Nick Millward, VP of Commercial & Product explores the use cases of Rich Communications Services (RCS) and how they will provide advanced messaging for consumers across a variety of types of service.

At the recent Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2018, one of the hottest trends was RCS (Rich Communication Services) business messaging. Google announced at the show that more than 50 global carriers in 40 countries now support RCS – a significant step forward in terms of industry acceptance, with another 50 carriers expected to launch RCS before the end of the year.

Gavin Patterson, Chief data analyst at Mobilesquared discusses the promise of RCS and the services they could bring, ahead of a MEF Future of Messaging Workshop at ITW 2018.

The buzz around RCS enterprise messaging at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year was intense. The entire value chain appeared to unite in publicising various trials that showcased uplifts in click through rates compared to SMS, increased customer satisfaction rates compared to SMS and, perhaps most importantly, increased conversion rates compared to SMS.

Jez Goldstone, Director of Customer Security Innovation in the Chief Security Office at Barclays Bank, outlines the contents of a new whitepaper which sheds light on the issue of SMiShing, whereby a phone user is tricked into taking unwanted action or downloading malware via SMS.

Smishing is a big problem across a number of industries. Our customers, and yours, are getting tricked into taking actions by fraudsters.

Stéphanie Viriot, from MEF Member and digital security specialists Gemalto explores machine learning and how it can be harnessed to deliver practical results in mobile marketing campaigns.

Mobile Marketing is widely used now by many different actors, which is great to see, but it is still difficult to send personalized interactions and specifically tailored offers to the end-users. Consequently, threshold limits of campaign responses/acceptance rates tend to be relatively low.

Everyone likes the idea of conversational commerce. But it only truly works when a customer can talk to a brand across any channel – voice, text, OTT, push. So says James Lasbrey, director of carrier relations at Nexmo. He conversed with MEF in an exclusive video interview…

In 2015, a photo went viral and started to appear in powerpoint presentations all over the world.

Think A2P is big business now? Wait until consumers start having free-flowing chat sessions with intelligent robot agents. The numbers will be eye-watering. So says, CLX’s Rob Malcolm. But it won’t happen overnight…

It’s possible to break down the history of mobile messaging into four eras. In the first one, when SMS was launched, telecoms engineers used the channel to speak to fellow engineers. Later, users started to message each other. Then came A2P messaging, with businesses sending texts to customers.

Enterprise messaging is on the verge of embracing the next generation of SMS, rich communication services (RCS).

Ian Germer, director of communication services at Orange Group, discusses the RCS opportunity.
To get an insight into the potential of next-generation RCS, it’s good to think about parking. More specifically, the nightmare of paying for parking.

Enterprise messaging is at a crossroads. Consumers are ready for more engagement, but they want it across many more channels than just SMS. Virginie Debris, VP of global product management at SAP Digital Interconnect, explains why she thinks this is a huge opportunity for the market.

After over a decade of growth, A2P messaging is now ready for its second life. And the key to this next stage? Conversation.

In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week, Dr. Piet Streicher, MD of BulkSMS.com.

BulkSMS is a global A2P SMS messaging service provider offering innovative solutions, enabling our customers to communicate their short and relevant messages using self-service or API products. We offer large, medium and small organisations in the commercial, public, government and non-profit sectors, the ability to send person–to-person, application-to-person and application-to-application SMS messages. Our SMS gateway connects to over 900 mobile networks.

In our ‘5 minutes with’ profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week, Florian Lichtwald, SVP of Global Telecom and Data Partnerships introduces zeotap.

We unite the world’s most valuable data especially from telecom operators to enable the world’s largest brands to achieve better results in their advertising campaigns through precise targeting and intelligent technology. Mobile users have shown that they often prefer advertising as a currency when consuming digital content.

In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week, Marketing Director Simon Gannon introduces mobile app distribution specialist, appScatter.

appScatter distributes, manages and monitors mobile apps across multiple app stores worldwide. The platform offers unrivalled audience reach, efficient app management and centralised reporting. By distributing apps across the best app stores globally, brands, agencies and developers use appScatter to more effectively manage app portfolios and dramatically increase revenue.

In our 5 minutes with profiles, MEF members talk about their business, their aspirations for the future and the wider mobile industry. This week David Poole introduces mobile authentication solution specialist MYPINPAD.

MYPINPAD is a technology company with a goal of delivering economic, scalable solutions to meet our clients’ diverse requirements for authentication and identity management.

The Company is managed by an alliance of leaders from the payments industry with a collective 100+ years’ experience spanning a wide spectrum of banking, security and payment technology.

