Issue 36 • JAN 2013
#PRS Late MNO payments in PRS threaten operator role in m-pay revolution
THIS MONTH... News
The latest news from the industry, along with analysis of what that news means, including: • Opera and Neomobile bring one click m-pay to the world 3 • 10bn mobile coupons to be redeemed in 2013... 4 • ... while retailers set to spend £55bn on mobile marketing 5 • Adtheorent unveils m-ad platform that learns what you want 6 • WWF launches mobile fund raising network for conservation 7 • BlackBerry looks to crack BYOD market with 10 series 9
Analysis
one of the UK’s big four mobile network operators is rumoured to be delaying payments to its providers of mobile-paid services, widely enjoyed by consumers and businesses alike. According to industry sources, providers of PRS services that range from entertainment, competitions, voting, apps and even charitable donations, are still waiting for their November and December 2012 payments. This is bad news not only for the PRS sector, but also for the mobile payments market in general because both telemedia companies and operators need to get a foothold in the fiercely competitive micropayments market. Delays to payments are particularly damaging in the current financial climate. According to industry sources, no clear reason can be gained from this MNO for the continued delays to payments. Smaller providers of services, already struggling to survive, will be hardest hit and such issues will only encourage them to migrate their traffic away from PRS to other platforms and credit card billing. The wider impact will be a reduction of investment down the value chain, limiting service choice for consumers and disadvantaging consumers who like the spontaneity of being able to pay for services with the mobile bill or prepaid credit. On contacting AIME, the trade association for the PRS and associated industries, whose members are affected by these delays to payments, Telemedia-month was told: “Our members are highly dependent on payments for the services that they have provided to mobile users coming through as fast as possible from the network operators. Where operators have had issues that may cause delays, they have provided pragmatic solutions in the past to ease cash flow. A provider of a service has to pay for its costs such as advertising, royalties, staff and premises within contracted timescales, so if payments from network operators are delayed then it will create significant damage to our industry. Any network operator should recognise that it is a part of a long value chain and short term payment tactics will have long term effects on its own business margins. We cannot however comment on any specific issues as the confidentiality of our members business practices is paramount.” The issue arises as the mobile payment market is hotting up with retailers, content
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Editorial The rich pay late Oh dear, operators might be about to scupper the m-payments market, warns Paul Skeldon 11 TELECOMS 2013: what’s in store #1 John Strand makes his suitably aggressive predictions for the year ahead in mobile and social telecoms 12 MEDIA 2013: what’s in store #2 The MEF takes a look at what 2013 promises for the media and entertainment parts of mobile 13 PAYMENTS Micropayments and gaming AIME explores what the gaming industry needs from micropayments following its seminar 14 PRS 900 tends to zero Bob Bentz looks at why the US 900 market has effectively come to an end and why we should all mourn its passing 15 MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS Brave new world congress We take a look at what to expect from the revamped MW C 16
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NEWS #PAYMENTS Opera and Neomobile to bring one-click mobile payments to Opera Mini
opera software and Neomobile are working together to bring mobile payments to users of Neomobile services and the Opera Mini mobile browser. As part of the agreement with Opera Commerce, a fully-owned subsidiary of Opera Software, the Neomobile mobile payment system will be integrated into the Opera Payment Exchange (OPX). OPX’s goal is to make mobile payments a secure and easy experience for the more than 200 million Opera Mini users globally. Thanks to Neomobile, Opera Mini users will be able to buy digital goods and services easily and securely on their mobile devices through direct carrier billing in each country where Neomobile has its mo-
bile entertainment services. Opera Mini is one of the world’s leading mobile browsers with users on all mobile platforms. Opera’s browsers are also available for computers, TVs and connected devices, including Opera Mobile, the browser for high-end mobile devices. Opera has more than 275 million users all over the world. We give the chance to all Opera Mini users worldwide to enjoy our mobile entertainment content and services through the simplicity of one-click payment flow. The next step will be the integration of our Onebip mobile payment service to let merchants and other media companies to make the most of all the ways to monetize their services through
the Opera Mini browser,” said Gianluca D’Agostino, CEO, Neomobile. “Opera strives to work with partners like Neomobile to strengthen the mobile payment ecosystem for Opera Mini users through OPX,” adds Sameer Merchant, CEO, Opera Commerce. “One by one, we want to partner with premium mobile payment service providers like Neomobile to give the convenience of mobile payments to our Opera Mini users.” Opera Mini users will be able to purchase goods and services in the countries where Neomobile service is offered, with the same advantages of all other mobile browser users. With Neomobile, transactions will be seamlessly billed directly to the users’ mobile-phone bill.
>>>from page 1 MNO late payments providers, gaming and gambling companies – to name but a few verticals – all looking at how to integrate mobile payments into what they do. Problems with payments could easily scupper this for the network operators and the telemedia industry – and leave the mobile payments market wide open to Google, Apple, Amazon and the banks and credit card companies. This paves the way for the global giants to provide services to mobile users without competition, creating a monopoly in supply – and, by the way, having their taxes and profits accounted for outside of the UK. We also hear that these giants do not want to subsume to UK premium rate regulation, as it disadvantages their business model, but this is a luxury that is not afforded to other providers of mobile services. Despite setting up Weve – the public
face of project Oscar – the UK’s MNOs could be on a path to miss out on the biggest business opportunity they have faced for decades if they mess up on mobile payments at this crucial stage. One industry insider likened it to how the supermarkets work with their suppliers. Telemedia-month was told: “If you are a large Supermarket with a dominant, even quadopoly presence in the UK, your major advantage is cashflow. Negotiate long payment terms with your suppliers, get them to supply ‘just in time’, so you don’t have a stock storage issue and get your customers, the consumers, to make immediate payments to you. The result is significant cash reserves that make your mid year and end year results look very good to your shareholders. “Unfortunately, the suppliers are squeezed and any minor blip in their supply chain logistics and they will go to the wall. End of the British small
and one man businesses and it opens opportunities for the large scale suppliers from outside of these waters. The suppliers will increase their prices without competition, your food bill gets higher and your choice starts to diminish.” The issue comes as some UK MNOs have been criticised for extending payment terms to 180 days, throwing the issue of late payments in all businesses in to the spotlight. According to the Sunday Times newspaper, late payments in the UK have reached a record £36.5billion and the UK government’s business minister, Michael Fallon, has promised to “go to war” on the issues and is urging CEOs of the FTSE 350 companies to sign up to the Prompt Payment Code. While a voluntary agreement to promote good practice, Fallon threatens to name and shame those that don’t.
