Wireless Influencers 2008 Content

This year, Wireless Influencers is organized into five distinct tracks, each of which is comprised of three separate breakout discussions. Each breakout discussion features three speakers in addition to a single moderator, who will host all three breakout discussions within the track throughout the conference. The purpose of the track format is to facilitate continued, escalated dialogue on a set of topics surrounding a common theme. Additionally, the tracks provide conference delegates an opportunity for intellectual engagement with a consistent group of peers.

Conference Keynote Panels

We Are as We Connect
As of 2000, the first one billion humans were connected. Four years later, the second billion were connected. Two years after that, the third billion were connected. Today, over half of the humans on the planet have a network connection. The opening session of Wireless Influencers 2008 will focus on the new business realities created by the confluence of three forces: (1) the transition from traditional centralized telecommunications networks to new distributed and decentralized networks, (2) the role of wireless as the ultimate decentralizing force, and (3) how wireless is transforming the Web (and the Web is transforming wireless). Rather than look at specific aspects of the wireless industry, panelists in this session will explore the impact of wireless on the world around us and how those changes, in turn, create business opportunities.

The Wireless Debates
Decision-making in mobile is not easy today. Platforms for services beyond voice are in transition or in conflict, and business models are evolving both in number of participants and in complexity of interrelationships. Despite this uncertainty, the importance of mobile is only growing, as companies throughout the ecosystem are starting to generate revenues and to allocate substantial investment dollars and budgets. In this session, industry leaders will tackle two prominent issues for the future of mobile media and communications. These two debates are intended not to elect winning panelists but rather to persuade you, the Wireless Influencers audience, of different points-of-view and potentially different directions for your companies’ strategies and investments.

Carrier Roundtable: What Does It Take to Succeed in the Wireless Business?
The wireless industry is undergoing a historic period of change. The traditional voice business is maturing, offset at least in part by growth from new data services. Carrier consolidation is continuing both to converge wireless and wireline and to increase regional and global scale. The Internet and software incumbents are now very active in mobile, with initiatives such as iPhone, Android, and Ovi taking prominent roles in industry growth and innovation. Perhaps most importantly, carriers’ business models are transitioning, with internal and external forces for openness across devices, networks, and platforms. For carriers, today’s strategic decisions may determine the long-term outcome for the industry’s position in the media, telecommunications, and technology landscape. In this session, carrier executives from different markets globally will discuss the keys to succeed in the wireless business and the implications for other participants in the mobile ecosystem.

How the Device Changes the Deliverable
Rich Miner, Group Manager, Mobile Platforms, Google
Austin Murray, Founder and President, GOGII
Tom Wheeler, Managing Director, Core Capital Partners (moderator)

Conference Tracks

Track 1: Telecom Carriers: Redefining Business Models to Drive Growth
The global telecommunications industry is experiencing a transformative period of change, with the maturation of traditional services and revenue streams and the emergence of new business models and opportunities. This track will focus on the redefinition of wireless and wireline carriers' business models and the sources for near-term and long-term revenue growth. Illustrative topics include: wireless carriers as next generation media companies; the attractiveness of dumb pipe economics; the differentiation from and leverage of having three screens; the immersion of incumbent Internet firms in mobile; the rise and long-term potential for mobile data; the challenges to renew near-term growth in mobile music, video, and games; the remaining possibilities from the voice business; the magnitude of enabler business models in location, billing, presence, and others; the emergence of cellular-embedded consumer, home, and automotive electronics; and the business case for 4G wireless technologies and networks.

• What is the net impact of iPhone, Android, and Ovi on wireless carriers?
• Which assets will drive the most value and differentiation for telecom and cable operators?
• How are emerging markets carriers leading the world in wireless innovation?

Track 2: Mobile Marketing and Advertising: How to Get Past the Test Phase
Mobile marketing and advertising presents a substantial opportunity for value creation, as both carriers and publishers seek business models that scale consumer adoption and content revenues for mobile media. The area is inherently new, though, and most initiatives and budgets remain in the test phase. This track will focus on what is working well now across the world and what brands, agencies, publishers, and carriers want and need from each other to move forward faster. Illustrative topics include: the engagement model for brands with consumers through mobile; the engagement model for mobile in context of traditional and online; the early and potentially replicable success stories; the value and limits of carrier-based ad networks; the optimal ad formats and technologies, across on-deck and off-deck and across display, search, video, messaging, and others; the reach, economics, and metrics for available inventory; and the requirements for and complexities in targeting information, including profile, location, context, and others.

• Why aren't advertisers spending more money on mobile today?
• How can advertisers best engage with consumers through mobile?
• Who will provide useful targeting information for mobile marketing and advertising?

Track 3: Open Platforms, Networks, Services, and Business Models
Openness is a potentially fundamental and disruptive trend for the mobile industry. The topic, both in concept and in implementation, is fiercely debated, with multiple and disparate interests throughout the ecosystem of wireless carriers, device manufacturers, content publishers, application developers, solutions vendors, and others. This track will study the definition, attractiveness, prospects, and economics of open platforms, devices, networks, and services. Illustrative topics include: the impact to consumers of openness, including benefits and risks; the definition of and critical value and control points in open platforms; openness-based differentiation and monetization strategies for carriers; the practical implications and opportunities for media and Internet firms; developer community interests and reactions; the impact of 4G deployments; and the effect on the traditional global wireless supply chain.

• What does openness mean?
• Which device software platforms will succeed, which will fail, and why?
• When will consumer electronics embed mobile broadband in large volumes?

Track 4: Mobile Content and Applications: How to Renew Industry Growth
The evolution of handsets and user experiences combined with advancements in network bandwidth is leading to prospects for renewed growth in the mobile content and application business. This track will examine the future of mobile usage, distribution, and pricing models, in context of both consumer demand and requirements to create a vibrant mobile data value chain. Illustrative topics include: the emergence and definition of the mobile Internet; the future of mobile-specific content; the evolution of distribution in an environment not dominated by carriers' decks; the use of mobile relative to other mediums for capture, consumption, and interaction; the advent and early experiences of the iPhone, Android, and Ovi; the solutions and technologies required to solve user experience constraints; and the adoption patterns and prospects for applications such as social networking, content sharing, location-based services, mobile games, and others.

• Media executive roundtable: Does mobile now matter to the business?
• Is there a distinct mobile Internet?
• What is the best way to package and price mobile data services?

Track 5: The Mobile Phone as Lifestyle Infrastructure: New and Expanding Roles for Wireless
The roles of mobile phones in people's lives are expanding-from communications-only in the past, to communications and content today, to communications, content, community, commerce, and even more in the future. Importantly, although this vision of the mobile phone as life infrastructure has been discussed for at least a decade, the industry is just now seeing initial steps toward its realization. This track will explore the intersection points and emerging opportunities between wireless carriers and industries outside the current realm of mobile communications and media. Illustrative topics include: the role for mobile phones in personal identity, security, and finance; the prospects and economics of mobile banking and payments; the use cases and business models for mobile phones across in-store retail environments; the growth drivers and inhibitors for mobile ticketing; the context for mobile phones as part of the digital lifestyle and the digital home; and the technology requirements and cost implications to mobile phone development and sourcing.

• How will mobile phones change the way people engage in everyday life activities?
• What are youths up to on their mobile phones?
• What are carriers' and OEMs' roles in lifestyle applications such as mobile shopping and payments?