The Crystal Ball 2015

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

As we turn the page on 2014, it's that time of year again when we pull out the BuzzCity Crystal Ball to take a look at what the new year has in store for mobile users and the mobile industry.

The past twelve months have been a period of steady growth for the mobile industry.  Here are just a few indicators:

• Since the start of the year, The BuzzCity Ad Network has delivered over 320 billion ads, up 19% from 2013.
• The global market for mobile ads is expected to top US$31 billion in 2014.  Digital advertising is on the rise at a time when TV and print ads are stagnant or declining.
• More than 1 billion smartphones will be sold this year and smartphone penetration is as high as 85% in Singapore, where mobile devices are far more popular than PCs.  More than three-quarters of mobile surfers use smartphones in 75 markets.

Based on what we see from BuzzCity's research and our survey of the overall industry, it's easy to be bullish on the year ahead as well, particularly when it comes to mobile video and m-commerce . . . which leads me to our two predictions for 2015:

1.  Mobile 'TV' Ads Go Mainstream

2.  Online Shopping Drives Retail Sales for Vendors Big and Small

The Crystal Ball 2014

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

It's that time of year again . . . time for holiday parties and annual budgets . . . and time to pull BuzzCity's Crystal Ball out of the desk drawer, dust it off and have a look at 2014.

(Sorry to mix the work metaphors with the play, but it seems appropriate for those of us in the mobile industry. After all, we're using our phones on a daily basis now for everything from reading office memos and replying to emails to watching viral videos and buying theatre tickets.)

This year, we're going to keep it simple. Just two main predictions:

1. Many Channels, Mobile First

2. MobileMoney Becomes Commonplace - Everywhere!

If you're a close follower of the GammaLife blog, you'll know that we've been writing about the prevalence of mobile commerce & mobile payments -- as well as a mulit-device, multi-channel world -- for some time. But these two trends are only going to become stronger in the year ahead, as they shape our industry - and consumers' lives.

Did BB Miss an Opportunity?

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

Blackberry is trying to reinvent itself with the much-publicised launch of BB10.

But the company is making two big mistakes:

One, it's focusing on the wrong markets.

Two, it should market its product to feature phone users who are on the cusp of upgrading to an affordable smartphone.

The Crystal Ball - Predictions for 2013

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

What do you think will be the biggest and most important mobile trends in the year ahead?

What if I told you that iPhones were just a big fad and by January 2014, no one will be talking about them anymore? Or how about if I wrote that mobile penetration has peaked and will start to decline?

Yeah, I wouldn't buy it either.

However I do have four trends that I think will define the next twelve months:

1. Smartphone Dominance
2. Marketers become Data Crunchers
3. Mobile becomes the starting point for advertisers, not an after-thought
4. Emerging Markets Responsible for Breakthrough Mobile Innovations

Take a look and let me know what you think! What are your predictions for the year?

Death by Data : What Advertisers and Media Planners Need to Know

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

The internet is likely now the world's largest mass medium with more viewers and broader reach than radio, television and without question magazines and newspapers.

So why is it that advertisers have not whole-heartedly embraced internet ads? Why don't we see branding campaigns all across the mobile internet?

The answer to these questions lies in the numbers . . .

• Media planners traditionally demand demographic and psychographic data that enables them to plan advertising campaigns targeting specific groups of consumers.

• But these measurements are not readily available in the digital world. Instead, digital publishers rely on a completely different set of metrics -- from CPAs and CPCs to CPMs and CPDs -- which often confuse media planners.

So how do we bridge this gap between digital publishers and advertisers?

New Mobile Regulations in Indonesia Pave the Way for M-Commerce Growth

By K.F. Lai, BuzzCity CEO

The government of Indonesia has effectively 'reset' the mobile subscriptions market. It shut down all mobile subscriptions in mid-October and required content providers who wish to resubscribe their users to do so in compliance with tougher rules.

Consumer agencies have been pushing for this action against a small minority of mobile advertisers whose fraudulent actions tarnished the whole industry, for some time.

The result is good news for the whole industry (well, everyone except those fraudsters) and it took place not a moment too late. Regulators around the world are starting to recognise the importance of their role in protecting the value chain. By re-establishing much-needed trust between businesses and consumers, this paves the way for the emergence of solid m-commerce markets.