NEWS
#RETAIL 10 billion mobile coupons to be redeemed this year, up 50% on 2012... the number of discount coupons redeemed through mobile and tablet devices is expected to reach 10 billion this year, up by more than 50% on last year, a new report from Juniper Research has found. According to the report, innovative retailers are increasingly seeking to offer mobile as a delivery channel, both as a means of driving retail footfall and to enhance consumer engagement and retention. It pointed out that while mobile still accounted for a comparatively low volume of coupons issued, retailers had been encouraged by the markedly higher average redemption rate of mobile coupons (10%) when compared to traditional print media and PC coupons (typically 1% or less). Furthermore, the report observed that mobile couponing offered retailers the opportunity to marry their digital
and physical assets. As report author Dr Windsor Holden pointed out, “While we’ve heard that online retail is killing the High Street – witness United Retail filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US and the recent administrations of Jessop’s and Blockbuster in the UK – mobile offers a means of engaging with the consumer at every point in the retail lifecycle, from product discovery to product purchase.” However, the report stressed that it was critical for retailers to ensure that such coupons had a time-based element, noting that a number of offers had gone unintentionally “viral” leading to brands being unable to service the demand for their products. The report also suggests that Apple’s recent high-profile launch of Passbook is expected to act as a catalyst to both coupon deployments and adoption.
However, retailer reluctance to upgrade POS (Point of Sale) terminals for authentication and redemption is creating a bottleneck, effectively suppressing the deployment of mobile coupons.
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NEWS
DONT #RETAIL ... retailers to spend $55bn annually onMISS! mobile marketing by 2015, Juniper finds the msport summit as retailers increasingly utilise mobile devices as a touchpoint on each stage of the retail lifecycle, a new report from Juniper Research has found that annual spend by retailers on mobile
marketing will reach $55bn, almost double the $28bn level expected this year. The report – Retail mCommerce: Mobile & Tablet Marketing, Advertising & Coupon Strategies 2013-2017 - found that the development of a mass tablet market had created new opportunities for brands seeking to enhance engagement with consumers. With eCommerce migrating to mobile and nomadic devices, adspend on both tablets and smartphones is continuing to grow strongly as retailers (notably in North America and Western Europe) migrate their own spend to digital in general, and mobile in particular. Similarly, the report observed that mobiles were driving retail footfall through coupons, with couponing apps becoming an increasingly popular mechanism of distribution and coupon storage. Furthermore, it highlighted the increasing trend towards the development of additional distribution channels – such as AR (augmented reality) and NFC (near field
26th April
communications) – as mobile becomes increasingly integrated into in-store retail strategies. However, the report cautioned that while retailer engagement with mobile channels had increased dramatically, many had still not optimised their sites for mobile browsing, registration or payment. According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, “If retailers truly want to maximise the mobile monetisation opportunity, then optimisation is critical. If you are using mobile advertising for consumer acquisition, you need to push users to a site with which they can comfortably interact; retailers that fail to respond to consumer demand will fall behind.” The study also finds that brands are increasingly seeking to integrate campaigns across mobile social networks such as Foursquare and Facebook, as well as brands and retailers need to ensure that mobile ads are frequency capped to prevent overexposure.
Join iGaming Business and Telemedia 360 for the only event dedicated to mobile gambling. With two conference tracks over one day, numerous networking opportunities and an exhibition floor to enjoy this is an event not to be missed if you are serious about the mobile gambling market. Expect to hear from and meet the leading players from the worlds of mobile and iGaming, and take the time to enjoy the first ever mGaming Awards and an exclusive networking party.
NEW FOR 2012! Strategies for mastering mobile gambling the mGaming Awards
Join iGaming Business and Telemedia 360 for the only event dedicated to mobile gambling. With two conference tracks over one day, numerous networking opportunities and an exhibition floor to enjoy, this is an event not to be missed if you are serious about the mobile gambling market Expect to hear from and meet the leading players from the worlds of mobile and iGaming, and take the time to enjoy the mGaming Awards and and exclusive networking party.
24 April 2013
April 25th, 2012
the Brewery Chiswell TheStreet King’s Fund, London EC1Y 4SD 11–13 Cavendish Square
London, W1G 0AN
jarvis@telemedia360.com
www.mGAminGsummit.com
NEWS
#ADVERTISING Adtheorent unveils real-time learning platform for mobile advertisers adtheorent, the first intelligent Real Time Bidding (RTB)-enabled mobile ad network, has introduced the industry’s first real-time learning and predictive modeling platform. The AdTheorent Real-Time Learning Machine (RTLM) learns in real time, generates data-driven predictive models “on the fly” and predicts faster than any other data mining technology, yielding demonstrable results for AdTheorent’s mobile advertisers. During the 2012 Xmas shopping season, the AdTheorent RTLM delivered an average engagement level of 200 to 300% above average for some leading retail brands. Based on the data mining technology developed by AdTheorent’s Chief Data Scientist, Dr Saed Sayad, AdTheorent’s RTLM application analyzes 50,000 bid requests per second on a single server, filtering out bids with a low probability of click, conversion or awareness lift. The RTLM system “learns”
from incoming bid requests and builds and modifies predictive models as it learns, applying such models in live campaigns to match each mobile advertisement with the optimum mobile impression. As a result of AdTheorent’s RTLM system and its unprecedented ability to filter-out undesirable targets, participating advertisers have enjoyed improved engagement levels, such as an uplift in click through rates (CTR) and awareness, and reductions in cost per acquisition (CPA) rates. In some campaigns the uplift has been as high as 500%. “The value of data in media is immense and intelligent technology companies are now using that data across mobile devices. This is enabling real-time learning and prediction, which is presenting a great opportunity to move marketers toward data-driven results,” says Sal Candela, mobile director at PHD Media. “These new developments offer real promise in
enhanced performance and brand lift, a combination that will spark interest across the mobile marketplace.” Using the RTLM, advertisers can increase CTR (and decrease CPA) by dividing the population and filtering various segments, and then more definitively targeting appropriate audiences. “The massive amounts of data that marketers need to filter in order to gain traction with target audiences require systems that can develop greater intelligence within actual campaigns, and we are now seeing products that seem to do this in a precise manner,” says Joseph Rose, VP, Associate Analytics Director, MediaVest WorldWide. “Our clients are just learning about the real-time bidding on mobile technology, and now we have some compelling field data with which to articulate reasons for deploying the next generation in ad network technology.”
