AIME Acts on Premium Rate "Scamsters"

The Association for Interactive Media & Entertainment (AIME) has brought together the UK’s leading mobile SMS aggregators (Terminating Providers) to fuse best practices, standards and guidelines which relate to the planning, deployment and management of premium rate mobile services.
AIME members, who are mobile Terminating Providers, and typically also Application Providers, have agreed a series of measures to reduce the incidence of Merchant Promoters (MP) who cause consumer harm by breaching the PhonepayPlus Code of Conduct and other regulations. The AIME members that commit to follow the Best Practice Guidelines have agreed to implement all steps and procedures contained in these guidelines.
12 Terminating Providers worked with AIME to develop the guidelines, and the first five to sign up are Zamano, mBlox, WIN Plc, 2ergo and Oxygen8.
“The Industry wants consumers to trust premium rate services. This trust is being undermined by a small number of Merchant Promoters who flout the regulations,” says AIME Vice Chairman,  Jeremy Flynn. “This Best Practice initiative is designed to assist mobile TPs avoid contracting with miscreant promoters. The industry working together can drive these ‘scamsters’ out of the UK market.” 
The Guidelines cover a series of requirements to ensure that TPs:

• Carry out due diligence on the MP in the same way that the PhonepayPlus 11th Code requires network operators to do so on technical service providers
• Carry out proactive searches to determine whether the MP or its directors have been involved in previous breach activities
• Run passport checks for MPs based overseas to validate identity
• Run bank account checks
• Carry out on-going monitoring and documentation of services to ensure compliance
• Create a compliance culture throughout the TP’s organisation, including sales team
• Provide PRS (Premium Rate Services) regulation training to all relevant parts of the organisation
• Suspend any out-payments to MPs as soon as a suspected breach is identified
• Commit to proactive and regular analysis of traffic reports

Declan Pettit, Managing Director of, Zamano, says:
“As with most Terminating Providers in this industry, Zamano have had regulatory issues with Merchant Providers in the past. Taking a collective view on board about lessons learnt, Zamano are delighted to support AIME’s initiative to set a minimum acceptable standard for the way Merchant Providers promote and operate their mobile services. Not only does it provide a benchmark for Due Diligence, it will also encourage the industry to embrace Compliance as a fundamental element in both their culture and processes going forward."

Miyowa in Preload Push

Mobile messaging solutions provider Miyowa has announced the launch of the Preloaded Instant Messaging (IM) Software Client Programme, whose purpose is to embed Miyowa’s messaging client software onto handsets for all the major mobile brands in the market.
Miyowa has also announced that the MoveMessenger software has been preloaded onto the new Sony Ericsson W595S and that it has secured major handset brand deals for the coming months.
The Preloaded Instant Messaging Software Client Programme aims at increasing the reach and mass-deployment of mobile IM technology, as well as the adoption of rich IM services by end-users all over the world.
A light and easy-to-port technology, MoveMessenger has already been ported onto 1,500 handsets over the past 18 months. Miyowa currently delivers its mobile messaging solutions to over 25 mobile operators worldwide.

MMA Launches Affiliate Program

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has launched an MMA Membership program specifically tailored for the affiliate marketer operating in the mobile space. The MMA Affiliate Member program has been created to benefit the Affiliate Marketers that follow the MMA’s Consumer Best Practices and Global Code of Conduct, and simultaneously address the increasing instances of poor user experience that result from misleading advertising practices in premium Shortcode programs. By becoming an MMA Affiliate Member, companies agree to follow MMA guidelines outlined in the U.S. Consumer Best Practices and Global Code of Conduct, and in turn, receive industry recognition that they are both educated in, and agree to abide by, industry self-regulation guidelines published and maintained by the MMA.
MMA Affiliate Members benefit by receiving education in recent policy and self-regulatory decisions, insight into MMA initiatives and networking opportunities. Mobile operators, content providers and aggregators have a trusted pool of acquisition marketers educated in the industry’s best practices. Consumers benefit from a dramatic reduction of misleading advertisements that do not comply with Consumer Best Practices.
In addition to the recent announcement that the MMA has incorporated Tier 1 US carrier  playbooks into the U.S. Consumer Best Practices document, the Affiliate Member program is part of a series of landmark initiatives that the MMA is launching to reduce the barriers to growth in the mobile marketing industry while enriching the consumer experience.
From inception, companies such as Mobile Messenger, VeriSign Messaging and Mobile Media, MX Telecom, PlayPhone, Cellfish Media and NextWeb Media have committed time, energy and support to the MMA Affiliate Members initiative.
“The Affiliate Members program is the latest example of how the MMA identifies and proactively addresses issues that affect both consumers and the mobile channel opportunity,” says MMA president and CEO, Mike Wehrs. “This new program is a win-win because it means more individuals will follow MMA guidelines and best practices, benefitting the ecosystem, while consumers will be better protected from misleading advertising while interacting with their mobile device.”
There’s more information about the new Affiliate Marketer membership, including registration and eligibility requirements, here.

3 Launches Mobile Broadband Advertising

Mobile operator 3 UK has opened up its mobile broadband ‘dashboard’ as advertising real-estate. The dashboard, which launches every time a user connects to the Internet via their 3 dongle, will be visible to more than 1 million mobile broadband users, and receives more than 30 million impressions every month.
The network is currently looking for the initial set of advertising partners to sign up until the end of 2009. Launch brands will have the option to receive in the region of 1-3 million impressions each month. 3 will sell the inventory direct, or through advertising agencies.
3 says that customer experience of the advertising will be simple and unobtrusive, in line with its ongoing mobile broadband proposition. Once the mobile broadband dongle is plugged into the USB port of a computer, the dashboard will automatically appear with the connection manager and advertising pane alongside. 3 claims to have the UK’s largest high speed mobile Internet infrastructure, and offers a range of mobile broadband packages.
Mobile broadband dashboard advertising has already been used with great success by 3 UK’s sister network in Austria, which is already running campaigns with brands such as VW, Suzuki, Kia, Peugeot, Mazda, Honda and Land Rover. 3 says that companies advertising in this way are seeing a clickthrough rate of up to 6%.
 “3 UK has always led the market when it comes to providing innovative advertising space on mobile, because we have a uniquely powerful network,” says 3 UK Head of Advertising, Neil Andrews. “This has allowed us to do some very interesting things with mobile content and the advertising surrounding this. Our mobile broadband offering is seeing a huge amount of uptake. This new opportunity presents brands with the opportunity of getting in front of a large target audience in a bold and visible manner.”

GetJar Passes 500m Downloads

Independent app store GetJar has revaled that more than a half billion applications have been downloaded from its store. The milestone is significant, says GetJar, because it proves that consumer demand for apps is becoming a truly global phenomenon. The company hosts almost 50,000 mobile applications, which are available in more than 200 countries.
The top apps downloaded from the site include the Opera Mini web browser, with almost 17 million downloads; eBuddy instant messaging (over 16 million); Nimbuzz mobile messaging (almost 14 million); mig33 mobile community (over 10 million); and Google Maps for mobile (over 5 million).
“GetJar’s success to date is the product of the innovation, hard work, and loyalty of our developer community – from small, two man teams in India to large-scale developers in the US or Europe,” says GetJar CEO and Founder, Ilja Laurs. “Making sure these developers have an open, free and quick way to get their content distributed globally is essential to provide the widest offering of quality apps to consumers.”

Adeye Powers Drinks Brands Promotions

Different World Drinks, a Molson Coors company established earlier this year to sell a range of specialist beers, including Kasteel Cru, Grolsch Weizen, Dos Equis, Blue Moon, White Shield and Zatec - is using mobile marketing services from Adeye to promote its brands.
Adeye is using a range of mobile marketing and live promotional techniques to help Different World Drinks showcase its beers at a boat launch in Bristol Docks for its top 30 regional customers today. Invitations and tickets for the event were sent out via SMS and recipients were directed to a new mobile site developed by Adeye to get the latest information about Different World Drinks beer brands, as well as the chance to win a meal for two at Smith’s of Smithfield.
Bluetooth technology will also be used on the boat to promote brands direct to guests’ mobile phones, while an interactive application will deliver a multimedia brochure designed for mobile, that can be viewed during or after the event.
“We have been working with Adeye on a number of exciting initiatives that integrate new mobile marketing campaigns with our traditional print and in-bar marketing,” says Molson Coors Sales Manager, Gavin Hogg. “Mobile is definitely the way forward for our industry and also allows us to build valuable marketing data and help our clients target customers directly, wherever they are.”

Nimbuzz Updates iPhone App

Nimbuzz has announced updates to its iPhone & iPod touch application, as well as a new desktop client for Apple Mac computers. Nimbuzz enables friends to call and chat with each other for free. They can access their favorite instant messaging and social networks with one login and from one location, using the internet or wi-fi. Today’s announcement brings Nimbuzz’ product to Mac desktops and laptops, in addition to the iPhone, iPod touch and a wide range of other handsets.
Nimbuzz says it has seen an average 848% growth in downloads of its iPhone & iPod touch apps in key European markets since the iPhone OS 3.0 update. It is one of just 5% of apps to boast more than 100,000 active users. Nimbuzz says the launch of its comprehensive Apple suite underlines its commitment to the Apple platform.
The iPhone and iPod touch app upgrade enables iPhone users to share photos, music and videos with their contacts. Files are stored online, saving device memory and making them easily accessible from different access points. They can also be saved on the device, on demand and for free.
Nimbuzz has also integrated Push Notification into the update, with home screen alerts of incoming calls or chats, effectively keeping users available to the rest of the world, even though the app itself has been closed. There’s also a new buddy list layout, featuring an intelligent display of avatars and presence information, including which community a friend belongs to and if that person is currently online on a mobile phone or computer. Location Sharing is also now  available on the iPhone application, allowing Nimbuzz buddies to share and retrieve their physical locations on a map.
“We love the design and the flawless usability of Apple products,” says Nimbuzz CEO, Evert-Jaap Lugt, CEO of Nimbuzz. “A large proportion of our already substantial iPhone fan base are also Mac users and have been asking for a bespoke version of Nimbuzz for their desktop and laptop Macs. As a result, we have worked closely with our users to ensure our suite of iPhone & Mac products work seamlessly together, matching the familiar design and UI style of Apple products.”