Mobile Entertainment Comes of Age, Revealing a Treasure Trove of Opportunities for Brand Engagement

By KF Lai, CEO

Anyone who still believes that mobile gaming is the domain of the spotty teenage boy urgently needs to update their thinking. All age groups are now engaging in regular and immersive mobile entertainment activity on their mobile phones, and the proportion of women playing mobile games is rising fast. Those agencies and brands that understand the new dynamics of mobile entertainment can take advantage of this powerful channel to reach mainstream consumers with “byte size” commercial or branded messages.

Good Pipe v. Bad Pipe

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

Telecom carriers and some advertising companies are at it again. Instead of focusing on whether a carrier provides fast reliable high-quality connectivity, they've resurrected a false debate, posing the question “is a mobile carrier a 'dumb' or 'smart' pipe?” In the hope of securing an additional revenue stream, they make Orwellian promises of better user experiences, when in fact all they want to do is hijack a user's mobile browser and insert ads where they shouldn't appear.

The real focus shouldn't be on “dumb v. smart” but rather whether a carrier is a good pipe or bad pipe.

Let me share with you an analogy.

Suppose the government wishes to privatise the postal delivery service and invites companies to place a bid for a three-year contract. How would it determine if the vendor would be a good provider?

APPLICATIONS ARE NOT MEDIA

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

Mobile companies are placing their bets now on whether applications or browsers will be the cornerstone of your mobile experience. Discussion within the industry is intense as carriers, developers, phone makers and internet giants like Google and Microsoft vie for market share and a spot at the top of your mobile speed dial list.

FIVE MEDIA TRENDS

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

Whether you work in the industry – or just enjoy good content – it's clear that the media landscape is undergoing a transformation. Newspapers are going out of business, music is sold piecemeal over the internet, and Twitter has become a household name. Mobile meanwhile continues to grow even while other sectors contract.

As BuzzCity celebrates its 10th anniversary, I find myself reflecting on these changes and I've noticed five industry trends that I would like to share with you today.

INNOVATION

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

I have a confession to make. It won't come as much of a surprise, though, to my friends, family and colleagues:

I'm a Geek.

THE BUZZ

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

The vibe in the mobile industry now is completely different from the tone emanating from Wall Street (and financial districts worldwide for that matter). In fact the mobile internet feels more vibrant now than it did just six months ago. Let me explain.

A NEW CHAPTER IN THE BUZZCITY CHRONICLES

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

Today, I am extremely excited to announce that MIH/Naspers has invested US$10 million in BuzzCity. They are buying a 25% stake in the company. This investment closes one chapter in our company's history and opens another.


THE BACK STORY

We first started talking to MIH (the investment arm of Naspers) about two years ago. BuzzCity's primary growth driver then was paid mobile services, not mobile advertising as it is now. But Naspers, an international media company based in South Africa, didn't find this business strategy exciting enough.

By the end of 2007, our mobile ad business was showing tremendous growth (see Note 1 below), so I contacted MIH again. Now that our business model had become ad-driven, we spoke a language that media companies understand. It didn't take long for MIH to make up its mind. By the beginning of 2008, MIH signaled it wanted in.

SO HOW WILL WE USE THE MONEY?First, I'd like to highlight that BuzzCity’s business is financially viable with earnings that adequately meet our operating expenses. This investment will enable BuzzCity to expand more aggressively than it would have otherwise. We'll put more people on the ground to talk with advertisers and publishers. We can build more localised versions of myGamma. And best of all, we now have the luxury of taking a longer term view. We don't need to be overly obsessed with short term returns in each new market. We can take time to build the brand by investing in marketing and public relations so that more potential business partners know about BuzzCity and the opportunities that exist in mobile social networking and mobile advertising. I expect BuzzCity will expand in Africa, Middle East and Latin America, and strengthen our operations across Asia, Europe and the US.

STRATEGIC BENEFITS
This investment means a lot more to BuzzCity, though, than an infusion of funds. It may sound cliched, but we really are gaining a strategic partner. In particular, there are two benefits that are readily apparent:

One, MIH has a presence and experience in many of the markets where we want to expand. These markets are experiencing explosive mobile Internet growth. But some of these markets are also characterized by difficult and sometimes opaque operating environments. We can tap MIH’s offices and personnel in these countries. This means we may share space with a company in the MIH Group in some countries, rather than open a new office. It also means there are professionals who can offer advice on how best to navigate the local markets.