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NEWS
#CHARITY WWF launches first mobile network to raise money for conservation WWF’s Communications and Fundraiswwf, in partnership with UK mobile operator, Digital Spring Mobile, has ing Director, Tobin Aldrich said: “Most people use a mobile phone; by using launched the first ever UK mobile network WWF Wildlife Mobile customers can save designed to generate funds to protect money on their mobile bill whilst generatwildlife and the environment. ing funds for WWF to help safeguard the WWF Wildlife Mobile is operated by UK natural world – it’s a perfect win-win.” mobile virtual network operator, Digital In addition to an unrestricted revenue Spring Mobile delivering 99.7% UK wide stream this service will yield a raft of adcoverage on the Vodafone Network. ditional benefits to WWF. The new service from WWF targets the “Innovation in mobile fundraising is key. large UK audience of environmentally aware consumers, promising ‘every conver- Not only does WWF Wildlife Mobile give us an unrestricted revenue stream, it also prosation helps conservation’ with 10% of the vides us with a compelling new channel net revenue from all call, text and data usthrough which to communicate with both age on the service going directly to WWF existing and potentially new supporters,” UK to help its global conservation work. Customers of WWF Wildlife Mobile do not says Aldrich. WWF Wildlife Mobile is operated by have to compromise on price. The service UK MVNO, Digital Spring Mobile, which offers customers cheaper standard rates manages all aspects of the new service in than the major networks as well as packpartnership with WWF. ages of voice, text and data that make it “The Mobile market is worth over £15bn one of the best value SIM-only offerings on the market. The roll out of Post Pay monthly per annum and we’ve seen a significant increase in the Sporting demand for products and tariffs is planned for later in the year.for Sport Mobile Strategies and Events
services that deliver genuine social or environmental benefits. Now is the perfect time for charities to tapThe into this market Summit mGaming and we’re absolutely delighted to be work25th April ing with such an innovative organisation as WWF. The power of the brand and its resonance to ethical consumers makes WWF Wildlife Mobile an exceptional fund raising proposition,” explains Digital Spring Mobile Co-founder, Robert Jolliffe.
DON’T MISS!
mSPORT SUMMIT
Join SportBusiness Group and Telemedia 360 for a NEW event dedicated to the opportunities of mobile sport With two conference tracks over one day, numerous networking opportunities and an exhibition floor to enjoy this is an event not to be missed if you are serious about the mobile sport market. The sport industry has already seen an influx of mobile technologies connecting fans to events, teams, brands and athletes – through mobile websites, apps and social media. With increased penetration of smartphones and tablets, mobile has become the primary content distribution channel and crucial to building brands and generating audience participation - by enhancing the live event experience. Mobile can also impact every facet of the sporting ‘journey’ through marketing, ticketing, merchandising, CRM, mCommerce and “in-play” betting. Expect to hear on all these for topicsSport and more,and meet Sporting the leading players Mobile Strategies Events
the industry andand take advantage Joinfrom SportBusiness Group Telemedia 360 of forfantastic the event networking dedicated to the opportunities at this of opportunities mobile sport. With two landmark conferenceevent. tracks over one day, numerous networking opportunities and an exhibition floor to enjoy, this is an event not to be missed if you are serious about the mobile sport market. The sport industry has already seen an influx of mobile technologies connecting fans to events, teams, brands and athletes - through mobile websites, apps and social media. With increased penetration of smartphones and tables, mobile has become the primary content distribution channel and crucial to building brands and generating audience participation - by enhancing the live event experience. Expect to hear from and meet the leading players from the industry and take advantage of fantastic networking opportunities at this landmark event.
24 April 2013 April 26th, 2012
the Brewery Chiswell Street The King’s London EC1Y 4SD Fund,
11–13 Cavendish Square London, W1G 0AN jarvis@telemedia360.com
WWW.MSpoRTSuMMiT.CoM
+269 900
+269 910
Comoros Islands
+252 70
NEWS
#DEVICES Blackberry launches 10 in grab for BYOD market research in Motion — now renamed BlackBerry — has launched the latest BlackBerry devices — the BlackBerry Z10 (touchscreen) and the BlackBerry Q10 (physical keyboard) — running on the new platform BlackBerry 10. The two devices have become make or break for the company and it is thought to be looking to capitalize on its history of being an enterprise device, despite the world moving to being BYOD. The company has been through a tough couple of years, and the transition to the new BlackBerry 10 platform based on QNX has been difficult. The company’s market share dove from 14% in 1Q11 to 4% in the last quarter of 2012. The consumer segment was the most impacted as users moved away to the latest and greatest shiny Android devices from Samsung and the new iPhones. The lack of applications and the BlackBerry World cumbersome experience didn’t help either. This is the D-Day for Research in Motion, says Francisco Jeronimo, Research Manager, European Consumer Wireless and Mobile Communications, IDC EMEA. “The company has no other major options; if it doesn’t succeed with the new platform, there are no alternatives on the hardware or software sides. The future will then be dependent on a new corporate strategy, from strategic alliances to licensing, and so on. While other companies have the option to adopt a new operating system, for BlackBerry that is not possible. The time and investment required to migrate the entire services to a new and unproven OS would make the task almost impossible. For BlackBerry there is no plan B available.” Despite losing a significant percentage of clients, Jeronimo believes the enterprise segment continues to be the sweet spot for the company. Those companies running on BlackBerry servers (BES) and with thousands of users cannot simply throw the entire infrastructure away and buy a new one; and they don’t want to. BlackBerry continues to offer very critical services that no other company has been able to match. Device management, IT policies, security, and so on are crucial for any IT department. As an example, the new BlackBerry 10 devices support a new service called BlackBerry Balance. This allows IT departments to set personal and corporate
environments in the devices. Employees using a BlackBerry handset cannot transfer information from the corporate environment to the personal, which provides a secure and controlled management of corporate information. On the consumer side, the story is different. The new devices will find a tough challenge to compete with the latest Android handsets at much lower price points. In the UK, for instance, BlackBerry devices became very popular among teenagers looking for a cheap prepaid handset that allows them to connect with their friends through BBM. Although these users have been moving to other applications, such as WhatsApp, that run across platforms. Most consumers that have moved already are now tied to contracts and will not replace their devices until the end of those contracts. Jeronimo estimates that BlackBerry will continue to be a major player in the enterprise segment, but a smaller player in the overall smartphone market with a market share of around 5%. This may change if the company rapidly expands its portfolio to significantly lower price points. In the meantime the challenge is even tougher — how to convince a consumer to buy an older BlackBerry device when a new and completely different one has been launched? This will have a negative impact on BlackBerry’s results until the mid-range devices become available later this year or in 2014. BlackBerry has disrupted itself with a completely new and appealing experience; the challenge will now be to convince thousands of companies to quickly upgrade their servers to the BlackBerry 10 servers so they can support the new devices.