PR Firm Launches Mobile Apps Division

US PR firm VSC Consulting, which represents AdMob and Greystripe among others, has announced the launch of a new division focusing exclusively on iPhone, Blackberry, Android and other mobile application developers in need of mass market awareness “at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising”.
With over 250,000 applications now available on major platforms, VSC says its new division, ApplaunchPR, will use sound creative programs to cut through the noise and raise visibility surrounding an application’s launch and distribution.VSC has handled well over a dozen mobile application launches since 2002.
“VSC's Applaunch program provides a critical promotional service missing in the ecosystem today,” says Jason Spero, General Manager, North America at AdMob. “They secured strong media coverage and speaking opportunities for AdMob when we launched our iPhone advertising network. This was a critical moment for AdMob and the quality work from VSC played an important role in our success.”
According to Vijay Chattha, “Chief Talker” of VSC's AppLaunchPR division, the days of relying on carriers or major distributors for marketing are gone. He says:
“The most successful apps are built by small teams who create highly interactive applications, but need major marketing and PR muscle to get recognized.”We’ve seen the dramatic impact that the right marketing program can have on individual apps and it’s often cited as the difference between success and failure.”

Shazam Goes Down a Storm

Shazam has launched its mobile music discovery application on the BlackBerry Storm. The app features full SurePress touchscreen support and is available to BlackBerry Storm users in the UK, US and Canada. Users can choose from a free, basic version of Shazam with limited functionality, or a full-featured version for $4.99 or £5 one-off fee. The full-featured version includes unlimited Tags, Tag charts, recommendations for similar tracks, biographies of artists, reviews of tagged music, discographies and the option to buy and share discovered music.
Shazam is currently offering a free, seven-day trial of the full-featured version.  All of Shazam’s applications for BlackBerry phones are now available for download directly from Shazam’s mobile website (http://is.gd/IWHh on the BlackBerry browser) and on BlackBerry App World.

QR Codes? Nah, Give ‘em Some Money

Hats off to Coca-Cola for its latest mobile campaign (see story below). The promotional blurb for the campaign describes it as an industry first, and while it may not seem like the most sophisticated sales promotion campaign ever devised, industry first is indeed a fair description, in the UK at least. Elsewhere, operators like Turkcell have gone out to brands and pitched them with promotions where the brand buys a tranche of texts or talk time and then gives it away to consumers as part of a promotion, but over here, up until now, the idea never seems to have caught on.
Which is odd, because when you take two facts as a given, the first being that teenagers love their mobile phones, and the second being that they never have enough credit, then the idea of giving them free credit when they buy a can of pop seems like a no-brainer.
Personally, I hope this campaign is a raging success, and that if it is, Coca-Cola shares the results with the rest of the industry. Then when people who know their mobile stuff, like Helen Keegan for example, say that we should not get too caught up in the technology around mobile marketing, and devise campaigns that offer consumers real benefit, without too much effort on their part, we will finally have the proof that, as I suspect, she is absolutely right.
When we hear so much talk about how many billions the mobile advertising market is going to be worth by 2012, giving someone 50p phone credit when they buy a can of pop sounds so humdrum, so mundane, that the genius of this campaign could be easily overlooked. But as we all know, the best ideas are often the most simple. This is as simple as they come, and for that reason, I hope, and believe, it will go down a storm.

David Murphy
Editor

Coke Promo Offers Mobile Credit

Coca-Cola Great Britain has announced a promotion designed specifically for its teen audience, offering consumers of its Fanta, Dr Pepper and Sprite brands 50p free mobile credit with every purchase.
The promotion, running across all mobile networks, recognises that mobile usage continues to grow amongst the teen audience and Coca-Cola says it has used this insight to give them a reward they really want, free mobile credit.
The Every Pack Gets 50p mobile credit promotion will run for approximately one month, from mid-July until stocks last. During this time, consumers will receive 50p free credit from every 330ml can and 500ml bottle of Fanta, Dr Pepper and Sprite they purchase. Each can and bottle will carry a special code, the first of which should be redeemed online at a bespoke website, gimmecredit.co.uk. Subsequent codes can be redeemed by returning to the website or via SMS to 85888. Credit will be added to the consumer’s account within 48 hours.
The offer can be redeemed against all major network operators on pay as you go and contract phones. Each consumer can claim credit a maximum of eight times (equal to £4) during the promotion. Every Pack Gets 50p Mobile Credit is aimed at the core 16-plus teen market in the UK.
The promotion will be featured at the end of the latest Dr Pepper TV ad campaign, with a special 10-second tag, and will feature in a high profile outdoor activity. The promotion will also be supported by a peer-to-peer sampling campaign, which will see 16-20 year old brand fans talking about the promotion within their peer groups online.
To add to the on-shelf cut through, and to help consumers identify with the promotion, there will be new bespoke packaging designs across the three variants, which will be on shelf from the end of July for a limited time.
“We are always looking at innovative ways to engage with our teen consumers,” says Coca-Cola Great Britain Marketing Director, Cathryn Sleight. “We know mobiles are integral to their lives and we wanted to bring them both value and a point of difference that will fully engage them with the promotion."

Last Call for AIME's Mobile Web Event

There’s still just about time to register for AIME’s seminar: ‘Mobile Internet: It’s more than just WAP and the iPhone’. The event takes place tomorrow, 16 July at the Grange Fitzrovia Hotel, London, and features speakers from Al Jazeera Network, Wapple, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Net Mobile (formerly Minick UK).
Safdar Mustafa, Head of Mobile at Al Jazeera, will explain why mobile is integral to Al Jazeera’s overall web strategy, and how a multimedia organisation uses mobile at the heart of its digital operations both for news gathering, and to encourage viewers to interact with programmes.
Rich Holdsworth, CTO at Wapple, will discuss how platform developers like Wapple are meeting the demands of publishers and other companies who require a mobile web presence, while Jon Mew, Head of Mobile at the IAB, will present an overview of the size of the mobile ad market, and look at the effectiveness of mobile advertising. This will include IAB’s two recent research projects on ad spend and mobile effectiveness.
Lourens de Beer, Managing Director or event sponsor Net Mobile UK, will wrap things up with a presentation on new developing trends in managing mobile Internet services for mobile network operators, and explain how his company is enabling key value-added mobile Internet services for a range of companies interested in leveraging their web presence to the mobile Internet.
Following the presentations, there will be a panel-audience debate, led by AIME Director of Communications, Andrew Darling. Topics for discussion include:

• What makes mobile different from the fixed line Internet experience?
• What more is there to the Mobile Internet than just the iPhone?
• Best practice/development and design issues, including interface and usability affecting your strategy
• Optimization for multi OS world and content adaptation
• Maximising the strength of the mobile device
• Challenges, such as data costs and network speeds, interoperability, consumer education, a lack of standards and the premium rate Legacy
• Where will mobile be in 2-3 years time?

The seminar starts at 6.30pm, with registration open from 6pm, followed by networking in the bar from 8pm. The cost is £50 for AIME members, £80 for non-members, or £90 on the door. You can register here.

WIN Launches Enterprise Text-to-Tweet Service

WIN plc, which provides interactive mobile entertainment and information services, has announced that its Enterprise Platform is the first to offer text message-to-Tweet conversion. 
Organisations using the WIN platform will now be able to offer customers the choice of texting a Tweet. The Tweet will then be automatically posted to one or more Twitter feeds, in addition to other mediums of the user’s choice. The Twitter feed will therefore provide a point of interaction for all customers presenting the organisation with a single customer view.
WIN says the service has been used extremely successfully at a number of recent mashup* events where a video wall displays questions and observations received directly from the audience (both inside the room and on the web) live to the debate and discussion. Questions posed by event attendees and the online audience by text are sent to a specific number which converts the text to a Tweet which is then posted to the event Twitter feed and the video wall. Twitter users can post to the same video wall using a designated # tag.
“Twitter is a global phenomenon,” says WIN CEO Graham Rivers. “With an estimated 10 million users worldwide, it is the fastest growing social network and one of the best ways for organisations to interact with specific audiences. The service, which integrates seamlessly with existing systems, provides a new and exciting channel for organisations to interact with its customers.”
 Tony Fish Co-founder of mashup* adds:
“WIN have been a long term supporter of mashup* with the provision of their enterprise SMS service. Incorporating Twitter is a fantastic addition to the overall WIN offering for enterprise customers.”

Datawind Unveils PocketSurfer3

Datawind has launched the PocketSurfer3 and PocketSurfer3 Lite, the latest versions of its web-browsing devices. Both units now incorporate a Linux operating system, providing users with the the basic functionality of a simple computer, including word processing, spreadsheets and scheduling. Both also feature an improved high resolution, active matrix TFT screen. The PocketSurfer3 retails at £199.99 and the PocketSurfer3 Lite at £159.99, and will be available in early August.
Users now get 30 hours a month free surfing in the UK (a 10-hour increase) for the first year, and roaming in Europe at 5p per minute. Basic usage for the second year would cost a maximum of £29.99 for the year. Heavy users can opt for unlimited access for £5.99 a month, or unlimited use of the Internet for the lifetime of the product for £59.99.
Both units come with an embedded GPRS antenna and SIM card. Datawind says its patented acceleration technology means that page load times are faster than any other handheld device on a mobile network, at five to seven seconds per page.
The PocketSurfer allows users to browse the web in its original HTML layout, with full graphics, Java support and other web functionality on a full colour, five-inch 640 x 240 TFT screen. The PocketSurfer3 also has a touchpad mouse pointer that improves navigability around the screen. It also sports a backlit QWERTY keyboard for instant messaging and email, and has built-in GPS.