Two, there are business synergies with a number of companies in the MIH Group, which includes Tencent in China, Mail.ru in Russia, Sanook in Thailand and MXit in South Africa. Some are leading Internet companies, others offer innovative mobile services in the area of instant messaging, billing and content aggregation. Since our offerings are complementary, it makes sense for our companies to go to market together. In the very near future, we expect to create combined offerings that will help BuzzCity attract more advertisers and publishers. In turn, BuzzCity can help MIH portfolio companies mobilize and distribute their existing media properties through our mobile community and monetize the resulting traffic through our mobile ad network.

(We were recently misquoted by a blogger – who was then quoted by other bloggers -- as having said that BuzzCity was in talks with an Indian entity about a strategic partnership. While this was not accurate, MIH/Naspers has equity interest in Indian companies like ACL-Wireless and Ibibo.)

CLOSING ONE DOOR, OPENING ANOTHER
Since MIH confirmed its interest in BuzzCity at the beginning of the year, it's taken a number of months to finalise the investment because BuzzCity is simultaneously restructuring its shareholdings. This required multiple negotiations as three of our initial venture investors – 3i, BancBoston and SPH Multimedia – are taking this opportunity to cash in their chips. (SPH Multimedia is keeping a small stake.) The industry jargon is "selective capital reduction" which simply means that BuzzCity is using a portion of the new round of investments to buy out the other shareholders. 3i, BancBoston and SPH Multimedia have been great partners and I would like to thank them for their support over the last eight years.

In addition, we have taken the important step to convert all existing preferred shares into ordinary shares. As is the case with many start-up companies, our early-round institutional investors purchased stock that carried special rights. Now, all shareholders hold common stock. This simplifies corporate governance and future financing.

I am really excited about the future. MIH's investment is a vote of confidence in BuzzCity's strategy to connect the "UNWIRED". With this new round of financing, I feel like BuzzCity is graduating from our adolescent years and that we are now ready to make an even bigger splash in the world of mobile communities and advertising. Stay tuned, or better yet, come join us on this exciting ride!

Note: A word about advertising. BuzzCity served 445 million ads in December 2007, a ten-fold jump from January. Today, the picture is even stronger. The number of page views served on the myGamma Mobile Ad Network rose 300 percent from August 2007 to August 2008. The index is growing 50 percent on average every quarter.

BROWSER HIJACKING

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

One of Singapore's leading mobile service providers, MobileOne (M1), has implemented a service that they claim helps mobile web pages load faster and improves a user's experience. But in reality, their “mobile web content transcoding engine” MobileSurf violates consumer and publisher rights and makes surfing the mobile internet more difficult for consumers.
M1 should disable MobileSurf immediately. BuzzCity has already conveyed this message in writing to M1, but so far the company has dismissed our appeal. More about that in a moment.

What MobileSurf does is insert the company's branded headers and footers onto mobile web pages that do not belong to it. The engine also tracks consumers' surfing patterns. All this is done without the permission of M1 users or the mobile sites visited. These practices infringe on the copyrighted content of web publishers (including BuzzCity), jack up prices for mobile surfers, violate consumer privacy and cause service disruptions.

What M1 is doing is not new. In the fixed line internet world, it's called “Browser Hijacking,” a practice where a company uses scripting tools or server-side programs to manipulate browser settings and displays seen by the end users.

Here's an image taken by one user of a mobile website before M1 started Browser Hijacking:

And here's an image taken afterwards:
 

Back in 2005, SpyWare called Browser Hijacking “a despicable trend.” Australian computer journalist Rose Vines writes: “Let's face it, anyone who is prepared to kidnap you in this fashion has little regard for your privacy.” Vines adds that hijackers are trying – over and over again – to drive users to their site in the hope of boosting business. She also notes that porn sites were the first to implement this tactic.

At BuzzCity, we strongly believe that what M1 is doing is wrong for the following reasons:

1. Copyright Infringement. M1 does not own the pages that it is modifying. End of story. Imagine for a moment that you are a media company like CNBC or BBC. Would you allow a mobile carrier to insert branded headers and footers into your carefully designed pages? It's bad enough when this happens on PC internet sites, but in the mobile world, where the screen size is already quite small, M1's ads can sometimes occupy more than a quarter of the viewing page.

2. Privacy. M1 is tracking the pages visited by users as well as the date that the site is visited and the time spent there. Hello Big Brother.

3. Data Costs. M1 is basically increasing its revenues and raising the consumers' costs without their consent. Consumer charges are based in part on data transfer and M1's banners add to the size of the data transmitted when consumers surf the mobile internet.