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OPINION
FROM THE EDITOR
The rich pay late Are network operators really trying to stall outpayments on PRS? Surely, with so much to play for in mobile payments they wouldn’t dare, would they? news that a leading MNO in the UK is seemingly withholding outpayments on PRS services is surprising news. Mobile payments is one of the hottest tickets in town right now – well in mobile town – and the fact that operators are perhaps doing this is very disappointing. Consumers are buying things through mobile as the natural extension of e-commerce, but payments has, so far, been the weakest link. Of course, the banks and key new entrants into the mobile market such as Amazon, Google, Apple and many others are all keen to move the money around. Operators, always ready to tell us that they don’t want to be dumb pipes just carrying the content and services have a golden opportunity to clean up here and cement their position in m-commerce. But, if the rumours that reach us are true, then they are poised to blow it. This is an extremely competitive marketplace and there are many large companies out there looking to capitalise on the mobilisation of shopping, charity donations, gambling and content consumption – not to mention all the telemedia services such as dating, chat, adult and more – can they really be seriously looking at putting yet another barrier in place to this? While we are still digging around trying to get to the bottom of this story – with little help from operators it has to be said – it appears to be yet another tale of operators not really getting it. Sure, they are massive companies and on the face of it hold all the cards (certainly when it comes to paying telemedia service providers), but does their hubris really extend to thinking that banks and the likes of Apple and Google are going to sit around waiting for MNOs to play ball? There are many ways to register cards and bank details to mobile wallets and to payment processes on line and then simply click and pay on mobile. Operator billing could offer some level of convenience, but no one is going to wait to see if it appears or not before they start using other services. And retailers in particular are looking with great interest at how to use mobile payments and electronic receipts, not only online, but also in store. One of their first ports of call will be to see what operators have to offer. If they get a whiff that this sort of thing is going, it will go down like a bag of old sick – and they will look at how else to make this happen. Network operators should be making mobile life easier and more usable, but time and again they stand in the way of progress.
Who needs Hello! at their wedding? Congratulations to Taya Bose on her recent nuptuals – to a chap called Julien Couturier, not Michelle Marriott, pictured above with the bride – and well done on giving all guests a copy of this marvellous magazine – we assume it was in the goody bags, right? So, to make this page more interesting – and to rise to the challenge set with such panache by Taya – we want photos each month of you, dear reader, with our magazine. The best and most crazy locations/ situations will be printed here in this new column. Get snapping and send to: paulskeldon@me.com
Editorial Editor Paul Skeldon paulskeldon@me.com | Sales & Marketing info@telemediamagazine.com | Production Director Annika Micheli annika@telemediamagazine.com | Publisher Jarvis Todd jarvis@telemediamagazine.com To subscribe, please go to www.telemedia-news.com What we’ve been listening to R.E.M. – we kinda miss them now their gone | What we’ve been amused by Not betting on getting stitched up good and proper | Who we’ve been following #telemedia | What we’ve been reading about Erwin Shroedinger and his lectures about Life | Feb 2013 will bring... Revenge!
OPINION
John Strand
2013 More competition, less cash – and some dull stuff John Strand, head of Strand Consult in Denmark, takes his annual look ahead at what the mobile industry can expect from 2013... and its not all good news, nor is all of it exciting increased competition and falling prices When you want to see the future of the mobile market, take a look at Scandinavia. This is the region with the most competition, the lowest prices, the highest phone concentration, much of the leading experimentation in business models, and some of the fastest broadband speeds. The competition that began in Scandinavia has spread to Europe and will grow to other parts of the world. Next year we will see prices fall, and operators in highly penetrated markets will price to win customers, whether or not it is profitable. We characterize this competition as lemmings in a brutal race to commit suicide. Specifically we will see operators compete with data packages and for international traffic. For consumers in many markets, this means they get more data in the same package. In other markets, they will experience getting a free data add-on when they buy a voice, SMS, or MMS package of a certain size. In Denmark one month of mobile voice and data equals the price of a large pizza and a two litre bottle of cola. LTE no longer premium, it’ll be free In response to competition, operators have rolled out LTE. They had hoped to get a premium price for the upgrade of customers from 3G to LTE, but that is a wet dream. As it turns out, operators can upgrade their old network to the new network that supports GSM/UMTS/ LTE without having to increase their CAPEX. Therefore the cost of rolling out LTE is often marginal. Not only will network operators reduce their premium prices, virtual operators will increase the amount of data they offer for a given price. Oister, one of 3’s discount brands, offers 80 GB of mobile broadband for just €39/month. As prices in the mobile broadband market are squeezed, we will see the trend spread to other broadband markets. Operators will try to limit the loss by earning revenue with value added services (VAS), but don’t expect VAS to replace lost revenue from expected higher LTE premiums. There are no-brainer music add-ons such Spotify and Wimp, and there are opportunities for operators to think outside the box for other exciting possibilities. The greatest value of VAS will become marketing for operators. Facebook will go mobile Facebook, under increasing pressure from its shareholders and with its growing base of mobile users (now more than half of all users), will make moves to monetize revenue from mobile beyond advertising. Keep in mind that most of Facebook’s ad revenue comes from North America, but its user base is growing in Africa, Asian and Latin American, where Facebook’s mobile ads for Amerians are not relevant. We expect the world’s largest communication platform to
look more seriously at monetizing opportunities in mobile products and services, both in acquisition of mobile technology firms and with business models including VoIP, MNVO etc. value added services will be dull We find it hard to see how mobile operators should have a central position in the VAS market. Apart from operator billing, they struggle to offer a range of APIs, and it appears that smaller, more dynamic technology companies can do this better. Lessons from the last 15 years of the premium SMS market show that mobile operators have limited ability to develop, market and sell the services demanded by customers. Expect continued discussion about near field communications (NFC) and mobile payment in 2013, but their growth will be mixed as these solutions aren’t readily accepted in all markets. See our research note on this topic: http://www.strandconsult.dk/sw4757.asp. We are eager to see whether alternative app stores can give the incumbents a run for their money. There is room for both operators and content providers to offer customers access to portals where content is not prescribed by the device. ott and cable will battle hard 2012 was the year when OTT exploded on the telecom scene. While operators have absorbed shocks from VoIP to their long distance revenues, new internet players such as Netflix now challenge their bandwidth, taking first place as the traffic hog in many countries. Netflix has had an impressive year with a global rollout and revenues to match, but don’t expect cable industry to sit idly. The advent of Netflix and HBO in many countries has been met with pushback from cable companies, which are leveraging their assets (incumbency, existing customer base, and established relationship with content providers) with new go-to-market strategies for their own OTT services to compete with the American players. OTT has some spillover effects. Media companies are seeing new life for their content, but OTT may be bad news for BitTorrent. As quality content becomes available for a competitive price, people stop pirating. BitTorrent has 22% of all of European traffic, but in North America, just 10%. BitTorrent’s traffic is likely to fall as Netflix and cable companies step it up in Europe in 2013. It won’t be smooth sailing everywhere for Netflix. The company has already ruffled the feathers of operators. Norway’s Telenor exposed that Netflix threatened to blackmail the operator if it did not give Netflix free hosting and traffic, highlighting some unsavory tactics of the upstart firm. Consumers seem indifferent to these issues; they just want content with good quality for a good price. As such, we expect the presence of OTT to make Quality of Service more palatable with regard to network neutrality.