Virgin and Samsung in V-Festival Giveaway

Virgin Media, headline sponsor of this year’s V-Festival, has teamed up with official phone partner Samsung Mobile to give away over 1,000 tickets to the festival.
This year’s event sold out within two hours of the tickets going on sale, with 186,000 tickets sold in the first 90 minutes. The Virgin/Samsung giveaway offers free tickets to consumers buying new Samsung phones on the Virgin Media network. 
The first 1,000 pay monthly consumers who choose the Samsung Tocco Lite on the £18-per-month contract from Virgin Media will get unlimited texts and 250 minutes, or unlimited web access, 500 texts and 150 minutes, plus a free day ticket to V-Festival Chelmsford.
Customers buying a Samsung C3050 in July on Virgin Media pay as you go are in with the chance of winning the ‘ultimate V Festival experience’ in a prize draw. The winner will be whisked away, along with five of their friends, for a VIP weekend at V-Festival, Chelmsford. The prize includes a personal Winnebago on site for relaxing after a hard day’s partying, the ‘Virgin Angel’ concierge service, and the chance to watch one V-Festival act from stage side. 50 runners-up will win a pair of weekend tickets to V-Festival, Chelmsford.

Apple Celebrates 1.5bn Downloads

Apple is celebrating more than 1.5 billion applications in the first year from its App Store. The App Store is also growing fast, with more than 65,000 apps and more than 100,000 developers now in the iPhone Developer Program.
“The App Store is like nothing the industry has ever seen before in both scale and quality,” says Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. “With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up.”
The App Store has more than 65,000 apps to consumers in 77 countries. It works with both iPod touch and the iPhone. Apple has so far shipped over 40 million of both device types.

Volvo Turns to QR Codes

Ad-serving firm Eyeblastermedia agency Mindshare have been running a QR (Quick Response) Code campaign for Volvo, promoting the company’s Volvo Ocean Race Special Edition cars. QR Codes have been used in Volvo ads in magazines and newspapers around Europe (including The Observer, Newsweek, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, La Repubblica and El Pais, among others). QR technology was provided through HH&S.
The ads offer a shortcode to text in to in order to receive a link to download a QR Code reader application. The consumer then captures the QR Code using the app, and receives a link which routes them via the Eyeblaster server to the official Volvo Ocean Race mobile site. There, they were presented with live updates, race news and images illustrating how the race, which finished at the end of June, was progressing. Using Eyeblaster’s Campaign Monitor solution, Mindshare was able to measure the response to the campaign in real time, though as yet, it says no campaign results are available. A pity, as the received wisdom seems to be that while QR Codes are undoubtedly very cool, the fact that most people need to download a barcode reader to interact with them means that response rates to QR Code campaigns are likely to be low. If Mindshare has some stats to prove otherwise, it would be nice, and actually rather useful for those pushing QR Codes as a viable mobile campaign tool, to see them.

Banner Ad Numbers Rise, and Fall

BuzzCity, which provides wireless communities and consumer services, has announced the results of its quarterly Global Mobile Advertising Index for Q2, 2009, which show an annual rise, but a quarelty fall, in the number of mobile banner ads served.
The figures show that the global recession is having some effect on mobile advertisers, but that mobile advertising continues its strong overall growth. The Index represents inventory sold across the BuzzCity Mobile Advertising Network in more than 200 countries globally and documents the usage of the mobile Internet in these markets.
In the second quarter of 2009, the BuzzCity Mobile Advertising Network delivered 7.5 billion paid advertising banners, a year-on-year increase of almost 80% across the network. Although strong, however, the numbers represent a decline of 10% compared to the previous quarter, due to 600 million fewer impressions on the network in Indonesia, BuzzCity’s largest market. This drop resulted from Indonesian operators tightening controls on subscription services on mobile phones. Despite the decline, advertiser interest in Indonesian audiences remained and kept this market in top position. Key developing markets such as India, S. Africa, Saudi Arabia and Kenya continue to grow.
India continued its growth trend, exceeding 1 billion banners delivered in the last quarter, and securing its position at number two in the rankings. The UK rose four places on the last quarter to 5th, reflecting increased advertiser interest in off-portal advertising. Saudi Arabia also saw 63% growth on the last quarter, jumping 10 spots to number nine. 
BuzzCity also reports growth in Europe, with three countries appearing in the Top 20 for the first time. These include the United Kingdom, which grew by 17% compared to Q1, 2009), France (up 26%) and Italy (up 23%).
The table below hows the top 10 countries by the number of paid advertising banners delivered in each, with the growth compared to Q1, 2009 results, shown in brackets:

1. Indonesia: 3.78 billion (-14%)
2. India: 1.07 billion (+28%)
3. United States: 487 million (-8%)
4. South Africa: 461 million (+8%)
5. United Kingdom: 133 million (+17%)
6. Philippines: 124 million (-1%)
7. Egypt: 108 million (-34%)
8. China: 95 million (-27%)
9. Saudi Arabia: 92 million (+63%)
10. Kenya: 92 million (+15%)

“Advertiser demand in developed markets continues to increase and has contributed to year on year growth of 80%,” says BuzzCity CEO, KF Lai. “This is significant for the industry and shows that advertisers in these markets are still recognizing the value of mobile Internet advertising.”
BuzzCity tracks the growth of the network and, by extension, the growth of off-portal mobile Internet use, on more than 2,000 publisher sites globally.

118 800 Mobile Directory Service Suspended

Let the street parties begin. 118 800, which has managed to create just about as bad a brand image for itself as any company could manage in the space of just over four weeks, has suspended its mobile phone directory enquiry service after its website seemingly found itself unable to cope with the number of people trying to opt out of the service.
A notice on the company’s website says that the service is suspended “while we undertake major developments to our 'Beta Service' to improve the experience for our customers. We'll be back as soon as possible with the new improved service.”
Mmm. I’ve not entirely convinced that many people out there could give two hoots whether the service ever sees the light of day again. In fact, speaking purely from my own personal experience, I think most people would be happy to see it die a not very slow death.
To explain, I’ve just received my third round robin email from the third different friend, advising me that there is now a directory of every mobile phone number in the country and that if I don’t want to start getting spam phone calls or texts on my mobile, I should unsubscribe from it.
When the storm over the service, branded 118 800 and operated by a company called Connectivity, first broke a few weeks ago, we contacted them and got the impression that they were not so much unscrupulous as perhaps a little naïve.
They don’t in fact, have every mobile phone number in the country. They claim to have around 15 million, collected when people have registered their mobile number for a competition and either agreed to have it passed on to third party companies, or not bothered to check the small print. So when I searched for my own number, for example, it seems they have it, which is hardly surprising given the number of times I have registered my phone number to see what a particular competition or campaign was all about. When I tried my wife’s they didn’t, as she would no sooner enter a competition via her mobile phone than attend a live football match. 
But the perception out there is clearly that there is this scummy company trying to make money by selling your mobile phone details. Hence all the emails from friends trying to do each other a favour. The one I got this morning said that it is currently impossible to make your number ex-directory as the servicve is unavailable, and indeed, a quick clickthrough to the 118 800 website revealed that the entire service is “suspended while we make improvements”.
The message helpfully advises consumers not to call the company on the 118 800 number for anything other than landline directory requests as they will be charged for the call. But as we noted almost a month ago, it’s somewhat surprising that a company in the business of giving out phone numbers doesn’t have one for its own switchboard on its website.
What must have looked like a licence to print money has quickly turned into a disastrous launch for 118 800. To suspend the service while improvements are made is one, arguably positive move, but to make it impossible for consumers to opt out at the same time strikes me as nothing short of stupid. In fact, if, as it seems, the website can’t cope with the number of opt-out requests it’s been getting, that’s a slightly different point, but if the tech team (presumably there is one) behind the service could not foresee this scenario on 10 June when the original story broke, then you have to wonder what they’re playing at.
How much damage this whole affair has done to the concept of mobile marketing among people not currently converted to the idea is a moot point. If nothing else, it should reinforce the point, often made, that the mobile is such a personal device that you invade its privacy at your peril. I for one will be interested to see, if 118 800 survives its botched launch, how many mobile numbers it has left to trade once the dust settles.

David Murphy
Editor

Touchnote Up For MobileBeat Prize

Touchnote, the company that turns mobile photos into real postcards, has been selected as a finalist for the MobileBeat2009 Top Startup Competition for its yet-to-be-unveiled ‘TouchnoteThis for Mobile’ service. Touchnote is one of 14 companies shortlisted for the prize.
Touchnote will be unveiling the application at MobileBeat2009, which takes place this Thursday, 16 July, at Parc 55 hotel in San Francisco
“As a company which has only been around since October 2008, and only launched its first mobile application in April 2009, it’s extremely exciting to be shortlisted at such a prestigious event,” says Touchnote CEO, Raam Thakrar. “We’re very proud of the strides we’ve made in just nine months.”

2ergo Offers Security Advice

Following the recent announcement of an investigation into the mobile phone hacking operation allegedly perpetrated by the News of the World, Mike Hawkes, Director of Innovations at 2ergo and Director of Security for the Mobile Data Association, has compiled a list of top tips for consumers and businesses who want to prevent unauthorised access of their private information...

1. Consider how information is stored on your handset. If you were to lose your handset, would someone else be able to easily access passwords, bank details, or other personal details?

2. Ensure your handset is password-protected and, if possible, encrypted.

3. Change your voice mail password. Users who fail to set a voice mail password are opening the door to would-be data thieves into their mail box, as networks will set all voice mail services with a default password that will remain the same until the user changes it directly.

4. Think before you accept downloads pushed to you. In the same way that you wouldn’t download a programme from an unfamiliar source onto your computer, users need to consider the source of the content before installing on their handsets.

5. If your handset can access wi-fi, Bluetooth or other unprotected networks, think about the content you send and receive. While your provider network will protect you when you are accessing information on its network, any content you send or receive when connected to external networks like wi-fi is not secure.

6. Consider using one of a range of programmes that can help protect data from unauthorised use both on your mobile handset and when in transit.

“This crisis has exposed once and for all the necessity for both individuals and consumers to protect content on their mobile handsets,” says 2ergo Managing Director, Chris Brassington. “Mobiles now act as laptops as well as phones. Make sure you are aware of the sheer extent of personal data you are storing and exchanging on your mobile, and take steps to prevent that from getting into the wrong hands. 2ergo has invested millions in innovating mobile security technology as it is critical to ensure everyone can benefit from the huge potential of mobile.”