Since MobileSurf was launched in early April, we've written M1 to ask that the headers and footers be removed. At first we were told that the banners were only inserted on webpages during MobileSurf's launch phase. When we later pointed out that they were still in place, M1 replied: "we are of the view that there has been no infringement on your rights in any way." As for the banners, M1 says they help "customers to navigate and manage the websites they are surfing on their mobile phones." It adds that "the access links do not form any part of your website nor do they alter the contents of your website in any way."

But as soon as M1 implemented MobileSurf, it attracted complaints from consumers as well. One blogger writes “Call M1 hotline 1627 and tell them they don't have the rights!" Another blogger notes that a number of applications that he was accustomed to using – Google Maps, Opera Mini, Outlook Mobile Access and Twitter – stopped functioning. In response to a M1 claim that MobileSurf “provides a friendlier way to browse the Web on your mobile phone, making it easier to go online wherever you may be” this blogger replied “Friendlier way my ass.” After talking to M1's helpline a couple times, he determined that there is a workaround – turn off MobileSurf. For the benefit of other M1 users, he posted instructions on how to do it. Users of the chat forum Hardware Zone were similarly peeved.

The BuzzCity Ad Network meanwhile can track the number of page views by carrier. We note that M1's share of the market dropped from 21% to 13% after MobileSurf was introduced. And this is taking place against the backdrop of a huge increase in our reported advertising inventory based on over 2000 publisher sites.

If companies like M1 want to drive users to their mobile sites, the solution is simple. They should offer content consumers want. What they shouldn't do is hijack other pages.

M1, it's time to do the right thing. Turn off MobileSurf.

2008 - YEAR OF THE MOBILE INTERNET

By Lai Kok Fung, CEO, BuzzCity

Happy New Year!! I'm expecting 2008 to be a fantastic year for the mobile internet and for BuzzCity as well. Here's why:

1. More Content
  It's becoming a lot easier to create a presence on the mobile internet. Just like Blogger, TypePad and others have made it easy for businesses and consumers alike to create a presence on the web, companies like Safira Solutions and Wapple are now offering web-based tools for creating dynamic interactive mobile websites. Other companies like Incentivated are specialising in mobile marketing -- helping businesses develop and manage mobile ad campaigns.

In one high-profile example, Wapple worked with MTV to create mobile sites promoting programmes like Beavis & Butthead and the MTV Europe Music Awards.

More mobile web-building tools will be launched this year, some as early as next month at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.  

2. Mobile Content Goes Mainstream
  Content may be king, but the best content isn't worth much if no one knows about it. Over the past year, media companies like BBC, CNBC and CNN have launched mobile platforms that enable consumers to access the latest news from their phones. But these mobile sites were taking a backseat to the wired internet. Network anchors, radio DJs and other media personalities began routinely inviting viewers to click onto a programme's website for more information, but how many times did you hear a network anchor say, "check out our WAP site for details"? In 2008, major media companies are starting to promote mobile content in the same breath as their websites.

3. Easier Access to Mobile Content - The Fall of the "Walled Garden"
Telecom carriers have tried hard to keep consumers on their own carrier portals, just as AOL (America Online) made it difficult for its clients to access the World Wide Web. But AOL's walls fell and now so too are the carrier portals'. The biggest and most recent example of this is Verizon, which announced in December that it will open its wireless network to "any device and any application".

Why did Verizon -- which had been one of the biggest defenders of restrictive carrier portals -- change its mind? It's simple -- competition -- or the fear of more competition. Specifically, Google wants to be able to bid for a wireless spectrum in the US and if it gets the go-ahead, the company will offer cheap or free data access, including voice calls, in exchange for ads. Verizon is hoping to head this off and also send a message to US regulators that there' s no need to further open the US wireless spectrum.

4. Lower (and More Predictable) Prices
One of the biggest drags on mobile surfing has been price - not just price levels, but also the unpredictability of monthly charges. When carriers bill based on every MB used, it's hard for consumers to know how much they've spent. But now the move towards flat rate pricing is gaining momentum.

Take the example of the iPhone in the UK. O2 reports that some 60 percent of iPhone users are sending and receiving 25MB or more of data each month. Among O2's other consumers, less than two percent use this much data. Yes, the iPhone has a unique user-friendly interface. But O2 also provides iPhone users with a flat-rate pricing plan, which means they don't face any unpleasant surprises at the end of the month.

Meanwhile in Asia, eleven carriers -- including AirTel (India), SK Telecom (Korea), SingTel (Singapore) and Telkomsel (Indonesia) -- are collaborating to offer fixed rate roaming plans -- US$30 for 15 MB and US$60 for 40MB.