OPINION MEF
2013 Convenience, convergence – and China MEF, the global community for mobile content and commerce, starts the new-year by unveiling its mobile predictions for the next twelve months the MEF is ideally placed to forecast the trends that will shape the mobile industry in the year ahead; canvassing the Global Board of its diverse member community and leveraging insight from the second annual MEF Global Mobile Consumer Survey, which studies mobile user behaviour and trends from 9,500 respondents in 10 countries. So what does the trade body see as the key issues that will shape the mobile market in the coming year? Convenience becomes paramount Convenience will exceed entertainment as the primary mobile content and commerce driver globally. Shift in Payments Operator billing will be overtaken by other mobile payment systems in developed markets. Big Data will drive mobile engagement Widespread rollout of personalised recommendations and alerts based on context and behavioural data enabled by mobile. Trust as a critical asset Consumer trust around privacy and data collection will become a critical asset for apps and brands in 2013. Usage Convergence The dividing line between consumer and enterprise-focused services will melt, transforming the way companies use mobile. Growth in health and education services 2013 will see a significant uptake in the use of health and education services, based on interactive mobile content and device penetration. Growth markets will drive this but also developed markets will complement and develop existing systems. Crowd-sourcing of mobile content Mass-curation of content, such as large-scale photo integration enabling crowd-sourcing of public events imagery, will emerge as a defining mobile apps category, but will experience scaling issues, including transparency and privacy concerns. The March of Multi-Screens In 2013 much of the mobile ecosystem’s energy will target the
integration of multiple connected screens, such as TV companion services, to deliver a consistent and complimentary experience across every connected device. Third mobile ecosystems Windows Phone 8, Firefox OS and BlackBerry 10 will make progress globally, especially in growth markets. China is coming Chinese mobile content and commerce vendors will expand into global markets, but will struggle with the complexities of mobile ecosystems and IPR. Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chair, comments: ”2012 saw continued expansion and diversification of the mobile content and commerce industry, particularly in growth markets such as Africa and Latin America. In late 2012 MEF launched the findings of our Global Consumer Survey, which highlighted that 88 per cent of the world’s mobile media users now regularly engage in mobile content and commerce. Looking ahead into 2013, all indicators point to another year of global growth across the mobile ecosystem. At the same time, disruption and market challenges, particularly around issues of Consumer Trust, will continue to test our industry’s resolve and agility.”
ANALYSIS
PAYMENTS
Bringing micropayments to online and mobile gaming AIME’s first event of 2013 brought together the interactive gaming industry with the payments world to talk through what the two industries can do together. Telemedia-Month was there the interactive games market is a challenging sector to succeed in, as Ian Bramley of Ipsos explained to the audience at AIME’s first event of 2013, which brought it together with UKIE, the Interactive Entertainment trade body for the Interactive Gaming Industry in January. According to Bramley, the demographic of those playing and buying gaming content is changing, with 20 million people in total – 35% of the UK population – currently gaming on packaged games, apps and online games. Packaged gaming is still the largest category for games, with the 11 to 14 age group buying and playing more, but quarter on quarter comparisons show that apps and online games are still growing, while the overall market shrank slightly by 3% since Q4 2011. The 6 to 25 year old age group heavily supports these two categories, but usage of game apps begins to drop off for the 45+ age group; a clear indicator that the UK Interactive Games market, worth an estimated £321 million, seemingly remains generational. The message from Ipsos was clear: it has never been more important to know your audience. Each Gaming demographic has different preferences when it comes to billing for content. One of the key issues facing the industry is payment fraud. Panel leader Gabe McCloin, VP of Client Services at ChasePaymentech, explained how volume was key, not dissimilar to the payment processing Industry. But of course, with high volumes come important considerations that could impact on merchant’s bottom line revenues. For interactive games merchants, payment fraud is something they must be aware of and effective fraud prevention strategies are now essential. There is a wide range of fraud risks present for the industry, from phishing, money laundering and virtual currencies, to over-priced virtual goods scams. Yet merchants can prepare for these dangers. Clear descriptions of the game or service offered, as well as the terms of sale and refund policy, are essential, in combination with card and address verification to remove amateur fraudsters from the equation. To help shed some light on alternative billing solutions, Mark Sperring, Senior PSP Channel Manager of Paysafecard, a pre-paid online payment solution, revealed how pre-paid cards can offer several benefits to games merchants who wanted to access the significant unbanked market in the UK. With the most profitable game content types attracting a huge, young, audience, it is crucial to merchant revenues that vulnerable gamers have a safe, secure and controllable way to pay for games content online. Another clear benefit for merchants who wanted to offer a pre-paid solution is the ability for pre-paid cards to be branded with merchants marketing, so that the cards can offer merchants a simple, no-fuss gift-card solution that can improve visibility and
access a wider demographic at the same time. Micheal De Jongh of MACH explained how interactive games merchants could access the massive mobile consumer audience. Through direct operator billing (DOB), interactive games merchants are able to offer the functionality for customers to securely add purchases for content discovered online to their mobile phone bill, opening up a massive mobile market to merchants. But how does DOB face up to other widely used payment options such as credit card? According to De Jongh, it offers one-click functionality for frictionless payments, as well as clearly defined customer care processes, so the merchant can be assured that consumers are protected, as well as being served with a seamless billing flow. He also believes that interesting developments around Payforit v4.1, the UK MNO’s standardized DOB scheme, means that DOB will soon be functional for in-app payments, so that gamers will have a frictionless billing option for purchasing additional ingame content. The second half of the session saw four experts from the gaming industry join the panel. Moderated by UKIE’s Sam Collins, Bruce Grove from OnLive Gaming, Joe Pedan of Virtual Piggy, Dermot Stapleton of Mastertronic Group and Kevin Hogan of Mediatonic all lent their Industry experience to give an insightful overview of the Interactive Games Industry’s perception of billing and payments and what issues they deemed pertinent when choosing a payment method. The panel raised interesting points about the importance of Age Verification Systems, to ensure that young Gamers were not able to access and buy content outside of their PEGI age bracket. This is a huge consideration when accessing how many young gamers now have potential access to their parents billing details or online payment accounts. So what are the key points to take away from this collaborative event? Firstly, it’s that all merchants have different requirements and expectations of billing and payment solutions; so it is important to either tailor the billing/payment flow for the merchant, or allow them to present a wide range of payment options. Secondly, it is clear that the interactive games Industry must embrace a wider selection of payment methods as interactive gaming moves onto smartphones; younger audiences are now accessing content through the mobile device, so payment options for them is key. It is also equally important to address the unbanked and those unwilling to use credit or debit card options online. Lastly, it is clear that all merchants, not just games merchants, can benefit from understanding how their business and bottom line revenue is affected by the payment/billing systems they use.