Clear informed consent is the key to ensuring consumers trust every digital transaction. It’s a critical issue – which is why MEF’s Global Consumer Trust Working Group has examined the issues in order to develop a free whitepaper on the subject. Here, we present some of the highlights.

In 2010, 7,500 people sold their souls to the UK retailer, GameStation. These unwitting customers had bought from the store and missed the “immortal soul clause” buried in the site’s terms and conditions. Thankfully, this was an April Fool’s joke and GameStation returned its harvested souls back to their rightful owners.

In May 2018 the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be implemented. Consumers will be compelled to give permission before any of their data is collected by a company, and that data must be transferrable and deleted, or returned on request.

The regulation is a significant step in placing the consumer in control of who uses their data and how it is used. At the same time the business models of apps and services often rely on personal data to help monetise their offerings.

As a mobile first region, the growth in Africa is relentless.

Landmarks like registering its billionth mobile subscriber have already been passed and the systematic upgrading of mobile networks to 3G and 4G LTE is enabling a flourishing mobile ecosystem that, coupled with the declining cost of smartphones is helping to galvanise the African mobile economy.

Here we take a look at the recent market trends, analysis and forecasts that show how growth in the region is taking shape.

High-profile data breaches and a growing consumer desire to know how user information is gathered, stored and brokered underlines just how central the issue of consumer trust is in mobile.

Supported by Mozilla and bics, MEF’s recently published Consumer Trust eBulletin explores these issues and offers insights on regulation, market stats, and via MEF’s white paper – Understanding the Personal Data Economy – a closer look at the idea that consumers can actively participate in how their personal data is used – a model premised on a value exchange that is built on trust and informed user consent.

Mobilesquared have released their Global A2P SMS messaging forecasts Databook, taking an in-depth look at the projected growth of the global A2P SMS industry, including the potential impact of RCS. Here Chief Analyst Nick Lane shares some of the highlights.

We have been tracking the A2P SMS space for the last five years. So it’s fair to say that the release of our latest Databook, Global A2P SMS messaging forecasts by country, 2017-2022, is the culmination of 5 years work, borne out of extensive industry and enterprise research.

Video ads outscore all other formats by all measures of effectiveness – and none more so than ‘rewarded’ video ads. MEF Minute talked to market analyst On Device Research about the impact of this rising medium…

Facebook recently gave game developers a new ad option: rewarded video.

The logical reaction to this news from market watchers was: what took you so long?

Smartphones are not just a part of our lives, they are our lives.

That’s just one of the conclusions reached in Deloitte Africa’s recent consumer survey, Game of Phones.

Here Arun Babu, Partner in the Strategy & Operations practice of Deloitte Consulting in Africa and Telecommunications Leader looks more deeply at the survey results which indicate the primacy of smartphones in one of the world’s most interesting and dynamic markets.

Global Communications Manager Sam Hill shares details of a new industry platform for members and non-members alike, a curated database of current research, reports and whitepapers from across the mobile ecosystem.
While there is a wealth of useful material out there taking a deep-dive into the latest consumer insights, tech trends and buzzwords, finding current data or research on specific areas of interest can be time-consuming, and it can be easy to miss that essential data nugget you’re after.

MEF has announced the results of its Global, EMEA and LatAm board elections for the 2017/2019 term following its AGM in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress last week.

19 executives representing the diversity of the global mobile ecosystem from mobile operators to companies at the forefront of mobile payments, messaging, personal data and content were elected to take forward MEF’s mandate.

MEF has announced the results of its Global Board elections for the 2015/2016 term following its AGM in London last week.

Candidates representing a variety of markets and sectors contested four seats on MEF’s Global Board, reflecting the organisation’s diverse membership as mobile becomes the primary technology for engaging consumers in growth and established markets

The newly elected and re-elected board directors are:

It’s one of the great truisms of the mobile industry: smartphone ownership is rocketing in developing markets. But is it true? Well, kind of but not really. At least according…

All over the world, ride-sharing apps are taking on powerful local taxi businesses. But in India, the situation is a little different: there are hardly any local firms to take…

Rafael Pellon, MEF LatAm Board Member and partner at Focaccia, Amaral, Salvia, Pellon & Lamonica, here explores the ongoing issues surrounding the repeated blocking of hugely popular Whatsapp across Brazil, and the knock on effects this has had across the region and the mobile app ecosystem.

Almost a month since the 2nd wholesale blockage of WhatsApp in Brazil, Brazilians are starting to appreciate that WhatsApp has become nothing but essential.