Lower pricing, predictable bills, more and better content are leading consumers to spend more time surfing the mobile internet -- which in turn is increasing the appetite of businesses who want to reach out to these mobile consumers.

MOBILE ADVERTISING - From 2007 to 2008
In January 2007, BuzzCity was serving approximately 50 million mobile ads for a handful of clients each month. One year later, we have several hundred advertising clients and the number of monthly ads served has risen 20-fold to one billion ads.

To service these advertisers - and content publishers - better, BuzzCity is

* Introducing more sophisticated ad targeting, based on carriers, demographics, phone models and more. (See Hisham's discussion of this in November).

 

* Streamlining and automating purchase orders. Publishers can use online tools to open their sites to ads and accept quotations. Similarly, advertisers can create campaigns and top up credits online. Of course, our customer service agents are still ready to assist clients who need additional support. We've been rolling out the online tools over the past several months and we're continually improving the process. The feedback so far from our clients has been great.

* Scaling up to handle the increase in traffic.

* Launching a new website, with clearer instructions for advertisers, merchants and publishers.

* Providing more data, analysis and tools so our clients can get the best results possible for every ad placed and dollar spent.

Finally, an overview of 2008 wouldn't be complete without at least one prediction, so I'll share our advertising projection with you -- by the end of this year, BuzzCity will be serving three to five billion ads every month.

I hope 2008 is as prosperous a year for you as I think it will be for the mobile industry.

BUILDING MOBILE COMMUNITIES

By Lai Kok Fung, CEO, BuzzCity
At BuzzCity, we’ve been doing our homework – conducting a systematic survey of myGamma’s users across multiple countries, studying user profiles, interacting with our members on a one-to-one basis, consulting with university academics who research media consumption habits.
And now we’re putting our findings into action. We’re in the final stages of designing myGamma 2.0. Watch for the launch in February.

Let me share with you the thought process that has brought us to this stage.
Mobile Social Networking – Who does it?
When BuzzCity first entered the world of mobile social networking, we figured – like most people – that our users would be well-heeled professionals and trendy youth from affluent societies. These are the consumers who buy the latest phones and gadgets, the people that marketers want to reach, right?

We could not have been more wrong.

Regular readers of this blog know that myGamma’s members are largely individuals who do not have regular access to PCs, people like Liton (a 27 year old airport worker in Bangladesh), Alanleic (a crossing-keeper in the UK) and Sandy (an overseas Filipina caregiver in Israel), all of whom have been featured in previous columns.
Liton, Alanleic and Sandy – like most myGamma users – are not rich. They’re in the lower to middle income groups, what industry observers and academics are now calling the “bottom of the pyramid”. Emerging markets account for more than half the world’s total telecom connections, and according to Gartner, this will rise to 69 percent by 2010. The GSM Association believes that the next billion subscribers will come from the bottom of the pyramid.

 

Most myGamma members are also over the age of 20. Sixty-five percent are in their twenties. Just ten percent are teenagers. They come from emerging markets or work in blue-collar jobs in industrialised countries. In October, the countries with the highest myGamma usage were India, Indonesia and South Africa. MyGamma now has two million users from 60 countries. Another two countries come online every month.

Why enter a mobile community? We organised a session of BuzzCity-NUS Digital Media Forum a few weeks ago with presentation by Dr. Rohan Samarajiva, who leads a regional ICT policy group called LIRNEasia. His group had a done a study across five Asian nations – India, Pakistan, The Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand – and asked people the main reason why they use a mobile phone. 

 
The pace and style of life in The Philippines is vastly different from Sri Lanka; India and Thailand have little in common other than a taste for spicy foods. Yet across these five countries, the number one reason why people use a mobile phone is the same: to stay connected with friends and family. “Staying connected” ranks consistently ahead of doing business or delivering messages.

myGamma's users express similar sentiments. People join our mobile communities to connect and share experiences with new friends. Like other communities – both real and virtual – myGamma provides members with a sense of belonging, acceptance and appreciation. Features like testimonials, the Hall of Fame and virtual marriage enhance these feelings.

Dignity and Choice
Why do some ventures that target the lower middle class fail? Often it’s because the items for sale are too cheap or the project appears like charity. Nobody wants to be treated like a charity-case. The poor want dignity. They want to move up the social and economic ladder.

