold Party In The Port.

Sponsor Hospitality Breakouts

New for Marbella, Like-minded delegates are invited to grab a glass, head for the relevant sponsor hospitality area and mingle with some specially selected “hosts” – that are ready to discuss some of the key “issues of the day”.

And for delegates that want to show off some moves or maybe just fancy one more for the road, keep an eye out for more details on this exclusive after hours event. We’ll be working closely with our very kind sponsors to seek out the perfect late night party spot – to extend the networking for just a couple more hours.

Sponsored by Mobile Life, Reliance Compliancy

Client Dinners

Platinum Party At La Sala

Sun Terrace Drinks Party

Night Cap After Party

We understand that WT provides an excellent opportunity to entertain both valued clients and new customer. As part of our commitment to ensuring that all parties are open and available to our attendees, we’ve set aside time for those allimportant private dinners to take place. So please make arrangements between 19:00 and 21:30 on the Wednesday 19th October – that way no one needs to miss out on the fun– many thanks for your cooperation.

Gold Party In The Port

Networking events in Marbella are second to none and we’ll be heading down to the world famous Puerto Banus for some glamorous parties amongst the fast cars and super yachts – that have made this location so famous.

Very open bars and some great entertainment will be provided throughout the evening thanks to our generous Gold Sponsors.

Sponsored by KWAK Telecom, Empello, Veoo, Talk Talk

Speed Networking

As always this format ensures that you’ll expand your business network and get hold of the solutions you’re looking for.

At World Telemedia we like to forget the simple buyer / seller relationship and focus more on “who knows who”. These sessions are popular, so please make sure you register in advance to attend …. And then please turn up on time!

Working Lunches

UK Domestic Voice – Private Lunch

In an attempt to formulate a practical industry response to billing disputes and the “problematic” AIT process in the UK; we invite 15-20 key stakeholders to join forces and consider how best to encourage BT and OFCOM to support a fairer, “pro-business” administrative system that supports industry growth and new revenue opportunities involving everyone. So if you’re an independent carriers with a UK interconnect, this is an event you don’t want to miss.

By invitation only – please email Jarvis@worldtelemedia.co.uk to register your interest Sponsored by Telecom 2

Piano Bar & Lounge

A great place to meet during the day but an essential first stop when the conference ends! Located in the hotel lobby at the entrance to the Expo Lounge, the Piano Bar provides the perfect pit stop for delegates to catch up and make plans for the evening. Great cocktails, live music & lots of rubber ducks – to keep you entertained!

Sponsored by KWAK Telecom

There’s no need to stop doing business at lunchtime as we’ll be serving all participants a feast of complimentary dishes in the expo lounge and bar.

LinkedIn VIP Group

All registered attendees are automatically invited to join this closed networking group. Networking between providers, speakers and delegates has already started so register today!

Driving value added services for voice and mobile

21

ADVERTISING

Blocking the ad blocker: Why Facebook’s decision highlights the need for high quality advertising Facebok’s move to block ad blocking software, marketers find themselves at a crossroads: go for broke with ads regardless or give consumers what they want: targeted, relevant ads? Greg Isbister explains why things have to change Following Facebook’s announcement that it has updated its tech to prevent ad blocking software from working on the social media giant’s desktop site, the

debate surrounding ad blockers has once again been ignited.

For the social network, ad blockers not only present a risk to its revenues, but as Facebook ad chief Andrew Bosworth told Business Insider, the move is something they “really believe in,” adding that “for us, it’s a very principled stance on how Facebook should be delivered.” According to Facebook, this measure goes beyond safeguarding revenues, and instead is designed to

tackle broader industry issues and look at how Facebook users can use ad controls to make its adverts better.

In the past year alone, consumers have used ad blockers to vent their frustration with interruptive and annoying ads, with an estimated 80% of mobile users currently using them or desiring to do so in the future. This in turn has placed publishers’ primary source of revenue under threat, casting doubts over the future of the

advertising model which has been instrumental in keeping the internet free at the point of use. Some leading publishers, such as the New York Times, have started testing out “various approaches” to combat the rise of the technology, with messages prompting ad block users to either whitelist the NYT’s website, or opt for a digital subscription.