O2 Offers Free Twitter Alerts

O2 has announced an agreement with Twitter which will allow O2 customers to receive SMS alerts from Twitter for free from August. This joins existing agreements O2 has with Facebook and Bebo, meaning that O2 customers can enjoy free SMS alerts from all three social networking sites.
The Twitter deal allows O2 customers to receive tweets from chosen friends, @mentions, and direct messages via SMS. They can also send and reply to tweets by text which will come from their bundle or be charged at the standard network rate. Customers can already access their Twitter account using their mobile phone and as part of the agreement, Twitter’s mobile site will be heavily promoted on O2 Active.
O2 notes that social networking over mobile is currently experiencing phenomenal growth. Over 1 million customers per month now access social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook using O2 Active. This is in addition to the hundreds of thousands of iPhone customers who have downloaded social networking applications. Over 12 million messages from Facebook are received by O2 customers every month.
“We believe that mobile will soon become the most popular way of accessing social networking sites, giving real time access to tweets and status updates wherever you are,” says Antony Douglas, Head of Content at O2. “The agreements we now have in place with Twitter and the other key sites brings this a step closer, making it quick and easy for O2 customers to access their favourite social networks straight from their mobile.”
O2 says the agreement with the network in the UK will form a framework for future agreements between Twitter and Telefónica operations globally.

Lonely Planet in Nokia Tie-up

Lonely Planet is making its award-winning guidebook content available to travellers with Nokia devices. Travellers can access over 75,000 geo-coded Lonely Planet attractions, restaurants and hotels, including destination information on history, culture and getting around when they download Ovi Maps’ City Explorer.
With content for over 1,000 destinations now available, and more to come, Lonely Planet and Ovi Maps have many of the world’s most popular destinations covered. The location-based content enables travellers to know where they are and what’s around them, with the ability to find restaurants, bars, shops and hotels via their mobile device, using Nokia’s live 3D maps.
Lonely Planet is a premium travel partner for Ovi Maps’ City Explorer, and the product is the latest collaboration in an ongoing partnership which began last year with customised downloadable mobile city guides.
Nokia devices which come with Ovi Maps 3.0 will have City Explorer preloaded,meaning that users will have access to the geo-coded Lonely Planet content for free. People with a Nokia device which has Maps 2.0 can upgrade to Ovi Maps 3.0 to access the content.
“I’m thrilled that we’ve been able to go one step further with our Nokia relationship and make significantly more of our content accessible to travellers,” says Lonely Planet Publications CEO, Stephen Palmer. “Lonely Planet is always looking for immersive technologies which help travellers get to the heart of a destination. This partnership opens up a new way of reaching more people more often. In effect, tens of millions of Nokia handset users will have a Lonely Planet service in their pocket, always on and always with them.”
Later this year, devices pre-loaded with the new version of Ovi Maps will be available. Lonely Planet content can be accessed in online mode by viewing the details of specific Lonely Planet points-of-interest. Users can view their location on the map, and use real-time Walk or Drive navigation to get there.

Mobile Asia Congress Line-up Revealed

The GSM Association (GSMA) has revealed details of the speaker line-up for the 2009 Mobile Asia Congress, to be held 18 - 19 November 2009, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event will include keynote presentations from the CEOs of some of the world’s largest and most influential mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Unicom, NTT DOCOMO, SoftBank Mobile, Telenor and Zain. The GSMA is also accepting nominations for the 2009 Asia Mobile Awards, which will be presented at the event.
“The Mobile Asia Congress will bring together the leadership of mobile operators and key players in the broader Asian mobile ecosystem in an exclusive forum for sharing the visions and strategies that will shape the mobile future,” says GSMA Chief Marketing Officer, Michael O’Hara. “We’re delighted that these executives are able to participate in our conference programme – all Mobile Asia Congress attendees will benefit from the perspectives and keen insights that our keynote speakers will offer.”
Keynote speakers so far confirmed include Manoj Kohli, President and CEO of Bharti Airtel; Wang Jianzhou, Chairman and CEO of China Mobile; Ryuji Yamada, President and CEO of NTT DOCOMO; Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group; and Dr. Saad Al Barrak, CEO of Zain Group
The Asia Mobile Awards are designed to highlight and reward the latest change-driving products, services and initiatives from across the Asia mobile ecosystem. The 10 categories include Best Mobile Music Service; Best Mobile Advertising or Marketing; Best Mobile Money Service; Best Mobile Internet Service; and the ‘Green Mobile’ award.
The Awards are judged by an independent panel comprising leading journalists, analysts and academics from across the region. They are open to organisations from across the industry value chain that provide mobile products and services that are commercially available today in at least one Asian market. The deadline for the submission of nominations is Tuesday, 15 September 2009. Winners will be recognised at an awards ceremony on Wednesday, 18 November at the event. Additionally, and for the first time, winners of the Asia Mobile Awards will be automatically shortlisted for the GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards, which will be presented at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, in February 2010. There’s more information about the Awards, including online entry forms, here.
The Asia Tournament of the GSMA’s 2010 Mobile Innovation Grand Prix competition – a category of the GSMA’s Global Mobile Awards 2010 - will also take place at the Mobile Asia Congress. The Mobile Innovation Grand Prix was created with the primary goal of showcasing promising entrepreneurs from small and medium-sized companies who are introducing innovative products and services. During the Asia event, companies from the region will compete in various categories, reviewed by a judging panel made up of senior executives from mobile operators and venture capital firms. Two overall winners from the Asia leg will win a trip to compete for the Mobile Innovation Grand Prix title at Mobile World Congress.

Netsize mPayment Tops €300m

Mobile commerce and communications enabler Netsize has revealed that the total value of transactions billed through Netsize mPayment, its mobile and online billing solution, reached €300 million in 2008, a new high for the company. Netsize mPayment processes more than 25 million transactions each month, covering more than 100 mobile operators in 28 countries. The company says it has seen an 800% year-on-year growth in transaction volumes, mainly due to growth in mobile Internet and WAP services.
“The automatic and transparent consumer authentication makes mobile purchasing easy and avoids users having to open an online account,” says Netsize Chairman and CEO, Stanislas Chesnais. “The secured transaction is initiated from a single click without entering sensitive data.”
The mPayment solution also includes an analytics component. mPayment Analytics provides customers with a billing and payment dashboard with three statistics views. The summary view shows the key performance indicators, such as revenue and transaction quantity, split by country and handset model. The real-time statistics view shows all processed transactions, allowing users to filter by up to 20 criteria.  The customized statistics view enables users to build the view by service, country, operator, or business model (subscription or pay-per-use).

Mobile Coupons Launch in Swindon

Swedish mobile startup Kaskado is piloting a mobile discount scheme in Swindon, in conjunction with inSwindon, a local retail association. 15 shiops are involved in the scheme, which according to Kaskado, attracted around 200 users in the first week.
The scheme is being promoted in-stor and in ads in local papers. Initially, the system is web-based, but Kaskado says it is working on versions for the iPhone and Android devices, which could include location-based recommendations. After registering on Kaskado.com, users pick their city and can access the various promotions. After the first registration, you go to the website on your phone, select the offer uyou want to use, then show it to the retailer when you arrive in store. Offers include money off in resturants, plus 2-for-1 deals, free coffees and other, similar deals. McDonalds, which was an early uswer of mobile marketing at the turn of the century, is one of the participating outlets.
The retailers have access to a backend system where they can access, edit, modify and track their promotions. They can also use the system to upload images, create new promotions, set their budgets and launch their campaigns. Once the campaign is up and running, they can see statistics such as impressions, views, and usage.

comScore Focuses on Mobile Financial Services

comScore has released its inaugural study of the mobile financial services industry. The comScore report, ‘Mobile Financial Services: The Market Today & Opportunities for Tomorrow’, looks at the current state of the industry and mobile financial users, and highlights areas for potential growth in this rapidly evolving market. In conjunction with the report, comScore is hosting a supplemental webinar on 30 July, which will provides additional industry insights from comScore’s analysts.
The report leverages multiple comScore data sources to provide a comprehensive view of the mobile financial services market, including an overview of the current US mobile landscape, and insights into the mobile banking, credit card, insurance and brokerage sectors.
The report notes that mobile financial services adoption is highly dependent upon device technology and high bandwidth (3G) networks. A study of how mobile users access their banking accounts found that mobile web browsing ranked as the most popular method for both Smartphone (44.%) and 3G users (53.%), followed closely by mobile applications (48.1% of 3G users and 40.6% of Smartphone users).
The relative parity among usage of browsers vs. applications for access to mobile banking indicates the growing importance of ease of use for accessing accounts and conducting transactions. Interestingly, the percentage of mobile bankers who used SMS for access to their account information was substantially higher among 3G users (41%) than Smartphone users (25%).
“The increasing adoption of Smartphones and access to 3G networks, along with the rapid development of mobile apps, have created a fertile environment for the acceleration of mobile banking,” says comScore Senior Director, Marc Trudeau. “A seamless mobile banking user experience is necessary for this behaviour to take hold, and the convergence of the aforementioned technologies is now making mobile phones a viable access point for personal banking transactions. Financial institutions hoping to capitalize on this quickly emerging consumer banking trend need to be ahead of the curve and understand how consumers are using the mobile channel today, and how they would like to use it in the future.” 
The comScore report offers an insight into the usage patterns of mobile financial services users, including their preferred points of access. 31% of mobile customers access their financial accounts primarily from home, even though many households have PC-based Internet available as well. Another 25% conduct transactions when running errands, while 15% do so during their commute. 9% of respondents indicated that they primarily access their accounts while on vacation, and 8% do so primarily while travelling for business.
You can get more information about the report, and register for the webinar, here.

