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The Mobile Entertainment Forum Revealed Current Market Forces and the Future of Mobile Content at CTIA in San DiegoLOS ANGELES, Oct 16, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) Americas participated at CTIA in San Diego last week and brought together a panel of its members to generate dialogue, share ideas and debate the economics of mobile business. MEF hosted a special partner panel session entitled, "Revealing Current Market Forces and Future Content Distribution Models". The panelists included the following MEF members: -- Moderator: Steven Masur, managing director, MasurLaw -- Soren Schafft, general manager of North America, Fox Mobile Distribution -- Andrew Bud, executive chairman, mBlox -- Reno Marioni, strategic partnerships, Internet & social networking, Nokia -- David Ulmer, senior director, multimedia, Motorola During the panel MEF announced its "Smart Pipe Enables" initiative. Smart pipe enabling services are of fundamental importance to the mobile entertainment industry because they determine the quality of the user experience the industry can deliver to consumers. The overarching objective of the MEF "Smart Pipe Enablers" is to promote the most rapid implementation of a coherent, profitable and workable model for smart pipe enabling services that benefit the entire mobile entertainment industry. "The commitment to 'Smart Pipe Enablers' we have seen from European carriers and content players, such as the BBC has been terrific," said Andrew Bud, chair of MEF Global. "This is a vital matter for the entire mobile entertainment industry with a narrow window of opportunity within which to get things right." MEF has key insights regarding revenue sources within the value chain and it regularly participates in key industry events such as CTIA, to demonstrate its thought leadership and share the expertise of its member companies. "We feel a sense of mission and unification in bringing the 'Smart Pipe Enablers' debate into the US market," said Jim Beddows, chair of MEF Americas. "This initiative is one of the areas of focus for our dynamic new board, which also includes the Business Confidence Index, the Value Chain Analysis survey, Sweepstakes, Content Sales Reporting, Mobile Video and Ad-Funded Mobile Entertainment." For more information on the panel, its participates and the MEF initiatives please visit http://www.m-e-f.org/ NOTES TO THE EDITOR About the Smart Pipe Enablers Initiative The Enablers initiative - led by the BBC, mBlox, O2 and Vodafone - aims to educate the market on the use of Smart Pipe Enabling services or network APIs and brings together the different players in the mobile entertainment value chain to promote the rapid implementation of a coherent and workable model for "smart pipe" enabling services. Its ultimate objectives include: -- The implementation by operators of a coherent and market-focused set of smart-pipe enabling services, based on standards which fully recognise the needs of the content community. -- The implementation of the "smart pipes" model by the large majority of operators, to ensure that the mobile entertainment community could rely on complete operator coverage in its core markets. -- The enthusiastic uptake of newly-available enabling services by content and service providers, so as to encourage operators to implement the broadest range of enabling services. About Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF) The Mobile Entertainment Forum was formed in 2000 to represent companies throughout the entire mobile entertainment value chain. As the global trade association of the mobile media industry, MEF works on behalf of its diverse membership to drive mobile entertainment adoption, shape regulation and deliver competitive advantage to its members. With global headquarters in London, a Hollywood-based Americas secretariat, an Asian chapter in Hong Kong and the newly expanded EMEA branch, MEF's network of members represents a veritable 'Who's Who' of mobile entertainment businesses and entrepreneurs. For more information and a full list of members please visit: www.m-e-f.org. SOURCE Mobile Entertainment Forum http://www.m-e-f.org |