However, as both the NYT and Facebook have recognised, at the heart of these decisions

Facebook says this goes beyond safeguarding revenues but is designed to see how Facebook users can use ad controls to make its adverts better

22

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

is an over-arching commitment to improving advertising and addressing consumers’ frustrations. As Bosworth noted, “disruptive ads are an industry problem, and the rise of ad blockers is a strong signal that people don’t want to see them,” acknowledging that “ad blockers are a really bad solution.” This sentiment was echoed by NYT President and CEO Mark Thompson, who commented at the IAB Ad Blocking Summit that “to a significant extent, the root cause of digital ad blocking is digital ads and the way many websites deploy them on their sites.”

Thompson also observed that to tackle the ad blocking threat, industry wide action will be vital.

THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY CONTENT

As this highlights, the industry needs to look at the wider picture, and recognise that ad blockers only exist because of poor quality advertising. With a huge 71 per cent of ad block users stating that they would proactively whitelist sites that meet “acceptable” criteria, it’s clear that high quality, personalised content, served at the right time and in the right location, is the industry’s most valuable weapon in the war against ad blockers.

However, with the rush to automate and “scale” digital advertising, creativity and relevance have been thrown out the window by many marketers. They seem to have forgotten that each purchase decision is as much emotional, as it is logical. Just delivering thousands of ads with no regard to how awful, irrelevant and disruptive they are, is clearly not going to win over consumers.

The goal of the advertising ecosystem must therefore shift to providing content that adds to the user experience, showing users what they wish to see

and benefit from. This will curb ad blocker usage and soften consumer opinion toward these advertisements.

HOW CAN THIS WORK?

There is an ideal scenario for both marketers and consumers; and when we look at it, we can begin to see how consumer/publisher unity can be achieved.

targeted, benefitting consumers, Facebook and the advertisers themselves. As Bosworth commented, Facebook is aiming to “provide a middle ground,” and they hope to “form more and more of a partnership with consumers, where we’re providing them with ads that improve the experience and that they don’t feel the need to block.”

The goal of the advertising ecosystem must shift to providing content that adds to the user experience, showing users what they want to see and what they will like and respond to The scenario: consumers accept a free service in exchange for agreeing to view advertisements, and then see highly personalised, targeted advertisements delivered to them at an appropriate time.

This could be a sponsored post—educating users on a new product, quick advertisements letting them know about local services during their commute, or slower rich media advertisements delivered to their tablet/ pc when they were relaxing at home and in an environment more receptive to lengthy ads.

The consumer would find these ads useful and/or entertaining, sharing items that they may not be aware of and purchase points if they are interested in buying. In turn, the advertisements would be interactive and receptive to consumer feedback, sharing only content that the consumer wants to see. This will increase the likelihood of future purchases and ad real value to the consumer’s online experience.

A win-win in an ideal world.

Facebook’s goal is ultimately to achieve a similar scenario, via ad preference controls, to give consumers more influence over the type of adverts they’re receiving. While users will see the same amount of ads, they should be more relevant and

A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION TO THE AD BLOCKING CHALLENGE

The industry as a whole can learn a lot from Facebook’s model, however with the social network experiencing push-

back from ad blockers such as Adblock Plus, it’s clear that the latter hasn’t yet lost its power.

Facebook’s initiative, and those of other publishers, to place more emphasis on what the consumer wants should be supported by an industry-wide push to ensure that the right adverts are served to the right people, at the right time, and in the right location. Through this approach, adverts become interesting, engaging and valuable to consumers, discouraging them from deploying ad blockers in the first place. This in turn drives ROI for marketers and revenues for publishers, and enhances the overall user experience, presenting a sustainable solution in the long term.

Greg Isbister is CEO and Founder of Blis

Looking for a solution for staffing, then look no further.

We also offer platform solutions tailord to your needs.