MEF recently hosted its largest LatAm event to date: MEF Connects Brazil, held during Tela Viva Móvel, supported by Movile and Digital Virgo.

Over 130 senior executives from 60 companies representing the mobile ecosystem in Latin America got together for the business networking event.

We partnered with Tela Viva Móvel, the most relevant conference in Brazil for the mobile sector.

Brazil’s economic growth is well documented. It is a mobile first country with 50 per cent of all households using mobile as their primary means for communicating and getting online.

Today that’s a mix of feature phones and smartphones but by 2018, one third of the country is predicted to own a smartphone.

Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), is today announcing the results of its 2016 EMEA and LatAm board elections which took place during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week.

As mobile continues its reign to become the primary channel to engage and transact with consumers…

MEF recently hosted the third annual MEF Connects Indonesia in Jakarta in association with Indosat/Ooredoo. The event was supported by TIMWE Group and Bango. MEF Asia GM Linda Ruck shares highlights and photos from the night.
With a population fast approaching 260 million, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country and the third-largest smartphone market in the Asia-Pacific region (following China and India). A mobile first nation, Indonesian’s love social media, with Facebook (fourth largest user base in the world), Instagram and Twitter ruling – while mobile money has made great progress, cash is still king.

In our Spotlight interview, we learned how Syniverse approaches security and privacy in the brand/consumer relationship globally. But how does the global transaction processor approach doing business in the uniquely challenging Chinese market?

We spoke with Dave Ratner, President of Enterprise Solutions during GMIC Beijing about Syniverse’ business in China and how the company enables brands and enterprises to “connect, engage, interact and protect” its mobile first customers.

We spoke to many of our members during this year’s GMIC Beijing about the challenges and opportunities of providing mobile services for the Chinese market.

Here are two more video interviews with members active in China, mobile messaging business, Twilio and law firm Dentons, who share their insights into what its like to do business in this challenging market.

You can’t succeed in China unless you have an unfair advantage. But if you do have one, the rewards are huge. That was the key take-away from experts at the recent MEF Connects China held during GMIC Beijing…

Thinking of expanding your business into China? Be careful. This is the advice from a VC that specialises in taking overseas companies into the region.

“95 per cent of companies do not belong here.”

Check out this infographic detailing the findings of Mobilesquared’s new research into Global A2P SMS messaging, taking an in-depth look at the projected growth of the global A2P SMS industry, including the potential impact of RCS.

For more in-depth insight, take a look at an overview from Chief Analyst Nick Lane, and you can download the whole databook from the MEF Insights Directory right now.

With summer holiday season fast approaching, it is time once again for travel marketers to focus their spending on the channels that matter – and for savvy professionals that means putting mobile at the centre of the mix.

This infographic from MDG Advertising notes the importance of mobile optimisation for any travel site, and the prevalence of mobile in booking and sharing among millenials. Worth noting too is the sheer increase in mobile search for travel categories across the board in 2015; hotel searches up 49 per cent, cruises, 49 per cent and airlines 33 per cent.

55 percent of consumers expect their mobile health apps to be hacked within the next six months, according to a recent report from Arxan Technologies. Executive IT leaders (48%) who have oversight or insight into the security of the mobile healthcare and produce apps also share the same concerns.

Mobile financial services continue to push out in every direction. From simply sending money peer-to-peer through to in-built car technology that allows drivers to pay for petrol without leaving their vehicle. Its all going on.

This infographic from Ovum and Amdocs is the result of the findings from a survey of 8,500 mobile users across 17 markets and provides insight in to user behaviour and the barriers to entry in the mobile money sphere.

Fred Martinent, Product Marketing Director at Gemalto envisions how mobile operator marketeers can take advantage of impending regulatory changes and the opportunities they will present to boost revenues from digital advertising – and how to convince management of your winning strategy.

Buzz…buzz…buzz…the shrill noise of your alarm clock wakes you with a jolt. You haphazardly reach over to press the snooze button but then you remember that today is D-Day.

Senior Customer Success Manager Linden Dawson shares her takeaways from the International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ Summit in Sydney, and how marketers can stay on the right side of the “creepy line” when personalising advertising.

Privacy and the “creepy line” were hot topics of discussion last week at the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) ANZ Summit held in Sydney. We’re all familiar with the creepy factor online at this point; we’ve all searched for a pair of shoes or a piece of furniture only to be stalked around the Internet for the next few days with banners for those items showing up on website after website.