Orange in DRM-free Music Move

Orange is to offer up to 2 million Digital Rights Management (DRM)-free music downloads for customers across Europe in a major refresh of its dual mobile and web portal service, the Orange Music Store. 
The new-look ‘Web and Wap’ music store went live in the UK last week, giving customers access to over 700,000 DRM-free tracks through a simpler interface. In a gradual roll-out, Orange will convert its entire catalogue of 2 million tracks from rights-protected to DRM-free. 
The Orange Music Store, first launched in 2005 and present in nine markets, already gives customers dual access on web and mobile to the full catalogue of 2 million downloadable tracks from the world’s largest record companies, including Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music, as well as prominent indie labels.  
All the tracks that appear in the store will now be DRM-free. Customers only need to make one payment to receive two files: a DRM-free MP3 file for the PC and an over-the-air (OTA) download for the mobile phone. They can then use their purchased music however they like, whether listening to it on their mobile phone, sharing it with another PC, burning it to CD or transferring to a personal MP3 player.
Following the UK launch, the new DRM-free Orange Music Store will open in France, Switzerland, Romania, Slovakia, Portugal and other countries throughout 2009. It will have a clearer and simpler format, with enhanced browsing and navigation to make it easier to discover and download music.
“There’s huge consumer appetite for music on the move, and with our DRM-free music catalogue and the new-look Music Store, we have effectively removed all the current barriers preventing customers from enjoying music the way they want to,” says Orange Vice-President of Music, Laurence Le Ny. “By providing a more seamless experience across PC and mobile, our music partners can make their content available to millions of European customers, letting them enjoy a vast collection of music any way they want.”
At launch customers can enjoy DRM-free music through the new portal. In the next phase, the Orange Music Store will also feature improved search, faster billing processes, personalized recommendations, user community features and more.

Smith Takes Orange Brand Role

Orange UK has appointed Ian Smith as its new Head of Brand Communications. Smith will be responsible for Orange’s advertising, digital and media strategy. He replaces Spencer McHugh, who has been appointed UK Brand Director of Orange. 
Smith joined Orange UK in 2003 as Advertising Manager, moving up to the role of Head of Media, where he delivered a number of successful campaigns across all media, and appointed MEC to handle Orange’s media planning and buying business. In September 2008, he took on the role of acting Head of Brand and Sponsorship Partnerships where he led Orange’s strategy in this area and maintained existing partnerships including Orange Wednesdays, the Orange British Academy Film Awards and Orange RockCorps.
Smith’s previous role as Head of Brand and Sponsorship Partnerships has been taken by Hattie Magee.

GSMA RCS Goes Live in S. Korea

The GSM Association (GSMA) has revealed that the world’s first interoperable enhanced communication service, incorporating key elements of the GSMA’s Rich Communication Suite (RCS) specifications, is now a live commercial service in S. Korea. The GSMA’s RCS initiative is supported by some of the world’s leading handset vendors, core network vendors and mobile operators, including KT and SK Telecom, who joined the initiative to provide an interoperable service solution in S. Korea.
The services offered by the three S. Korean operators include KT’s ‘show moov’, SK Telecom’s ‘Mobile Messenger’ and LG Telecom’s ‘OZ messenger’. These services commercialise key features of RCS, such as phonebook-driven buddy lists; presence capability that includes taglines and status; and voice calls and messaging.
KT’s ‘show moov’ client application is available for mobile and PC platforms, enabling users to access RCS services from mobile and fixed terminals, which is a key feature of the RCS specifications developed by the GSMA. In addition, SK Telecom and KT are actively collaborating with fixed-line services. SK Telecom’ s mobile messenger, for example, is linked with one of Korea’s most popular messenger services, ‘Nate On Messenger’.
“We are delighted that three leading mobile operators in South Korea, KT, LG Telecom and SK Telecom, have together launched the world’s first commercial service incorporating key elements of the GSMA's Rich Communication Suite,” ssays GSMA CMO, Michael O’Hara. “We live in a world where users want to access and share information at any time, any place and from any device, and the GSMA’s RCS initiative provides operators with the ability to launch a variety of new and enhanced communication services that fulfils this need.”
The GSMA says its RCS initiative will provide an exciting, feature-rich portfolio of communication services that operators will be able to offer their customers. RCS unleashes the communities hidden in a user’s phone book and with one simple click, enabling the user to share lifestyle experiences and emotions using rich content such as images and video amongst their closest ‘buddies’.
Developed by the collaborative efforts of leading mobile operators, vendors and telecommunication companies, RCS service features for the end user include an ‘Enhanced Address Book’ with presence and capability indications; ‘Rich Call’ facilities to exchange different types of content during a call; and ‘Rich Messaging’ that expands on traditional instant messaging.
SK Telecom and KT are active participants in the GSMA’s RCS initiative. The GSMA says their interoperable commercial services in S. Korea will provide significant opportunities for feedback, which will assist the creation of new use , s the RCS specification focus moves into the PC-to-mobile domain.  
Further announcements on RCS trials and launched commercial services are expected around the world in the coming year.

3rd Space Delivers Ad-funded Video for Reliance

Indian telco Reliance Communications has announced a partnership with UK mobile marketing firm, 3rd Space Services, to launch ad-funded videos on its Reliance Mobile platform. Under the tersm of the agreement, 3rd Space will supply mobile video content to Reliance Communications. It will also offer premium content such as ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’, Bollywood songs and films, and sports content. The service will be available on every data-enabled handset within the Reliance network. Customers will have access to the content in exchange for watching an ad embedded within the video.
“Our tie-up with 3rd Space will be mutually beneficial,” says Krishna Durbha, Head of Value Added Services at Reliance Communications. “It will not only increase the viewership, but also the revenue for both companies. Besides, the application offers outstanding video quality hitherto not experienced by mobile users, and will be accessible on every handset in our ecosystem. Our initiative will act as a launch pad for ad-funded videos in India, with more exciting things to follow.”

The Mobile Channel

Condor Ferries has hired mobile agency Incentivated to provide a text service to keep passengers informed about any disruptions to their journeys this summer. The service will provide passengers on both sides of the Channel with SMS alerts about departure times and sailing conditions. 
Condor Ferries has been working with Incentivated to provide a text message service to passengers since the end of October 2008. Condor operates fast cat ferries between Poole and Weymouth to Jersey, Guernsey, St Malo and Cherbourg. Each year it carries some 900,000 passengers and 200,000 passenger vehicles.
The SMS service is used to notify customers of any changes to the schedule and updates about sailing conditions. It enables Condor staff to send out bulk messages to a target list of recipients from the customer database and complements existing telephony services and the Condor website.
“Condor Ferries contacts customers by SMS message and phone advising them of important changes to sailings which affect them personally to minimise any inconvenience and allow them to modify their travel plans should they wish,” says Condor Ferries’ Operations Manager, Capt Fran Collins. “These texts and calls are a key part of our customer service programme and a significant investment on Condor’s part in infrastructure and staff time: we believe we set an industry-leading standard in providing proactive updates to passengers.”

"Emerging" Markets May Have Emerged, says Frost

The mobile communications markets in Eastern Europe are growing strongly in terms of both usage and revenues. Defining these markets as emerging may no longer be accurate, as they are demonstrating high growth and looking for new opportunities.
That’s the conclusion of new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, ‘Mobile Communications in Eastern Europe: A View on Key Markets’, which assesses the market situation in Eastern Europe through an analysis of six key markets: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey. The report is part of Frost’s Mobile & Wireless Growth Partnership Services programme.
“Eastern European markets are fully penetrated and are rapidly adopting mobile broadband solutions,” notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst, Saverio Romeo. “The mobile phone is becoming critical for fast connectivity and innovative services, effectively substituting the lack of fixed infrastructures.”
The main challenge to the industry currently comes from the economic recession. The lack of credit for investments and the decrease in consumption will slow down the growth experienced by Eastern European countries. Moreover, regulatory limitations can hamper future developments.
Frost believes the mobile industry’s response to this scenario consists of two main actions.
“Services and processes’ optimisation, in order to efficiently use existing resources and reduce the need for capital investments is critical,” says Romeo. “Equally important is pursuing technological and strategic innovation through synergic cooperation between participants with different know-how with the aim to offer disruptive solutions to consumers at reasonable prices.”
Cooperation between regulatory authorities and the industry to overcome the challenges of the market will be vital, Frost believes. It says that cooperation between public sector and the industry for high-intensive investments, mainly infrastructures, will enable sustained market expansion.
For a virtual brochure, which provides a brief synopsis of the research and a table of contents, email: joanna.lewandowska@frost.com with your name, company name, title, and contact details.

Tosh TG01 Launches on Orange

Orange has been unveiled as the exclusive network partner for the Toshiba TG01 handset in the UK.
The TG01 offers users a 4.1” W-VGA screen, and comes with an exclusive pre-loaded film trailer for the forthcoming summer blockbuster ‘GI Joe’. It is also the first handset to be sold in the UK which has 1GHz of processing power, offering fast mobile Internet connectivity.
The handset is the first from Toshiba to be part of Orange’s Signature Series and comes with quick links to the best of Orange TV & Video, Orange Maps (Orange’s own satnav service which utilises the TG01’s inbuilt AGPS), and the Orange World mobile Internet portal.
The TG01 will be free to customers who take out a £39.15 per month, 24-month price plan. The package includes 1,200 any network call minutes, unlimited texts, Orange Maps, and inclusive anytime Internet browsing, and is exclusive to Orange in the UK.
“We’re really pleased to have teamed up with Toshiba to bring the TG01 exclusively to the UK,” says Francois Mathieu, Director of Devices at Orange UK. “We believe the TG01 is a prime example of manufacturer innovation, and is a device that is at the very top of its game, which will allow users to make the most from their mobile experience.”

Co-op Uses Mobile to Campaign for Journalists' Release

UK retail group The Co-operative is calling for the release of young video journalists (VJs) who risked their lives to tell the story of the 2007 Saffron Revolution in Burma. Co-operative Members and the public are being encouraged to ‘Free the VJs’ via the film’s website, postcards in cinemas, twitition (a Twitter petition) and by texting ‘Free the VJs’ to 87103. The digital campaign is being delivered by digital marketing agency Substance, supported by mobile messaging company Mediaburst.
Burma is a nation of fear and poverty despite its wealth of natural resources. Its rulers are intolerant of free speech and many of the journalists and activists shown in the award-winning Burma VJ film face prison sentences of up to 65 years.
The individuals imprisoned include Htin Kyaw, Su Su Nway, Ohn Than, Si Thu Maung and Ko Win Maw, together with over 2,100 others in Burmese jails, including Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who have been imprisoned simply for peacefully calling for democracy and freedom in the country.
The Co-operative does not trade with Burma. Co-operative Travel has delisted the country as a tourist destination, and The Co-operative Bank will not finance any organisation supporting the Burmese regime.

i-Free Supports Stella's Russian Movie Campaign

Russian mobile marketing firm i-Free has been engaged as the mobile partner for a ‘Movie World Bonus’ promotion run by premium lager brand Stella Artois.
The campaign, created by ad agency Progression, invites consumers who buy promotional packs of Stella to text a unique code under the cap to a Shortcode, or to enter the code on a promotiojnal website. In return, they earn credits, which can be exchanged for gifts, including T-shirts with quotations from the movies; DVD-cases; and beer glasses. In addition, the consumers with the most credits are entered into a weekly prize draw to win a DVD player.
“The SMS channel provides extra convenience for participants, making it possible for them to log in their code right now and right here,” says Progression Project Manager, Aleksandr Filatov. “This log-in method gives greater freedom and mobility for the users.”
Over the past six years, i-Free has been successfully marketing mobile services to major FMCG-brands, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Chupa Chups, Gillette, Duracell, Reebok and Foster’s.

