MEF Advisor Ross Flynn shares an update from the recent Global Carrier Billing Summit in Berlin, where the industry gathered to discuss all things carrier billing related, and to explore the future of the space.
If you’re involved in Carrier Billing at all it’s very likely that you or someone you know was at the Global Carrier Billing Summit in Berlin last week. The two-day event was chock full of content and to no surprise MEF members were there in force, including our very own James Williams (MEF Director of Programmes) as MC, guiding us through the sessions.
A lot of the key takeaways were ones that we’ve seen time and time again such as bundling needing to be an option and the trust angle being key (the countries where the operators play nice together tend to be the countries that do well in this department) but there were also some important reminders of things we often overlook. It’s vital to provide access for lots of different services such as education and not just the usual suspects like mobile gaming. We saw that it was also important to never assume the consumer is young and digital savvy – they may need some guidance. Finally, we need to prevent excessive regulation as if that happens it would be a huge blow for the industry.
And of course, it wouldn’t be the Global Carrier Billing Summit without the Carrier Award Ceremony. Taking place this year in a boat along the river Spree, the first win of the night by a MEF member was Evina for Leading Innovator in DCB Anti-Fraud!
David Lotfi, CEO of Evina, said: “This year’s GCBS has shown that more than ever, the players that will grow quickly and sustainably will have put cybersecurity at the foundation of their growth model. Winning the
GCBS award for “Leading Innovator in DCB Anti-Fraud” is a fantastic recognition of our hard work in supporting this model and the results we’ve achieved together with our partners: more growth, increased confidence in the technology, and improved user satisfaction.
“We are pleased to see so many DCB players now fully embracing their future. This GCBS was an opportunity to talk about the future uses of this powerful technology and the fintech revolution it brings. It was an opportunity to underline that the need for users’ security and privacy has never been more vital.”
But that’s not all, as of the three awards handed out that night not just one but two were handed out to MEF members – PM Connect won for Leading DCB Payments Solution!
Kev Dawson, Group CEO of PM Connect, said: “This is a big vote of confidence for what we’re striving to achieve at PM Connect. The Global Carrier Billing Summit is one of the events we underline in the calendar, so to win this award in a room full of our partners and peers is testament to our trajectory as a business and means a lot to us.
“We are on a mission to make in-demand content accessible to all by matching our world-class brand portfolio with MNOs, supercharging subscriptions using targeted digital marketing and driving growth for the whole ecosystem via our DCB payment solution.
“We strongly believe PM Connect is pioneering this approach, executing a strategic vision and delivering the results for our partners in a way that’s sustainable in the long-term.
“A massive thank you to the Global Carrier Billing Summit for the award, but most of all thank you to our amazing team for constantly going above and beyond to make our work a success. We look forward to what the future holds for PM Connect and our business associates.”
A huge congratulations is in order for our MEF members who won and we have to give a massive thank you to Informa and the whole team who put together this superb event!