We offer:

24/7 Year Round Coverage Worldwide TXT & PSO Operators

Connect with the best fulfillment team worldwide

VOIP Customer Service Team Moderation of Live TV Streaming Over a Decade of Experience

Lorna@text121chat.com | 0844 4483121 Helen@text121chat.com | 0844 4482121

Making interactive communications pay

23

#BILLING #SUPPORT SERVICES

monitoringcompliancepartners.com sales@monitoringcompliancepartners.com

ENARPEE SERVICES

Contact Neil (neil@enarpee.com) 0344 357 3938

#NETWORK OPERATOR

Enarpee Services (Est. 2006) is the UK’s longest established Compliance Support Business for this industry sector. For Solutions in UK Consumer Refunds, Consumer Contact Centre, Service Fulfilment, Lobbying, Brand Protection & Insurance. Regulatory/Compliance advice (fulfilled & provided via Monitoring Compliance Partners Ltd).

■ UK /International numbers & sms numbers UK/International /International numbers && sms sms ■ UK PRS, IVR & call handling PRS, IVR & call handling PRS, IVR & call handling ■ Payment, hosting & business solutions hosting Payment, hosting &business business solutions solutions ■ Payment, VeriMe online age & verification VeriMe Online age verification solution VeriMe Online age verification solution ■ 2Reach number access look-up portal Cotswold CotswoldHouse, House, 219 219Marsh MarshWall, Wall, London LondonE14 E149FJ 9FJ

www.telecom2.net www.telecom2.net

info@telecom2.net info@telecom2.net +44 +44(0)20 (0)207058 70581000 1000

INTERNATIONAL PAYOUT NUMBERS Kwak is one of the leading providers for international payout numbers and domestic premium rate numbers, we offer n Extensive portfolio of international payout numbers with worldwide access n Domestic premium rate numbers from over 25 countries worldwide n New interactive neutral client area with the ability to generate subcustomers

Contact us at: sales@kwak-telecom.com Phone: +357 220 28812 www.premium-rates.com

COMPACT-IT #TECH PROVIDER

FULLY HOSTED CONTACT CENTRE PLATFORM.

Queueblade is a fully hosted contact centre platform, providing the same functionality as traditional on-premise solutions.

It’s ideal for your chat service requirements and is approved

by PPP for hosted call recordings.

FRAZ REES PHONE: +44 (0) 121 132 0001 SKYPE: FRAZ.REES

EMAIL: SALES@QUEUEBLADE.COM

24

IT

compact

Compact-IT are a provider of third party independent verification in accordance with the PhonePayPlus the mobile payment solution code of practice. Our PIN system has a full audit trail so you, the service provider, can operate with confidence whilst continuing to ensure your customers receive the best possible service. Our platform has been designed with the level two provider and consumer in mind, so it’s easy to sign-up, integrate and start your fully verified services with us.

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

Contact tel 0808 172 8648, www.compact-it.net

www.theblack-dog.com

#SP & AGGREGATOR

#CONTENT PROVIDER

The Blackdog Communications is a leading UK and Irish provider of innovative billing solutions and interactive services. We provide communication and mobile participation services. . . . . .

Irish and UK Adult and non adult PRN’s.

UK and Irish credit card billing.

International call handling and analytics Irish PSMS Corporate solutions

Call: 00353 1 6190030 Email: barbara@theblack-dog.com

Target, segment and personalise your mobile communications & payments

Address 22-25 Eastcastle St London W1W 8DF

Telephone +44 (0)207 580 3860

Customer Support +44 (0)800 157 7502

SMS | PSMS | MMS | Payforit | OTT | Push | IVR | Social uksales@mgage.com uksales@mGage.com

www.mgage.com www.mGage.com

txtNation Award Winning Mobile Aggregator and Tier-One provider of Mobile Billing and Mobile Messaging.

Specialist of Premium Rate Calls£€$¥ in Sweden, Norway & Finland

Now over 40 operators direct for Billing.

