Mobile Breakfast 29th June, London: Operators and OTT: The way forward @ChetanSharma

Mobile Breakfast Series, June 29th, 2012 Operators and OTT: The way forward

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Venue: Wayra, Telefonica. Shropshire House, 11-20 Capper Street, London, WC1E 6JA

Registration: http://www.mobilebreakfastseries.com

Operator traditional revenue streams are under threat esp. voice and messaging. Access margins will continue to stay under pressure. OTT players are coming in fast and furious and it is not just the big ones like Google but also players like Whatsapp, Voxer, Viber and others. How do operators play in the new landscape – lessen the decline of their traditional revenues while investing in new areas that improve their overall margins and revenues. Do they play the role of an enabler, a utility player, or become the OTT player themselves? In a software-driven world, how do they stay nimble? On the flip side, what are some things that operators can provide to the OTT players that make them successful, take them to the market quickly and maintain a long-term healthy and mutually-beneficial partnership? Operators still generate 70% of the global mobile industry revenues, so they are an important part of the chain but how do they ensure they have an equally relevant share in the profits. The panel will discuss how operators and OTT players think about the challenges and the opportunities, the competition and the co-opetition.

Frank Meehan, Horizon Ventures

Frank Meehan is part of the successful Horizons VC team, representing Mr Li Ka-Shing's private investments. Horizons was an early investor in Skype and holds investments in Facebook, Spotify, Second Market, Waze, and SIRI before it was sold to Apple. Frank also founded INQ Mobile, a Hutchison Whampoa venture which won best handset at MWC 2009, and he is currently on the boards of Trapit, Tripboard, Tout, Summly, Magisto and the TOM Group.

James Finn, Director, Product Design, Telefonica Digital

James Finn currently works at the newly formed Telefonica Digital as the Director of Communication Product Design after a string of internal roles at Telefonica including Chief Fire Stoker @ The Lab, GM of Jajah for Europe and New Business Development at O2 UK. During this time he has launched several products within the Telefonica Footprint such as International Favourites (O2 UK), Global Friends (O2 DE), Social Call, Virtual International Numbers (Telefonica Spain), Calling Card App (O2 UK) and

O2 Connect (Telefonica Digital). Previous to O2 he has worked for a number of startups such as RingRing Media (Acquired by Amobee), Thumbplay (Acquired by ClearChannel), Zingy (Acquired by For-Side) and also spent a time at Ericsson running global sales for the Napster Mobile Product.

Andreas Bernstrröm, CEO, Rebtel

Andreas has overall responsibility for company strategy and direction. Andreas works to ensure that the business runs smoothly now and in the future.  Prior to Rebtel, Andreas has been COO of Taptu and of TradeDoubler, where he was responsible for 600+ employees and more than $500 million in revenues  Prior to that Andreas spent three years at Goldman Sachs.

Patrice Slupowski, VP, Digital Innovation, Orange FT Group.

Patrice Slupowski, VP Digital Innovation, is heading NExT.com, the innovation team of the NAC Division of the Orange FT group. The team runs projects on mobile, PC, TV and tablets like Orange actu revue, TVcheck,  Newsblend with a strong involvement on social networks, recommendation, social TV or personal data aggregation. He started in ticketing then development then founded Waptoo in 1999, (mobile services & QA) and sold the company to Lagardere in 2004. Patrice is a graduate in Information Science and Technology from Paris-Dauphine.

Chetan Sharma, President, Chetan Sharma Consulting (moderator)

Chetan Sharma is President of Chetan Sharma Consulting and is one of the leading strategists in the mobile industry. Executives from wireless companies around the world seek his accurate predictions, independent insights, and actionable recommendations. He has served as an advisor to senior executive management of several Fortune 100 companies in the wireless space and is probably the only industry strategist who has advised each of the top 6 global mobile data operators. Chetan is the author or co-author or editor of seven best-selling books on mobile and over 100 articles/papers related to mobile.