ANALYSIS
US PRS
900 hits zero Bob Bentz, president, Advanced Telecoms Services, takes a look at why Verizon has pulled 900 numbers in the US and wonders what it means for the PRS industry across the pond US IVR SERVICE bureau companies have been informed by Verizon, owners of MCI, that it will terminate billing for all 900 number pay-per-call programs in the United States, effective December 31, 2012. The move effectively closes down 900 numbers in the US, following AT&T’s exit in 2002 – the same year MCI went bankrupt owing many 900 operators money. The Verizon move comes as US 900 numbers have hit by increasingly heavy FTC regulation and lack of cell phone access. There have also been issues with scams and the associated stigma of using these numbers. The internet has also had an impact. 900 numbers enjoyed an astounding run in the 1990’s as businesses like Microsoft used them for computer technical support. The US Passport office also employed 900 numbers for expedited passport requests. You could even listen to the astronauts on the space shuttle via a 900 number. Then, there were the 900 number programs that usually consisted of girls in hot tubs saying “call me” on late night television. In most cases, when you did call, you probably got a lot less than you might have thought you were getting, especially since the major carriers banned billing for adult content within two years of the mass introduction of 900 services in 1989. But, the place where 900 numbers had the most lasting impact in the minds of the consumers was in entertainment. Singer Michael Bolton had a popular 900 number for his fan club and WWF heavyweight champion Hulk Hogan’s 900 number was the most called number in the nation. And, who could forget Dionne Warwick and her Psychic Friends Network which was said to have earned $1 billion per year in the early 1990’s. Psychic Friends Network went bankrupt in 1998 under a burden of heavy debt imposed on it by a tsunami of chargebacks and other disputes with the telephone companies who were unable, or unwilling, to collect from consumers on its 900 number calls. You would have thought they could see that coming. So why have 900 numbers disappeared in US? Although the internet has taken a ring out of the pay per call (900 number) industry worldwide, in most countries, the business is still quite viable. In fact, in Canada, 900 numbers have actually showed an uptick thanks to participation television in recent years. So, why didn’t the business survive in the United States? There are several reasons that contributed to the demise of 900 numbers in the USA. 1. No Cell Phone Access For some inexplicable reason, mobile carriers in the USA never allowed calls to 900 numbers. This is commonplace in nearly all other countries. 2. TDDRA In July, 1996, this FTC policy outlined strict regulations for the pay per call industry. An industry that was at one time entirely under-regulated was now tremendously over-regulated.
One such regulation allowed consumers to request a chargeback (rebate) on 900 number calls that would be required to be granted for first time requesters. With telephone companies unable to enforce its charges, it didn’t take consumers long to realize that they could abuse the system and not pay for their 900 number calls. “Your cat made the call? No problem, we’ll reimburse you.” (Yes, this was an actual reason why a consumer was granted a chargeback on a 900 number call.) 3. Internet Paid information by telephone became an afterthought once the internet took hold. Why pay for sports scores or weather reports when they could be obtained for free online? The internet also eliminated some major 900 number categories like newspaper and radio-sponsored personals services. It just made more sense to use the internet for dating, as it could deliver an important element that the phone could not: a photo. 4. Carrier Greed From the beginning, the carriers charged an exorbitant amount for its transport services for 900 numbers, as much as .35 per minute plus 15% of the cost of the call. While the cost of telephone calls declined rapidly over the past two decades, the carriers never lowered their rates on 900 numbers, thus making it impossible for low priced 900 numbers (common in other countries) to have a fighting chance. If there were a way to offer weather reports for 10 to 25 cents, we’d still have a market. 5. 2002 AT&T left the 900 number industry in 2002. As if that weren’t enough, MCI went bankrupt in 2002 and didn’t pay its customers for 900 number revenues. It was a double sided blow to the industry. When MCI emerged from bankruptcy, it enjoyed a 900 number monopoly and didn’t invest in any improvements to the business. 6. Scams When the 900 number industry began in the late 1980’s, it was self-regulated. Yeah, that worked well, didn’t it? 7. Stigma Most people don’t realize that Farrah Fawcett was only on Charlie’s Angels for one season, as she is the iconic figure of the show. The same with 900 numbers. Despite being banned by all carriers by 1991, the adult stigma of the early programs was long lasting in many companies’ minds and kept them away from the industry. It was a silly comparison since banks have long processed credit card transactions for hard core porn and nobody ever avoided banks. The Future Mobile is the future and clearly the future for the pay per call business is with billing mechanisms. Already, the USA is running way behind Europe and Canada in providing worthwhile new mobile billing mechanisms such as the Pound Code. Perhaps, being late to the party will mean that the industry won’t get off to such a rocky start as 900 numbers did.