Mobile Billing Single Click

Mobile Messaging HLR

Direct Billing Payforit

Bulk SMS

Contact: W. www.txtnation.com | E. sales@txtnation.com T. London, UK: +44 (0)203 283 8828 | HQ. +44 (0)1752 484 333

£ $

€¥

OX YGEN

£ $

€¥

www.viatel.se sales@viatel.se +46 8 50 60 10 00

Smarter choices = better engagement

GROUP

£ $

€¥ Oxygen8 is at the forefront of mobile payment solutions, offering global £ $ £ $ ¥ ¥ € € reach with local service to all clients including:

• Global PSMS & PRS services • Direct Carrier Billing / Payforit • Optimised Payment Service Flows • Mobile Marketing & Bulk Messaging £ $

£ $ €¥

LittleAd.indd 1

is a leading Provider of International Premium Rate Numbers since 2006. Our exclusives are almost covering the whole world.

contact@preferredtelemedia.com

€

€¥ We can help you integrate new revenue streams, improve business efficiency and increase customer loyalty – call 0808 208 0808, email info@oxygen8.com or visit www.oxygen8.com $ £ $ €¥

www.preferredtelemedia.com

• HLR Lookup and MSISDN Capturing • IVR, Call Handling and Voice Broadcasts £ $Number • Domestic and International €¥ £ $ Ranges ¥

£ €

¥

£ $

€¥

International Premiums is a worldwide telecom media services Provider and Aggregator. $ £ €

13/05/2015 08:34

¥

International Premiums has acquired the sole distribution rights for Congo, Comoros Islands, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Sierra leone, Somalia, & Liberia offering the HIGHEST Payouts with monthly, biweekly, weekly and DAILY payments.

e : info@interprems.com w: www.interprems.com

Making interactive communications pay

25

Number cruncher Each issue we take a look at some of the interesting stats floating around in the telemedia space and associated areas to get a snap shot of what is going on out there. This month we take a look at some interesting UK research into Social Media use from Flint. It shows that nearly everyone with a mobile uses it, that Facebook dominates, but that WhatsApp is coming â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and since WhatsApp and Facebook are both at play in the OTT messaging space, this should make interesting reading for anyone in SMS.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re addicted: among UK online adults, nearly all use social media.

YouTube & Facebook take gold in the three tiers of social media use Among online UK adults aged 18+, the % using each network

Number of UK adults

Number of UK adults online

Number of UK adults who use social media

Number of UK adults who use social media daily

52.2

45.9

43.6

million*

million*

million

34.4

100%

95%

85% 78%

50%

48%

45% 30%

29%

29% 20%

million

75%

6% YouTube Facebook

Google+ WhatsApp Twitter

LinkedIn Instagram Pinterest Snapchat Periscope

In the battle of the corporates, Facebook and Google dominate we are Flint

we are Flint

* Source: ONS

7

8

Facebook & WhatsApp (both FB owned) top the chart for number of daily users

Among online UK adults aged 18+, the % using each network

Among online UK adults aged 18+, the % using each network vs. daily use

85% 78%

85%

50%

48%

Use 78%

Daily use

45% 30%

29%

59%

29%

50%

20%

48%

45%

6% YouTube Facebook

Google+ WhatsApp Twitter

LinkedIn Instagram Pinterest Snapchat Periscope

17%

15%

YouTube Facebook

we are Flint

Corporate owners 9

3 we are Flint

26

More news, views and analysis at www.TelemediaOnline.co.uk

30%

28%

27%

1

Google+ WhatsApp Twitter

29%

29% 20%

4%

13%

5%

9%

6% 2%

LinkedIn Instagram Pinterest Snapchat Periscope

2 10

„We are proud being National Champion of European Business Awards.

That’s great for kwak and the reputation of IPRN!“ Josef Bruckschlögl CEO

www.kwak-telecom.com

18-20 October 2016

BILLING & ENGAGEMENT FOR VALUE ADDED SERVICES & CONTENT • Sell Out Exhibition Hall • 7 Leading Conference Sessions • 16 Country Updates • Invitation to 9 Hospitality Breakouts • Platinum Party at La Sala • Night Cap After Party • Gold Party in the Port • Sun Terrace Drinks Reception • Speed Networking • Lunches & Refreshments

PLATINUM SPONSORS

OX YGEN GROUP

GOLD SPONSORS

AFFILIATE NETWORK SPONSOR

COMPLIANCE & INSIGHTS SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSORS

jarvis@wtevent.co.uk

+44 (0)7711 92 70 92

www.wtevent.co.uk