Smooth Operator

Turkcell is a mobile operator with a reputation for innovation. David Murphy talks to Head of Mobile Marketing & Advertising, Melis Turkmen, to find out why the company seems to be so far ahead of the game when it comes to mobile marketing

DM: So Melis, first off, tell us a little bit about Turkcell please.

MT: Sure. Turkcell operates in eight countries, and we have 62 million subscribers. In Turkey, we have 37 million subscribers so we are the second-largest operator in Europe and the 13th largest in the world.

DM: So, mobile operators do not have a great reputation. People talk about them as the ‘dumb pipe’ and say they are very slow to innovate, but whenever I hear Turkcell speak at conferences, or when other people talk about you, you seem to stand out from the rest, and you also seem to be very keen to share your experiences.

MT: Well we have more than 20 mobile marketing products and we are keen to give more information about them to people from other countries. We believe we are a leader in the sector, and the job of a leader is to educate and share best practice.
When we talk to some other operators, most of them hardly think about mobile marketing, but we see mobile marketing as a huge opportunity. Therefore, we have been active on new products and services since the beginning. Our database of 7.6 million opt-in subscribers that we can use for mobile marketing and advertising is a healthy revenue generator. This is one of the largest databases of its kind in Europe, possibly in the world, and we know a lot about them, including their location, demographics, and their data usage that we target subscribers accordingly

DM: That’s an impressive number. Do you give these people any incentive to opt in?

MT: We give up to 20 credits (which equals 10 texts) for pre-paid and 10 texts for post-paid, as they opt-in to the database. But the main incentive that we offer is to tell them that the mobile marketing that they will receive on their phones will be targeted to their needs and interests. So the youth segment will get texts offering discounts off Adidas equipment, and housewives will be targeted with offers for things they can use around the house.

DM: And when did you first get in to mobile marketing?

MT: We started in 2002 started with a Sweepstakes campaign for Lipton Ice Tea. We used a keyword and a Shortcode on the packaging that people could text in to in order to win a brand new car!

DM: So what sort of campaigns do you run?

MT: We try to reach our opted-in database via many different channels, SMS, MMS, WAP Push, video, even IVR (Interactive Voice Response). So a customer might get a call asking if they have any Olive Oil in the house, and they are asked to press 1 for Yes and 2 for No. If they press 1, then we send them a gift. If they press 2, then we tell them, if they buy the brand today, we will send you a gift, maybe something you can use in the kitchen.
Credit and airtime campaigns are also very popular. In fact, campaigns account for more than 60% of our mobile marketing revenues, with the rest coming from advertising. We sell credit and airtime to brands, in millions of units, that they can then give away for free to their subscribers
In May 2007 for example, we ran a campaign for Pepsi, where consumers had to text in to a Shortcode printed on cans of Pepsi. This was charged as one text message, but by texting in, they were guaranteed five credits, which equals two and a half texts or two minutes talk time. That was an enormous success. We received 13 million texts from 1 million people in three months.
The great thing about a campaign like this is that the consumer can’t lose. Everyone gets the guaranteed minimum, but you may get more. In this campaign, for example, we gave away 2009 credits and 500 minutes of talk time every hour.

DM: And what sort of revenues are you generating from mobile marketing?

MT: We estimate that in 2009, there will be $91 million (£55 million) of revenues from mobile marketing in Turkey, and we will take a 70% share of that. Next year, we are forecasting $125 million, of which we will take 69%, and in 2012, $260 million, with Turkcell again taking 69% of those revenues. These revenues are made up of all three operators in Turkey, plus the agencies. We have around 20 agencies who are selling our products to advertiser brands.
We are also now selling advertising on other publishers’ sites, and within iPhone applications, as well as our own mobile portal. We have set up a mobile advertising sales house to do this.

DM: And of course, many people will associate Turkcell with the Tone&Win campaign, where Turkcell subscribers get credit in return for using advertising messages as a Ringback Tone that their friend here when they call them. We came out and criticised the idea when you launched it, but it has been winning awards, so I guess you must be doing something right.

MT: Yes, Tone&Win was selected as the best mobile marketing and advertising service in the GSMA Global awards, Visiongain’s Mama and the Meffy Awards. This could only be explained by a technically well-powered service which is built on a good business model. Tone & Win is now hitting record levels with Pepsi’s new promotion in Turkey. Earlier this year, Turkcell cooperated with Pepsi for the brand’s summer promotion. Although the promotion mechanic is a typical text & Win, consumers are experiencing a one-of-a-kind interaction throughout the campaign. Pepsi’s new viral advertising on mobile has been so unique and well received by the consumers that 3.8 million consumers took part within the first month, outperforming all previous promotional campaigns.

DM: And what else are you planning?

MT: We have recently launched mobile surveys. It’s like a ‘fast-food’ survey service. The market research firms are still trying to do surveys on the streets, but you need a lot of people for that and it costs a lot of money. But with a mobile survey, we can profile the database, send them a WAP Push link to the survey and they can answer it right there on their phone. We are also talking to the big research firms about the service.

DM: Is anyone using it?

MT: Yes. One client, Garanti, has a credit card called Flexi. When they run a TV ad, we send out a WAP Push link to a mobile survey asking people what they thought of the ad, whether they liked it, whether it would make them want a Flexi credit card. 
For the future, we are launching 3G this summer, so we will have new products like Mobile TV with advertising, video calls and ad-funded video, so there will be even more mobile marketing and advertising products. We are also giving out information for free to subscribers in the form of ad-funded text messages, things like weather updates, lottery results. For the Weather service, we have 2 million subscribers, and Pepsi have bought the entire inventory for June, July and August. In fact, the whole year is sold. And when 3G arrives, we will offer video versions of these services.

DM: You have won lots of awards this year for mobile marketing and advertising, what is your secret?

MT: As I said, we are a leader in the sector, and the job of a leader is to educate and share best practice.  So that leads to appreciation in the local and global arena not only in mobile marketing articles and research studies, but also reputable awards. Tone&Win was selected as best mobile advertising service by the GSMA, the Mobile Entertainment Forum (Meffys) and Visiongain, and Visiongain also named our permission database as the runner-up for the best network for delivery of mobile marketing and advertising.

DM: Good stuff, keep us posted on what you’re up to, sounds like there’s plenty to talk about.

MT: Will do.

Felltech Launches Outbox SMS

Felltech has announced the launch of its ‘OutboxSMS’ SMS Gateway server. A rack mounted appliance that sits inside the firewall, OutboxSMS enables organisations to use SMS as a means of communicating with customers, employees and partners, by integrating SMS with existing email communications.
By connecting to a LAN, OutboxSMS enables individuals inside businesses to send text messages by email so that time sensitive, urgent, confidential or other types of alerts and messages can be sent to customers, key workers or wider distribution lists. The system also allows replies to text messages it sends to be routed back to the sender’s email, so that these can be noted and correspondence continued by text or phone. Because OutboxSMS operates from inside the firewall, says Felltech,  it provides better security and control, as well as reduced running costs, compared to using an SMS service provider.
OutboxSMS has a point-and-click administration screen, which allows easy configuration of the message routing tables. Messages are routed according to the rules in the routing tables, which control how incoming messages are matched, and what is sent out in the outgoing message. With a powerful message routing system, incoming messages are matched by mobile number, email, or matching text in the subject or body of a text or email message. Once a message has been matched, either the original message can be sent out, or a template message can be sent. When email-to-SMS messages are sent, a record of the message is stored in OutboxSMS so that when the SMS recipient replies, the reply message is sent back to the sender's email address.

Admob Stats Reveal Extent of iPhone Browsing

With the Apple App Store celebrating its first anniversary this Saturday, 11 July, mobile ad network AdMob has released figures showing Apple’s share of the global, UK and US mobile markets, and consumer usage of iPhone apps. The latest stats reveal that the iPhone now accounts for almost half of all mobile web traffic in the UK.

iPhone Apps:

• The top iPhone apps had more than one million users in the UK in May 2009
• 5% of iPhone apps in AdMob's network had more than 100,000 active users in May 2009
• 14% of iPhone apps in AdMob's network had between 10,000 - 100,000 active users in May 2009
• 27% of iPhone apps in AdMob's network had between 1,000 - 10,000 active users in May 2009

Thomas Schulz, MD EMEA for AdMob, says that with more than 50,000 apps added to the App Store in the first 12 months, it is becoming increasingly hard for developers to capture the attention of consumers.
“Many developers are now using mobile advertising to drive downloads of their applications,” says Schulz. “Not only is this boosting sales of paid-for apps, it is also helping developers to monetise the traffic generated by their free applications.”

AdMob’s traffic figures reveal the massive disparity between Apple’s share of the Smartphone market – around 8% globally – and its share of the mobile web browsing market in May 2009, as detailed below:

UK:

• 48.7% of ad requests came from Apple handsets (iPhone and iPod Touch)
• 28.4% of ad requests came from the iPhone
• 282,493,761 ad requests from users in the UK

US:

• 45.1% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
• 25.7% of ad requests came from the iPhone
• 3,804,373,544 ad requests from users in the US

Global:

• 31.4% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
• 18.6% of ad requests came from the iPhone
• 7,997,946,483 ad requests from users around the world

With operators and handset makers launching App Stores, some question whether Apple's domainance will continue. Andrew Bud, Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum, told Mobile Marketing Magazine recently:
"I believe Nokia’s Ovi store will be far more significant. With the App Store, you can reach 2% of the population; the Ovi store can reach something like 40%. One is a nice boutique, the other is Tesco.”
Given the way in which Apple has singlehandledly created the mobile apps market, however, it would be a brave man to bet against them.

