Debate about the Operator’s walled garden
Yet another great networking event in London. I’ll be at this one so drop me a note if you’re going and would like to have a gossip. Register now!
The walled Garden …will mobile operators’ walls tumble in 2007 (or do they know something the rest of us don’t)?
Join BIMA’s expert panellists’ debate about how mobile operators continue to have a walled garden. Is there potential disruption of the apple iPhone as an apple walled garden experience? What attitudes surround consuming operator content versus premium content providers versus portals provided by the manufacturers themselves? What is the impact of premium content consumption on operator branded handsets versus vanilla handsets?
Even though there are opportunities for advertisers to subsidise content why is it not mainstream? Are there threats to premium content providers playing alongside operators with triple play and quad play offerings – sharing and consuming content over integrated web and mobile offerings? What will the impact on broadcasters entering the mobile space really look like?
Date: Tuesday 6th March 2007
Time: Arrive at 5.45 for a 6:15 start
Venue: LBi, 1 Naoroji Street, WC1X 0JD
BIMA members: £24 £23.50
Non-members: £39 £39.95
Close to Leicester Square station. Map
- Steve Wolak, Web Technologies Manager, Vodafone Group R&D – UK
- Andrew McGrath, Director, Design and Usability, Orange Group
- Peter Ford, Alliances Director, EMEA with ATG.
After the debate, continue the discussion and network over a glass of wine (or 2, or 3).
Email Janice to book your seat now!
Speaker profiles can be found by clicking through to the full post
Stephen Wolak
Web Technologies Manager, Vodafone Group R&D – UK
Stephen has worked in the mobile industry since graduating from Imperial College in 1985. His career kicked off at Motorola Communications in Basingstoke where he helped get their mobile exchange working with BT’s System X exchanges. Next stop was also in Basingstoke, Orbitel Mobile Communications – which later became Ericsson – working on the software for the new digital base stations. There followed a short diversion into academia as a Senior Lecturer in Software Engineer at Portsmouth University.
Software development was resumed at NEC Technologies in Reading, where he worked as a Software Group Leader on NECs GSM mobile phones and in particular the new WAP stack before joining Vodafone.
At Vodafone Group R&D in Newbury Stephen set up the Service Enabling Technologies Team to research into new technologies for mobile services. Projects have included; IMS, NFC, moblogging, mobile communities and more recently Vodafone Betavine (see www.vodafonebetavine.net ) and online collaborative R&D space for Mobile and Internet Communications.
Andrew McGrath
Director, Design and Usability, Orange
Since June 2006 Andrew has run the Orange Global Design and Usability team based at Paddington Basin in London. The 18 strong team has a remit to deliver Group design solutions and specifications for the whole of Orange. Current design activities encompass Mobile Handset UI, Mobile application UI, WAP, Web and TV experiences.
Prior to joining Orange in 2004 Andrew ran the UI team in 3 UK for 4 years and before that he worked for 9 years in BT as a Designer in their Research and Development activity in Adastral Park Suffolk
Andrew studied Product Design at Glasgow School of Art and then at Manchester Metropolitan University
Peter Ford
Alliances Director, EMEA with ATG
A 25 year industry veteran, Peter joined ATG in January 2006 and has been at the forefront of developing the go-to-market strategy with the Partner Community in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The transformation has been rapid with significant revenue returns to ATG Europe inside the first 12 months. Balanced between conventional Alliances and Sales Management/Business Development disciplines, he’s spent the last 12 years in International Alliances and Channels, of which the last 8 years has been in the Internet and Web Services market with organisations including management roles in the European Operations of OpenMarket and Interwoven.
At OpenMarket, the Alliances strategy there saw the European Operations outgrow those of the US with a 350% increase in revenue. At Interwoven he developed the Partner model in Continental Europe to increase revenue contribution by over 600% whilst restructuring the business across the EMEA region.
Prior to this Peter held a number of Senior Sales Management positions in organisations including Comshare and Xerox.
3 Responses to “Debate about the Operator’s walled garden”
Leave a Reply
[...] Earlier today I blogged about the latest BIMA debate (networking event) and suggested that Leicester Square station was the nearest tube station to the venue. However, it’s not the nearest station. [...]
[...] You might have read recently about the latest BIMA dialog. Well, you still have a chance to book a place for today’s debate. It’s a hot topic and one which has attracted over 17,000 words from commentators on my recent posts on the subject! [...]
[...] BIMA (British Interactive Media Association) is the trade association for the Interactive Industry that I Chair. Last week I blogged about its first networking event for 2007; mobile operators’ and their walled gardens. [...]