Rummble at Mobile 2.0 Barcelona

July 8, 2008 – 2:01 pm

Rudy and the gang at Mobile 2.0 did Europe proud with a very good 1-day conference last Friday. The attendance was good, with balance of startups, entrepreneurs, VCs and operators.

Although I missed the morning sessions (I was at Downing Street on Thursday – see our blog post once I rescue the photos off my camera!) Gabriel Palomino our new Head of Mobile pitched the VCs at the Thursday closed event and I joined him to present Rummble on the Friday pre-Series A panel.

The reaction to Rummble was thoroughly positive – infact, quite over whelming. We had interest from major operators and alot of encouraging feedback. As a boot strapping startup, life is tough and presenting at events is an opportunity to receive some recognition for the teams hard work; so thank you to all those who took a moment to give feedback and express their thoughts – it really is valued by me and the team, thanks !

Mobile 2.0 take-aways

So what did we take away from the event (apart from strong endorsement of Rummble!) Well, it was clear that there is no shortage of passion surrounding mobile services. The Mobile Operators panel – for once – was my favourite. So often we hear the same old things from MNO’s at these conferences – and its often not the fault of the messenger, but simply the policy that they have to defend because its handed down on high.

I remember speaking to an unnamed Technical Director of a major UK MNO last November (2007) who told me he was leaving to operator, not because he didnt like his job, but because he was sick of banging his head against a wall with regard to exploring new business models and accepting the reality of mobile internet, flat rate data and the changes this would demand of MNOs to turn themselves into a new type of business. So as Gregory Gorman of Mobile 2.0 rightly pointed out, we shouldnt make the arguments personal; however, I think in general the discussion was on the right side of fair. Nobody was attacking the individuals, they are just frustrated that the Mobile Internet is being held back by a handful of large, rich, mobile network operators.

Lively Interactive Panel Debate with the Mobile Network Operators

Thanks largely to Anastassia Lauterbach (Executive VP Group Strategy, T-mobile) the panel discussion soon opened up to be an interactive debate. Yes it was lively, but why shouldnt it be? Anyone who has seen the UK’s BBC Question Time program will know that the best debates and answers come from the most lively interactions.

MNO panel – they took a bit of a grilling

She asked some important questions of the delegates, which put in perspective the infrastructure challenges facing all MNO’s over the coming years. The cost of upgrading the networks in one major European country, to cope with demand by 2012? An estimated 70 billion euros. That is alot of money, even if its a few billion wrong.

I’m actually optimistic about wireless data services – Technology, compression techniques, new protocols and advances in efficiency will continue to accelerate; but it is true that major investment is required by the MNOs over the coming years and they are concerned as to where that revenue stream should come from. The point is not that operators should make a loss, not make a profit or not be concerned – The point is that they should accept NOW, through the organisation, that mobile internet -open, flat rate and cross-country- is the goal and inevitable, ASAP, and that they need to fundamentally rethink their own business models.

The iphone is a closed party

User expectations will not change, consumer behavior will not change – they expect freedom of choice and flat rate access without nasty billing surprises. The iphone has proven (as we all knew) that this means usage, which can mean revenue for all (yes despite it being a tightly controlled system – its WHERE the control is asserted which is important).

The iphone does control apps for example; the big difference is that if I have an app which generates no revenue, I can still publish it. How many MNOs are interested in talking to us if our app has no significant revenue stream? And in their eyes, “significant” means ALOT of money.

Its about communication…

Also, MNOs need to give us the dream of being the “owner” of the customer and psychologically their point of contact. They are causing their own problems – They understandably dont want to field support calls about handsets, other peoples websites etc, so they need to stop promoting themselve as the point of contact. I dont see positioning themselves more as ISPs, is incompatible with generating further revenue or being part of the content value chain, or partnering with mobile internet content companies in order to do so.

All in all, the whole day was both engaging and entertaining and we’ll certainly be going en masse to Mobile 2.0 Europe in 2009.

Last but not least – The After Party!

Lastly, congratulations to Techcrunch for sponsoring the after-party, along with Nimbuzz, Fjord and my247.mobi, with open bar until the early hours at the Shoku Lounge;  Gabriel and I staggered off the beach at some point in the early hours after leaving the TC party at 3am with the founders of Aka Aki -amongst others- and headed to the club next door. Saturday was not a pleasent experience but it was worth it !

See you all in San Francisco in November!

The reason why mobile phone cameras never should have been invented. More embarrassing photos at Mike Butchers Mobile 2.0 Europe photostream here…