Gameloft Selects Ericsson IPX

Mobile games developer and publisher Gameloft has selected Ericsson IPX to provide it with WAP, web and SMS payment services.
Gameloft has appointed IPX to help it expand its sales of mobile games into new countries, specifically Germany and the US. It was looking for a payments aggregator with the global reach to support its growth. Gameloft chose IPX to provide payment and messaging services due to Ericsson’s global presence, excellent service and extensive range of services offered. Local market knowledge and competitive payout rates were also deciding factors when selecting IPX.
Using IPX Payment clearing services, Gameloft can offer its customers a range of methods to buy mobile games, including WAP billing via their phone’s browser as well as SMS billing and the option of buying direct from the Gameloft website.
IPX is also providing bulk messaging services to Gameloft to enable the company to send messages to customers. IPX is also propviding SMS Shortcode services which enable customers to purchase games directly via SMS. Gameloft is also using subscriber information services from IPX in several markets to identify users from their mobile phone number. This allows the company to offer subscription-based services and a personalized user experience by linking this information to its CRM system.
“The Global reach of IPX’s payment services, especially in covering both the US and European markets, was a key factor for us, allowing us to continue to expand our distribution network,” says Gameloft Project Manager, Dario Urbani.

MindMatics Launches m³ Self Service Platform

MindMatics has launched its m³ self service mobile platform. It’s a browser-based platform that MindMatics says enables small and medium sized enterprises to run their own mobile marketing campaigns.
It’s a modular system with components for SMS-based competitions, mobile portal access, content downloads, PIN services, reverse auctions and mobile CRM. Each module can be individually activated.
During the platform’s development, care was taken to ensure simple and intuitive operation, so that users without any previous technical knowledge could set up their own live mobile service within minutes. The platform also offers a comprehensive extensive reporting function, which displays and compares all relevant campaign data in real time. The reporting module is available for all MindMatics customers free of charge.
MindMatics says its 10 years experience of implementing mobile marketing campaigns and services has gone into the development of the m³ platform. It says that selected customers, who tested the platform in advance, were impressed by its multiple service functions and ease of use. The Berliner Fox Mobile Distribution is, alongside MindMatics’ subsidiary company CLANMO, one of the first organisations to utilize the comprehensive CRM possibilities. Christoph Ranaweera, Supervisor for Technical Country Management at Fox Mobile Distribution, says: “We have evaluated numerous platforms from different mobile service providers. With the MindMatics m³ platform you can practically feel the amount of technical experience this service provider has to offer. Our cost efficiency requirements are met completely with the mobile CRM solution.”
MindMatics specialises in network operator-based micro-billing services. The company enables around 3.1 billion people in 60 countries to effect small payments or register votes via SMS. MindMatics also offers a global SMS dispatch infrastructure. The company has offices in Munich, Cologne, Vienna, and London.

GTEL Selects Comverse

GTEL Mobile, a new mobile operator in Vietnam, has deployed the Comverse ONE Billing & Active Customer Management solution, a converged billing system that is designed to help differentiate the operator from other telecom providers by offering flexible billing models and a 360-degree view of the customer, regardless of touchpoint.
Established last July, GTEL Mobile is a joint venture between Vietnam’s GTEL Corporation and VimpelCom, which provides telecommunications services in Eastern Europe. Vietnam’s telecommunications industry has recently been growing at 20 to 25% annually, and the country now has more than 50 million mobile service users.
GTEL Mobile has also deployed a portfolio of Comverse HUB Value-Added Services, including SMS Center for text messaging, MMS Center for multimedia messaging, Messaging Gateway, Mobile Internet Gateway, Next-Generation Voicemail, Call Completion and Ringback Tone services.
“Comverse offered a truly convergent prepaid and postpaid platform, together with a suite of pre-integrated, value-added services, that gives us the needed functionality to establish a foothold in the competitive Vietnamese market,” says GTEL Mobile CEO, Alexey Blyumin. “Comverse's strong presence in Vietnam and its track record of successful deployments of its billing solutions and value-added services with many other VimpelCom affiliates were key factors in our decision.”
Comverse ONE Billing & Active Customer Management is a converged Business Support System (BSS) solution that will enable GTEL Mobile to support any type of payment, such as prepaid, postpaid or hybrid, as well as create and deliver any service over its network efficiently.
Comverse’s flagship billing solution also provides integrated customer management that allows operators to respond to the changing needs of customers, offer real-time marketing capabilities;, and provide a range of self-service options.

MoBank Comes to the iPhone

Former First Direct and Egg bankers Steve Townsend and Dominic Keen have launched MoBank, a mobile banking service for the iPhone.
The service works with an existing bank account to let users buy and pay for items and check balances online using their iPhone. Subscribers use a PIN to instruct the MoBank system to authorise payments direct from their debit or credit cards.
The company says that it will soon introduce new services that will let users manage their money, pay bills, make person-to-person transactions, and transfer cash between accounts. Additional services such as a special date reminder alert, and a budget tracker to help customers keep on top of spending ,are also in the pipeline.
While the tool is initially available only to iPhone users MoBank says that versions for Blackberry and Google Android handsets will be introduced within the next 12 months.
“The Internet has revolutionised how we shop and manage our money,” says Keen. “The next step is to take this to mobile phones. MoBank has been designed to make people's lives easier and save them time by providing banking services on the move.”
The service will use a bespoke hosting platform from NTT Europe Online, while transaction fee services technology from txttrans means that no banking data, card details or PIN are stored on the mobile phone itself. Yodlee is providing current banking services, while the CRM platform and database is from Portrait.
MoBank CEO Townsend worked at UK Internet bank Egg for eight years as Innovation & Customer Services Director. Co-founder Keen is a former venture capitalist and one-time Head of Venturing at Egg.
There’s an interview with MoBank CEO Steve Townsend here.

IMIMobile Buys Mobytec

IMImobile, hich provides converged mobile and online technology platforms and managed services, has announced the acquisition of Mobytec, whose technology platform powers the award-winning Mobyko social aggregation service. As a result of the deal, Mobytec will be offered by IMImobile as a revenue-generating, fully managed, white label service for mobile network operators. Mobyko will continue as an independent company offering mobyko.com branded services.
Mobytec empowers the phone book for digital social lives. Users can synchronise and store social media content such as contacts, photos, texts and videos, from their mobile phones, in a single, secure online hub, and share rich media content with friends across online and mobile ecosystems. The platform integrates with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter; aggregating live feeds, synchronising events, downloading profile photos to the contact address book, and displaying the latest Tweets from friends. 
For operators, Mobytec is a carrier-grade, fully managed service, and a ‘sticky’ interface between online and mobile activities in the expanding consumer social aggregation sector. By positioning the mobile address book as the natural hub for consumers’ online and mobile activities, says IMImobile, Mobytec presents a compelling revenue-generation and customer retention proposition.
“We believe that social aggregation tools are going to play an increasingly important role in the operator/consumer relationship,” says IMImobile CEO and Founder, Vishwanath Alluri. “Applications that add value to the customer and provide operators with a converged service, bridging the gap between online social networks and the mobile phone, are vital. Mobytec’s proven ability to deliver a world class user experience, combined with IMImobile’s robust and scalable back-end infrastructure, provides a powerful proposition within the market.”
The acquisition represents another step in IMImobile’s growth plans, following the acquisition of dx3 technologies, the M2Y platform from Nokia Siemens Networks, and the recent launch of IMEXmobile in the UK.

InnoPath Leads OMA-DM Demonstration

InnoPath Software, which specialises in over-the-air customer care for mobile devices, led the first ever OMA-DM (Open Mobile Alliance Device Management) interoperability demonstration at the OMA's recent meeting in meeting in Boston. The company successfully demonstrated its next-generation OMA-DM ActiveCare server, with handsets from Nokia running Symbian S60, and from HTC running Windows Mobile 6.1, highlighting interoperability across devices and networks, as well as broad industry support. With Smartphones costing up to four times as much to support as traditional featurephones, InnoPath says the ability to effectively support these advanced devices validates its ActiveCare business model for operators, and is proof of the utility and deployability of OMA-DM standards. This tie between standards development and practical use is critical for network operators and device makers.
The demo included four key OMA-DM enabled care capabilities:

• Mobile Check, where the phone is ‘pulsed’ for vitals. This capability is based on the Connectivity Management Object 1.0 (Approved Enabler) and Diagnostics Monitoring 1.0 (draft).
• Mobile Check and Correct for both ActiveSync and public email, saving up to 14 minutes on email support calls. This capability is based on Device Management 1.2 (Approved Enabler).
• Mobile Software Management for lifecycle software management, permitting operators to play a vital role in the application delivery ecosystem. This capability is based on the Software Component Management Object 1.0 (Candidate Enabler).
• Mobile Lock and Wipe for securing the phone. This capability is based on the Lock and Wipe Management Object 1.0 (Candidate Enabler).

The Nokia E71 is a leading smartphone based on Symbian and now available from AT&T (E71x). It runs a Native OMA-DM client. The HTC Tytn II (aka AT&T Tilt) is a widely available Windows Mobile phone, and was demonstrated with InnoPath’s standards-based ActiveCare Client. This client is unique in that it may be loaded onto the phone by the handset vendor or pushed to the phone once it is in the hands of the subscriber, allowing network operators to manage devices that may not have left the factory with device management clients installed.
You can see the OMA presentation on OMA presentation on the interoperability demonstration here.  
You can see a video of the HTC/Windows Mobile component of the demo here. And a video of the Nokia/Symbian component of the demo here.