SHOW PREVIEW
Brave
MWC 2013
NEW WORLD CONGRESS? Mobile World Congress is upon us and this year, while it still remains in Barcelona, its all change. New venue, new contract with the city and a host of new features and formats. Here we take a look at some of the key trends at the show and what they mean for the telemedia industry, while also finding out more about the GSMA’s vision for the event
Time, space and tapas while mobile world congress is as an essential part of the calendar for the mobile industry as Christmas, this year delegates can expect a ‘new’ Mobile World Congress, still in the familiar city of BCN – as the locals call it, not Barca, that’s the football team – but in a new venue about 2km down the road. We won’t be able to walk around it on auto-pilot, but the change of venue is set to offer delegates a much better experience and is allowing the GSMA and its partners to really up the ante in terms of the show’s scope and impact. “The biggest change is going to be space,” explains Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSMA. “in 2012 we had some 70,000 square metres of exhibition, this new venue is already offering, in 2013, 94,000, with around 100 extra companies exhibiting, in a purpose built venue that will make for better conferencing and enhanced capacity all round.” As part of this enhanced capacity, the new venue offers some less tangible, but equally important new developments. There will be more restaurants, better wifi, a bigger media village and, to help re-create the aspects of the old venue that people have come to know and love, the GSMA has “invested heavily in green spaces and enhanced networking areas, to bring the best of the old out to the new site,” says O’Hara. On the ground this is going to mean much more of what
makes MWC such a great and all encompassing mobile event. It is also going to offer some great new experiences that really put the best of what mobile can do in the increasingly connected world on show. The NFC Experience is perhaps the biggest stand-out of the new venue. Here visitors will be able to see all the latest contactless technology in action and try it out. “There will be smart posters and tags, as well as all the latest technology in NFC in the NFC Experience,” says O’Hara. “There will also be some restaurants and bars – both on site and in the city – that are going to be taking NFC payments and, for those with NFC phones, there is the ability to have their badges on mobile and expedite their entry and exit to and from the show.” The new site also offers to the space to extend the GSMA’s highly successful Connected House concept from previous years to offer, in the new Hall 3, a Connected City. “This will feature a car show room, a department store, an electrical store, a hotel, an office, a town hall and a café that allow visitors to see how connected technology is set to revolutionise how we live,” says O’Hara. This will give people the space to see how technology – provided by GSMA partners AT&T, KT, Telenor, Vodafone and a host of other companies – works in the real world and what our digital future looks like.
SHOW PREVIEW
MWC 2013
WHAT’s HAPPENING? M-PAYMENTS a glance through the conference programme for Mobile Congress and you would be forgiven for thinking that m-commerce and m-payments were of fringe interest – restricted mainly to NFC. But perhaps the biggest challenge facing the mobile industry is the use of mobile devices to buy things. The value of digital and physical goods bought using mobile phones already topped $200billion globally in 2012, according to Juniper Research, spurred by increasing security and decreasing user concern over security, better devices, and user friendly apps and third party payment services, says the analyst. But the mobile operator industry could be poised to miss out. Forget NFC, that is not ever going to take off, its too complicated – instead, operators should be looking at how consumers are using mobile to buy and pay for things. There are a raft of third party payment solution providers, not to mention banks and card companies already making head-
way in this space. Its already a very competitive market, and any thoughts of ‘who owns the customer’ have flown out the window. Barclays PingIt, Visa Europe’s V.me and even, potentially, Apple’s Passbook, are all starting to gain some traction among consumers, while established payment intermediaries such as iTunes, Amazon 1-Click and PayPal are already bagging vast amounts of revenue through mobile web users shopping on apps, iStores and Amazon. And this is the problem faced by operators: consumers will associate this brands with mobile payments and translate that into how they actually do in store m-payments in the coming months. “Operator billing will be overtaken by other mobile payment systems in developed markets,” warns Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chair. Windsor Holden, research director at the analysts Juniper Research, agrees: “The market is still very much wide open. While we have a number of mobile wallet solutions now being deployed, as
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SHOW PREVIEW
MWC 2013
far as adoption goes it is still a nascent market. The level of awareness about the various options is still low. What is absolutely critical is educating the public that phones can be used in this way, and the winner will be the businesses who succeed in doing this and convincing both shoppers and vendors that it is easy to use.” Of course, services such as Barclays’ PingIt and other mobile wal-
lets require the mobile number as a proxy for bank account details and the SIM offers pretty much unrivalled security, but operators have been slow to capitalise on their unique billing relationship with consumers. And a look at the pitiful amount of time devoted to mobile commerce and payments at MWC is an indication that this isn’t about to change.
NEW ENTRANTS one of the key themes of last year’s Mobile World Congress was OTT services, with the event seeing a number of companies touting their wares to service providers, many people proclaiming that this was going to finally reduce operators to dumb pipes and the operators themselves looking at how they could actually capitalize on this move. In 2013, this move towards OTT will show no sign of abating, but on the back of the launch of Joyn at last year’s show, there is a major fight back from the operator community. And it makes sense. Why loose all that SMS traffic when you can use it to help people update social networks and so on, when wifi lets them down or there is no 3G? But as fast as the operator community are catching up with the OTT boom, they are being threatened by non-MNOs looking to take even more voice and ‘text’ traffic from them this year. And the main threat for 2013 is Facebook. “Facebook, under increasing pressure from its shareholders and with its growing base of mobile users – now more than half of all users – will make moves to monetize revenue from mobile beyond advertising,” say John Strand, founder and lead analyst at Strand Consult. “Keep in mind that most of Facebook’s ad revenue comes from North America, but its user base is growing in Africa, Asia and Latin American, where Facebook’s mobile ads for Americans are not relevant. We expect the world’s largest communication platform to look more seriously at monetizing opportunities in mobile products and services, both in acquisition of mobile technology firms and with business models including VoIP, MNVO and more.” In early January, Facebook began testing free calling over wifi and cellular data for all Messenger for iPhone users in Canada, and said that a US launch could be coming soon. The tests appear to have gone well — with a new free calling button has appeared in the app in Canada. Facebook has confirmed that the feature began rolling out to US users this month, and requires no update through the App Store. To make a call to another Messenger for iPhone user, all you need to do is open a conversation with that person, tap the “i” button in the top-right corner, and tap Free Call. “If you live in the US, you can now call other Facebook users for free over Wi-Fi or using your phone’s data connection”, said a Facebook spokesperson. A trip round MWC13, in its shiny new venue, should be undertaken x with a weather eye on who else is muscling in. Skype, like Facebook, is a natural threat, but one that has been kept at bay thus far, while the likes of What’sapp, and countless proprietary messaging technologies such as iMessage and BBM all face operators with a challenge.