Just as smartphones have upped the ante on what can be achieved in terms of content, services and customer interactivity, the accessibility, importance and value of mobile user data has snowballed. Businesses now build commercial strategies based on hundreds of points of measurement or data-capture – the personal data economy.

In tandem, the forthcoming (May 2018) EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) expands the personal data rights of EU citizens.

At the end of last month the 2nd MyData event took place. It was an ambitious 2-city location (Tallinn and Helsinki) complete with a boat trip and even a track choosing game to help delegates navigate the complexities (in case it wasn’t complicated enough!).

Here’s some of the highlights by COO Joanne Lacey, MEF’s speaker at the event which brings together a passionate community of developers, researchers, Government agencies and businesses looking to build a more human-centric approach to personal data.

A new breed of fintech startups with an innovative business model are attempting to take advantage of customer’s unused, ‘limitless’ text message contracts, leveraging them as an integral part of blockchain ventures, allowing users to essentially resell messages that would be wasted.

From one perspective, such services make use of messages that would go otherwise unused to make some money for users, while providing useful services for other businesses and consumers.

Recent hardware releases from some of the most influential players in the mobile ecosystem have introduced the latest wave of mobile and IoT technology with some eye catching features focusing on privacy, security and new ways for consumer’s to use their phones.

Google unveiled their 2nd generation of Pixel phones as well as a host of smart home hardware and peripherals just weeks after Apple’s annual event where they showed off the iPhone 8 and iPhone X and a new sim-ready watch. There was also a major hardware push from Amazon with a newly updated range of connected smart-home accessories.

We asked MEF Members for their thoughts on the new hardware and strategies – here’s what they said.

Last week’s ransomware attacks were aimed at vulnerabilities typical of big enterprises and government bodies, but the true impact was felt by consumers – cancelled trains in Germany, people forced to pay cash for petrol in China, missed hospital appointments in the UK, the list goes on, with poor user experience and damaging trust the result.

While the WannaCry attack was upon a very specific desktop vulnerability, the possibility of similar attacks on other operating systems, the media coverage and the effect on consumer’s perception of digital safety are lessons to be learnt. We asked what can mobile tech industries can do to better prepare for similar attacks and protect consumers…

Accenture’s 2017 Banking Technology Vision report explores the role of AI in banking and customer engagement. It found that 78 per cent of bankers believe AI will revolutionise the way banks gather information and interact with customers.

One of the key advantages highlighted was that whilst AI is increasingly automating customer interaction, it is also providing a more personalised experience.

Chatbots for example are increasingly used by banks to handle routine enquiries and represent a more personalised experience than visiting the modern day substitute for branch banking, a website or app, where customers interact with layers of screens and drop-down menus instead of a person.

Alex Klose, VP of Marketing at IMImobile, looks at the opportunity for enterprises to differentiate customer experience by combining new rich-media messaging channels such as RCS (Rich Communication Services) with customer journey automation platforms.

There is no doubt that consumers have a huge desire for messaging-based experiences. In fact, 66% of consumers prefer to reach brands, or be reached by brands through messaging apps, and two-thirds expect to increase their engagement with businesses via messaging channels over the next two years.

India’s Hungama Mobile dominates digital entertainment for the world’s south Asia population. It reaches 40 million people in 50 countries. In an exclusive video, Hungama’s CEO Neeraj Roy describes the journey and the future…

In the early years of the 21st century, there was a mobile entertainment revolution. A group of pioneering companies realised phones could do far more than deliver talk and text. The market for ringtones, wallpapers, alerts and screensavers was born.

MEFTV met Chia Brewin, Director of Customer development at Trunomi during MWC 2018, who spoke about unlocking the power of customer data using consent and data rights management.

“It’s been a long journey with GDPR in terms of awareness and preparedness.. then suddenly January 1, businesses took it very seriously and are looking to implement solutions – and that’s also driven by the consumer, there has been a lot of media hype around GDPR and the new rights that it gives the individual and we’ve seen evidence that individuals will be looking to exercise those rights and make subject access requests and hold companies that are processing their data to a higher standard and ultimately take back the ownership that is theirs. ”

MEFTV talks to Teni Stuffman, Business Development Director for VAS2Nets during MWC 2018, where she shares some background to the company, insights into doing business in Africa and outlines some of their key projects and initiatives.

“Africa is very unique in its own way, we are very tech compliant – any new thing goes viral easily and it just shows that consumers are in support of development, especially when it comes to mobile. There is this thirst for development, for more, so you are challenged every day to bring something of value. As technology’s growing consumers are growing with it in our region and they want change.”