Dror Gonen hosted a session on mobile content with a focus on garnering off-portal content is key for operators to become a smart bitpipe and maximize this source of revenue potential. During his roadmap session, Dror detailed the evolving offerings from Comverse that enable operators to take advantage of this potential.

From the Fun Dial™ product with its ringback tone offering, to Fun Broker which opens the ringback tone arena to off-deck content providers and the Mobile Internet Gateway that adapts rich content from all Internet sources, including streaming media, to any mobile device, Comverse has the tools for operators to ride the off-portal wave. And with only 30% of browsing occurring on-portal, off-portal solutions present operators with excellent ways of increasing their bottom-line.

In the breakout session, presenters from the world of content included Graham Brown, an analyst with Mobile Youth Research. He concentrated his talk on the importance of UGC – User Generated Content in the mobile youth market. Another major point of Graham’s was the emotional attachment between the young user and his/her mobile phone from a very early age that should be understood by operators to take full advantage.

Next up was Michelle du Lussanet, VP and Research Director at Forrester Research who presented how to create a simple and affordable mobile internet to ensure that the market takes off. Some points included that mobile users perceive the mobile internet to be lacking in value, too expensive and difficult to navigate. Many of her suggestions supported Comverse’s offerings, such as the Mobile Internet Gateway, mechanisms for off-deck portals and personalization.

Finally, Thorsten Bohg of Jamba/Jamster spoke, a Comverse partner, the originators of Crazy Frog and many other ring and ringback tones. They see RBTs as a key tool to churn rate reduction as users don’t want to lose their tune that is key to their self-expression. In addition, RBTs will remain a major revenue driver over the next few years.