And its not just telecoms services that will eat into operators bandwidth. “While operators have absorbed shocks from VoIP to their long distance revenues, new internet players such as Netflix now challenge their bandwidth, taking first place as the traffic hog in many countries,” says Strand. To add insult to injury, this type of new service not only erodes voice calling for operators, but pumps a load more data onto their networks, prompting Victor Basta, managing director of Magister Advisors, M&A advisors to the technology industry, to call MNOs “the digital drug mules of the 21st century”. re going to see some of the most challenging in memory for mobile network operators not just in Europe, but right across the globe. Economic turbulence, declining revenues and rising debt levels are piling pressure on the operators. And while they struggle to manage these conditions, they are fighting off increased competition from disruptive players and chasing growth along with global expansion. How can operators ensure they are ready to meet these challenges? The rapidly evolving marketplace has already led to major organisational change, but operators need to do more still to optimise their operating models for efficiency and competitive advantage in a global arena. Global operators have already started to harmonise their IT estate and process across their footprint, and we will see a continued trend for centralising everything within the business, from network and service operations all the way to buildings and business process. These developments present both an opportunity and a threat to smaller independent operators. These players face particular challenges, as they struggle to obtain competitive deals on network equipment, while their inability to purchase at scale limits access to the most sought-after smartphones and tablets in advance of their rivals. Access to capital for multinationals, able to raise money on the global stage, is also significantly cheaper than for those that need to raise money locally. The interest rates on borrowing can be eye watering compared to what the global operator networks enjoy. In addition, new products and services also require constant innovation, and the global operators are better-equipped to drive this between their various country operations. So how can the independent operators compete? They lack the scale to make significant cost and efficiency savings by consolidating their functions. However such consolidation carries the risk of becoming more remote to customers, and while global operators are driving down costs in this way local
SHOW PREVIEW
MWC 2013
players can seize the opportunity to maximise their local presence and knowledge. Consumer segmentation, personalised customer service and innovative local partnerships are just some of the areas where independent operators can focus their operating models to achieve competitive advantage.
Given the dramatic changes the industry is experiencing, both sets of operators will continue to face major challenges. However those that can optimise their operating models, whether it’s to drive efficiencies or differentiate their services, will be best-equipped to succeed.
NEW DEVICES according to GSMA Marketing Chief Michael O’Hara, one of the highlights of this years MWC will be the launch of a range of new devices and operating systems aimed at the developed and, perhaps more importantly, the developing markets of Africa, LatAm, Asia and China. The MEF’s Andrew Bud likens it to a “third mobile ecosystem” that is going to develop, with Windows Phone 8, Firefox OS, Mozilla for Mobile all taking centre stage at the show – just as well, as Nokia has already announced the cessation of production of Symbian products. Oh, and there is the launch of the make or break Blackberry 10 to entertain us: will it cut the mustard, or has that ship sailed? While Blackberry seeks to regain past glories, the show is also
going to see the arrival of devices targeting new demographics, such as Docomo’s smartphone developed for the burgeoning preteen (9 to 12 year old) market of m-commerce users in training. The rationale behind the device – made by Sharp initially just for the Japanese market – is that in wealthier markets the mainstream of those aged roughly 16 to 60 years old, is so highly penetrated, it makes sense to look at demographics at either end of the scale: older users or, in this case, the preteen market. And Docomo has demographic handset form. Last summer, it launched a Fujitsu-built smartphone targeted at older users. But while many handset makers and telcos are looking to exploit as yet untapped demographics, and with smartphone sales skyrocketing – 671 million smartphones shipped worldwide in
SHOW PREVIEW
MWC 2013
2012, according to Juniper Research – the real big developments in devices, particularly around services, apps, payments and commerce, is set to be played out on tablets. According to the Pew Research Centre in the US, 25% of US adults own a tablet computer of one form or another and in the run up to Christmas 2012, 59% of sales through mobile in the UK and US were on iPad, says Affiliate Window. And tablets offer their own set of challenges to mobile networks and developers. Consumers are still ‘deciding’ how they are going to use them, with many already opting for them as an at-home mobile device for shopping and surfing in front of the TV – so called couch commerce. This year’s MWC will offer some insight into how this can be exploited. But while much attention is focussed on rapidly expanding tablet use, it is smartphones that are still consuming the most data – and are set to be given a run for their money by LTE dongles – believes Arieso, a provider of intelligent, location aware solu-
tions. According to its research, smartphone users are consistently consuming more mobile data than tablet users. Out of the top ten most voracious devices (excluding dongles) six were smartphones, three tablets and one a ‘phablet’. Tablet users placed 4th, 8th and 9th. “This is pretty counterintuitive, but it seems the capabilities of the newest smartphones – not tablets - are unleashing even greater user demand. Once you move away from raw consumption statistics, the most remarkable finding is the way in which people use smartphones and tablets,” says Arieso CTO, Dr. Michael Flanagan. “Regardless of device type and operating system, there is very little variation in the usage ‘signature’ between smartphone users and between tablet users. From this we discover that voice-capable ‘phablets’ – like the Samsung Galaxy Note II - are currently being used like smartphones, not tablets. If you can use it to make a phone call, the ‘phablet’ won’t be much like a tablet at all.”
ALL YEAR ROUND when the gsma was looking for world cities to bid to host Mobile World Congress until 2017, part of what landed Barcelona the winning bid was its outline for realizing GSMA’s vision to extend the reach of the congress through the year and to touch not only the business to business community serviced by the February show, but also to showcase to consumers and ‘prosumers’ the reach of mobile. This, the formation of the Mobile World Capital, is getting underway this year, and is a promising start for what GSMA hopes will be a global initiative to widen the development of mobile technology, produce a connected world and – for Spain – place Barcelona right at the centre of mobile development. But what is Mobile World Capital and how will it work? Mobile World Capital is, in reality, a collection of ideas that aims to service the needs of the mobile industry through a programme of events and collaborative programmes of development with vertical industries, while showcasing what it can do to the public. “It is essentially a martrix with four zones,” explains Jesús Moreno Pinar, Marketing & Communications Director, Mobile World Capital. “Two temporary events, one for B2B, one for consumers, and two permanent activities, again one for B2B and one for consumers.” For the business community there is already Congress, which offers an annual opportunity to talk shop. “There will also then be the Mobile World Hub,” says Moreno Pinar, “which will be a permanent base for a programme of collaborative projects working on realizing goals in development of m-wallets, m-health, m-travel, content and
entertainment and community and life.” In the consumer space, the Mobile World Capital matrix offers a mobile festival as a one off annual event and the mobile world centre, which will essentially be a permanent exhibit of hands-on technology demos and lectures about mobile life. “Within these programmes, Barcelona seeks to offer expertise and mobile technology, mobile law, news, talent, interoperability and clustering, which wraps it all up,” says Moreno Pinar. By way of example, Moreno Pinar offers a programme in the mobile health sphere where doctors, insurance companies and mobile experts are working together to create personal health folders to help patients manage their health notes and to help doctors improve treatment and pharmaceutical needs and improve patient care. On the consumer side, GSMA is planning a music festival featuring top acts and leveraging mobile social technology to engage users both in Barcelona, where the festival will take place in September – “because,” says Moreno Pinar, “unlike February and congress, the weather is better” – to promote the entertainment aspects of mobile and show the world how connected mobile can make us all. On a more permanent basis, Barcelona will also be home to the Mobile World Centre, which seeks to offer a permanent exhibition of mobile technology to attract in pro-sumers from all vertical industries to let them see and try out the latest in mobile technology and to attend lectures and conferences that run throughout the year.
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