MEF Issues Call to Action

The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) has issued a call to action, in response to the record number of consultations that the UK mobile industry is being faced with in 2009. 
The MEF notes that the mobile media industry is being subjected to a record number of consultations from a variety of regulators across the globe. The UK is most immediately affected with five key consultations in 2009 alone, including the BCAP/CAP consultations, which recently closed, and four that are still open: the Ofcom scope review; Ofcom Audience Participation in Radio Programming – the use of PRS; Ofcom Broadcast Codes Review; and  PpP Discussion paper on Code.
The MEF believes that there are potentially significant overlaps in jurisdiction between different regulators, as recent MEF responses, written in collaboration with MEF’s UK members, show. These overlaps, it says, can create a lack of regulatory clarity for the industry, particularly when they seek to determine which regulations apply.
For example, the MEF notes, some of the proposed changes to the CAP/BCAP Codes clash with the PhonepayPlus Code. In the UK, Ofcom, the ASA, PhonepayPlus, the OFT and the ICO all have Codes or regulations that apply to the mobile media industry. The MEF says that any ambiguity is likely to cause serious regulatory uncertainty, and as a consequence, the regulatory burden on MEF members runs the serious risk of becoming disproportionate.  
The MEF has established an EMEA Regulatory Committee to deal specifically with the possible burdens imposed on its members and respond to consultations throughout EMEA that directly impact its members' business strategies and revenues. It points out that earlier this year, it submitted a consensus response written in consultation with its UK members to the PpP Activity Plan & Budget (08/09) resulting in no increased costs for its members.
The MEF has also provided members-only guides, written by MEF member Denton Wilde Sapte, on issues including the Unfair Commercial Practices and Audiovisual Media Services Directives, as well the PpP Consultation on Mobile PRS.
It believes there is is a real possibility that the Ofcom Scope Review coupled with the PhonepayPlus consultation could set a new and positive standard for regulation in the UK. Suhail Bhat, MEF Policy and Initiatives Director, says:
“The Ofcom Scope Review is essential for the industry, as its aim is to ensure that the current regulatory regime meets the needs of consumers, affords an appropriate level of consumer protection and also supports an innovative and quickly changing industry. Coupled with the PhonepayPlus discussion paper, this is the best opportunity for the industry, with MEF, to make a real difference.”  
PhonepayPlus has recently announced that the 12th revision of the Code will be among the most significant in the organisation’s 23-year history. Specific focus relates to regulating developments in a technologically fast-paced industry, such as the explosion of mobile phone-paid services, which have changed the face of the industry in recent years.    
Ingrid Silver, Partner Denton Wilde Sapte, MEF Board Member and Chair of the MEF Policy and Initiatives Committee says:
“There has never been a better time for the industry to join MEF and lead the way in ensuring that the regulations are fit for purpose, transparent and proportionate. The regulators are showing a genuine commitment to review the regulations and MEF will continue to work with them to secure a successful future for the industry and ensure that the consumer trust in mobile media services continues to grow.”

HulloMail Celebrates T-Mobile Success

T-Mobile has abolished premium call divert charges to customers using the HulloMail voicemail service. The network droped the charges on 29 June after prolonged pressure from Hullomail itself, and from customers incensed at being penalised for opting out of T-Mobile’s own voicemail service. T-Mobile had been the only operator to levy a premium of 17p or 26p depending on the customer’s tariff. The change means diverts will be considered as part of bundled minutes.    
HulloMail, the British company whose free downloadable voicemail app for the G1 phone was one of the early star performers on Android Marketplace, was T-Mobile’s most vociferous lobbyist. Given T-Mobile’s UK exclusivity over the G1, HulloMail boss Andy Munarriz had been lobbying the operator for several months. His calls had also been echoed by online petitions, with customers complaining of being penalised for using an otherwise free solution which was felt to be against the spirit of an open marketplace.
“These days, people expect voicemail to be as flexible as any other form of digital communications and our service allows precisely that,” says Munarriz. “I’m therefore delighted that when T-Mobile saw the advantages of our solution and how strongly users felt about it, they agreed to change their divert charge policy for HulloMail users.”
Currently, all mobile operators handle voicemail messages in much the same way, with all messages being stored on a central server, offering little flexibility in how they are then used. HulloMail says it plans to liberate UK consumers from archaic voicemail usage, allowing them to enjoy a fully integrated, free digital voice-email experience. Munarriz believes that, where users have a better choice, they should be able to use it.       
 “It always seemed unfair that our users should be penalised for wanting the best voicemail solution,” he says. “T-Mobile have shown they are willing to embrace developers who are striving to make mobile usage easier and cheaper, not putting barriers in our way. Hopefully, this is now what will happen.”

Aepona Buys Valista

Aepona, a global provider of telecoms software products and services headquartered in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has announced the acquisition of Valista, a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of payment, settlement and service lifecycle management solutions to mobile and broadband operators worldwide. The acquisition creates an independent vendor, operating under the Aepona brand, with a complete solution for the ‘Network as a Service’ (NaaS) business model that Aepona says now being embraced by Telcos globally.
With the NaaS model, mobile and broadband operators treat their network and informational assets as marketable resources that can be made available to third party application developers, upstream service providers and enterprises. These organizations can then enhance their applications, services and business processes with telco capabilities such as voice, location, messaging, profile, billing and so on.
The new Aepona offers telcos an end-to-end solution for the NaaS model, including Open APIs towards core network capabilities; third party relationship management; monetization;billing mediation and settlement; and service lifecycle management. Following the acquisition, Aepona’s client list now includes some of the world’s largest mobile and broadband operators in North America, EMEA and Asia. 
 “For some time now, operators have recognized the need to adopt a more collaborative approach to working with organizations such as enterprises and web-based service providers”, says Aepona CEO, Al Snyder. “The rise in ‘Over-the-Top’ services has made them realize that in order to compete effectively, they need to leverage their assets to the fullest extent possible, and this means opening up these assets towards third parties in a secure, controlled and billable manner.”
Snyder notes that while Aepona has secured several contracts with Tier 1 operators to implement their Open Network API programs, the company has, until now, lacked the monetization and settlement capabilities that are required for a true NaaS offering.
“With the acquisition of Valista, we can now offer telcos the means to monetize their Open API initiatives, as well as offering third parties a convenient way to bill end-users for their services,” he says.
Valista CEO Kevin McGrath describes the acquisition as: “a major step forward in the evolution of Valista’s business. The combination with Aepona creates significant benefits for the customers of both companies, providing them with a more complete solution from a single, independent entity that has the operational scale to serve our large operator customers at a global level,” he says. 

LBS Set to Double in 2009, says Gartner

Worldwide consumer location-based services (LBS) subscribers and revenue are on pace to double in 2009, according to a report from the analyst, Gartner. The report, ‘Dataquest Insight: Consumer Location-Based Services, Subscribers and Revenue Forecast, 2007-2013’, notes that, despite an expected 4% decrease in mobile device sales, LBS subscribers are forecast to grow from 41 million in 2008 to 95.7 million in 2009, while revenue is anticipated to increase from $998.3 million (£615.2 million) in 2008, to $2.2 billion in 2009.
Gartner defines LBS as services that use information about the location of mobile devices, derived from cellular networks, wi-fi access points or via satellite links to receivers in (or connected to) the handsets themselves. Examples are services that enable friends to find each other, parents to locate their children, mapping and navigation. Location-based services may be offered by mobile network carriers or other providers, and are are also known as location-aware services.
“The LBS industry has matured rapidly in recent months through a mixture of consolidation, improved price/performance of the enabling technologies and compelling location applications,” says Annette Zimmermann, Senior Research Analyst at Gartner. “Factors driving the increase in the next year or so include higher availability of GPS-enabled phones, reduced prices and appearance of application stores.”
Gartner predicts that advertising-based or ‘free’ LBS (disregarding data charges) will gain more traction as users adopt it as a way to limit costs. Mobile operators that stick to the current predominant business model of charging users $5 to $10 per month plus data plans will experience high churn rates, it says, as users will look for free alternatives. In North America and Western Europe, the share of users taking advantage of free services is approximately 10-15% today and is expected to grow to 40-50% in 2013.
Gartner expects more compelling and useful applications and services, such as digital coupons to be redeemed in a nearby shop, and points-of-interest search services, to come to market in the next 12 to 18 months. It believes that smaller, niche players will survive in local markets only when they have an established user base and unique offering that larger players cannot compete with. Other players will be acquisition targets for larger vendors.
Gartner adds that LBS market dynamics vary by region. For example, North America is the largest market due to mobile operators’ strong efforts in navigation services and family-safety solutions. In Western Europe, navigation is currently the most used application, followed by local search and ‘friend finder’ applications. There is still no significant uptake of safety applications.
Japan will continue to see steady growth, as GPS has been required by law in mobile phones since 2007. In Asia/Pacific, during the summer Olympics, location services were offered for the first time in China. These are now an advertising-based solution and free to the user.
“The competitive landscape will change and most mobile carriers need to alter their approach toward offering LBS and dealing with developers,” says Zimmermann. “Subscriber growth will hinge on ‘free’ - disregarding data charges - services. Mobile operators’ initiatives to open up the application programming interface (API) to third-party developers will help them compete against other players in the market, and will also be beneficial to the different parties involved, down to the end user.”
There’s more information about the report here.

Monitise and Visa in Strategic Alliance

Mobile money specialist Monitise has entered into a strategic global alliance with Visa International, a subsidiary of Visa Inc., the world's largest retail electronic payments network.
The five-year agreement, worth $13 million in addition to ongoing licence, service and development fees, combines Visa's reach, payments expertise and trusted brand with the Monitise Mobile Money platform and toolkit.
Monitise will be a strategic development partner for Visa's suite of mobile services, including payments, mobile money transfer, mobile transaction alerts and mobile marketing offers to support Visa's mobile strategy to extend the reach of its global network to the more than 4 billion mobile devices around the world.
“Visa is the world's most trusted, inclusive and innovative payments network,” says
Monitise CEO, Alastair Lukies. “This alliance validates our unwavering commitment to building truly accessible, inclusive and reliable services over the past seven years. It is a landmark announcement in the mobile payment space and we are excited to collaborate with the world's foremost payments company to accelerate the convergence of payments services and mobile devices.” 
Monitise creates mobile banking networks that enable customers of multiple banks and mobile operators to perform banking and payment transactions directly from their mobile handset.
The company has live services in the UK and the US, where it has delivered the MONILINK and Monitise networks in partnership with VocaLink and Metavante Corporation respectively, and is currently working with international partners to deliver similar safe, secure mobile banking and payment services in territories worldwide. Current key partners include VocaLink, Metavante, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, first direct, Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and 3.