Muhammad Yunus (“Banker to the Poor”) and Krishna Rao Prahalad ( “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid” ) have written extensively about how the lower income groups should not be treated as victims but instead should be seen as creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers.

To many at the bottom of the pyramid, the mobile internet is a great equaliser. It’s proof that they are moving up the social ladder. myGamma is empowering and improving people’s lives.

Mobile Networking 2.0
The next generation myGamma platform has new communities – like sports, health and entertainment – that enable and encourage our users to better interact with each other. BuzzCity editors will showcase a different community each month and the featured topics will resonate with our members’ interests and lifestyles.

The tools are already there, but in myGamma 2.0 each new community will have its own blogs, groups and original content. By visiting these new communities, myGamma’s users will meet people with similar interests and connect with like-minded individuals.

myGamma 2.0 is a place to make and connect with friends, an environment where you can share day-to-day experiences at work, at home and at play.

We’re also opening up the gates. We’ve decided to eliminate subscription fees and day/week pass charges. Membership is going to be free. Users will still purchase Gamma dollars if they want to buy virtual items, vote for each other or download premium content provided by our partners. But we expect the bulk of myGamma’s revenue to come from advertising.

By delivering value to consumers – providing our users with a sense of community and belonging as well as access to information that they can use to improve their lives – myGamma’s population will continue to grow, which in turn enables us to provide value to advertisers. Welcome to myGamma 2.0, where the mobile-centric internet meets the needs of the “unwired”.

CONNECTING AFRICA

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

 

In my hometown of Singapore, Africa barely makes the news and when it does the headlines are invariably bad: war, genocide, natural disasters, poverty and AIDS. But this past week, during a visit to Johannesburg, I saw a different Africa – a place of opportunity, an upwardly mobile Africa where cell phones are making a very real positive impact on people’s lives.

RELEVANCE IN ADVERTISING

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

John Wanamaker, a US merchant in the late 1800s, famously once said “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

We are much closer today to solving Wanamaker’s dilemma. Internet metrics and computer algorithms make it possible to target ads to users who are likely to act on them.

Providing the parameters to computers to analyse the data and filter out the white noise has been a passion of mine since grad school. Back then, I wrote a PhD dissertation on “adaptive learning” with the somewhat clunky title “Deformable contours : modeling, extraction, detection and classification”.

 

For example, I would feed a database of images into a computer and directed it to locate the ones shaped as keys. The first lesson was that you need to start with some assumptions and a model, otherwise it takes too long for the computer to find what you’re looking for. Second, you have to realise that your initial model is not perfect. You need it to adapt based on experience.

The picture above was taken from my thesis. In clockwise direction, it shows the original "noisy" image, the intermediate processing step called the "edge magnitude", the final and initial boundaries.

THE FUTURE OF MOBILE CONTENT

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO

Take a look at the mobile internet today: the vast majority of content – say 80% - is fee-based (ring tones, games, even sports scores), the remaining 20% is available to users for free and is supported by advertising. By 2010 and possibly even as early at 2008, I expect this ratio will flip. Why?

Right now the main thing that’s stopping people from using the mobile internet is price. Data costs are artificially high because telecom carriers – who invested massive amounts of money to purchase 3G spectrums – are targeting the upper end of the market – yuppies with blackberries.

But now it is starting to become cheaper for consumers to get online using a mobile phone:

CONNECTING THE UNWIRED

By Lai Kok Fung, BuzzCity CEO
Life doesn't progress like a spreadsheet.

I think that's one of the biggest lessons I've learned over the past eight years, since leaving a secure job at Kent Ridge Digital Labs in 1999 to launch an internet startup with three colleagues. Today, that startup – BuzzCity – is a vibrant mobile service provider delivering content to consumers in over fifty countries. By the end of the year (2007), we expect to add another 8 markets in eastern and central Europe. We currently serve more than 1 billion mobile advertising impressions every 3 months, have multiple revenue streams and are not overly dependent on any one market.

 

But it hasn't always been like this. In fact there have been moments when we wondered how to carry on. This week, I'd like to share with you a bit of our company's history and the lessons we've learned along the way.

Before forming BuzzCity, I was a researcher specialising in pattern recognition. We worked with barcodes and taught computers to recognize faces. Some of the technology was adopted by government agencies and Singaporean government-linked companies. However after a few years, I was tired of simply publishing papers and I really didn’t like the idea of our technology servicing only a select group of people. I remember a particular moment when I was at an underground station, watching commuters enter and exit the trains, and I thought “What a pity. My work has nothing to do with them.”