October 09 Round up

Members & Colleagues,

Welcome to AIME’s K&N News review of October activity. Throughout October the AIME Executive and Board have been busy working on industry policy matters on behalf of members and you’ll find a summary below.

To highlight a few key areas we’re progressing in November. We have been invited to meet Ofcom consultants BDO on 3rd November to further AIME representation regarding the NTS & PRS Bad Debt consultation. The Ofcom Scope Statement will remain high on the agenda this month, with the PPP Forum on the 5th and an ILP meeting on the 17th both covering off key items. AIME will be representing member views at both, but essentially it’s at AIME’s next Board meeting on 18th where core issues are discussed and we Exec will be in touch with members over the next couple of weeks to take on board any views you have or issues you want to raise.

It was good to see many of you in Liverpool at T360 and thanks goes to Board members Adam Maxted and David Sheridan who represented AIME on a number of panels throughout the day.

Toby Padgham
AIME General Secretary

Chairman's Brief

Dear Members,

There's never a quiet moment in the premium rate industry and your trade body continues to fight on a number of fronts! So often, the industry is not given credit for the way in which it is trying to promote a happy medium of self-regulation and formal regulation. Too many scams have blighted us and many of the good things which are happening often get ignored. I am pleased to report on the following:-

Ofcom has released the Scope statement last week and AIME is right across this co-ordinating industry response to key points especially the registration scheme. We will be meeting with Phone Pay Plus within the next couple of weeks to discuss how such a scheme can be implemented speedily, cost effectively and practically. As you know, there is an AIME working group which has scoped a working solution and we will keep members updated on progress. We welcome the call for the establishment of minimum standards for complaint handing. It's an area which has seen a lack of investment and priority in the past and for those who have set up transparent customer care helplines they have seen a positive ROI as often people calling in are your best customers. I sometimes wonder whether the people and organisations who scrutinise our industry fail to see some of the great work that has already been done in customer care by members. We will also be following up with Ofcom on the other key areas not covered by the scope statement and extracted for further debate - definition of premium rate and price transparency. When such a large proportion of calls to 090 (especially on high profile TV voting and competition events) come from alternate networks and mobiles it remains an anathema that the best we can offer is the pricing message: " Calls from other networks may vary and mobiles will be considerably more...". This remains a key issue impacting trust and we need to address it. AIME has sent out a press release on the Scope and this has already received coverage.

Work is progressing on the 12th Code and we have had positive dialogue with Phone Pay Plus at our regular quarterly meetings and also at a meeting with PPP board director David Clarke who is responsible for the new code. We are also working hard to drive new membership into AIME and to stress the value that your trade association brings, whether it be fighting industry's position, a good example of this was AIME's role in co-ordinating a response on wholesale charges for NTS and PRS for which there is still a lot to be done, responding to consultations, pro-actively promoting new initiatives in different sectors or organising networking events. We have made progress this month in meeting with all stakeholders regarding a return to SMS voting and also to progressing a voice short code solution. There is also a road show happening where AIME is meeting with all of the mobile operators over the coming weeks.

Various other policy initiatives are progressing well including the Aggregator Best Practice Scheme. We also hope to be meeting the Radio Authority within the next few weeks to advise them on how the sector can work towards a rebuilding of premium rate services under the new Ofcom license provisions similar to what TV has gone through. At the end of the day, it's all about rebuilding consumer trust and this will take time. Trust will result in a bigger user base for premium services and this is what we need to strive for. And let's not forget, colleagues, that every week between now and Christmas, members of the public are voting in their millions on two o f the biggest global entertainment formats, The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing. This is an example of where industry and regulators working together, orchestrated by AIME, have led to increasing levels of participation since the depressing 2007 scandals, it shows it can be done. Who says that premium hasn't got a positive future?

Edward Boddington
AIME Chair

Showcase

Billing the Unbillable

Newspapers, magazines and TV are still seeing circulations and audiences tumble and ad revenues fall as their clients go online (ironically trying to advertise to the people on Facebook, You Tube et al who seem to be ignoring the ads), or simply won’t shell out for such untargeted marketing in this highly focussed long tail content sector.

Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch wants to reverse the trend for freely giving away all his hard produced content online and advertisers want to keep people watching their ads and get a return. The owners of tubes and UGC sites want to be able to monetise their content. And TV companies want to keep people watching. All-in-all a perfect economic storm of media groups and brands that want to make money and consumers who refuse to pay.

One school of thought is that making things really cheap – the ultimate in microbilling – may well be the answer.

“People are willing to pay for quality content,” says Kevin Swayne, Chairman of Charge2, which provides a platform for the management of a universal online and mobile micro-billing solution called Coinz, that can be used to monetize online content and premium rate services. “They are just sensitive the prices they are prepared to pay and the current billing models offered hurt those sensitivities.”

MORE...

Representation

Meetings

SMS Voting & Voice Short Code Working Group - 7th October
MNO Road Show: Meeting with Orange - 7th October
Stakeholder Meeting with MDA - 9th October
PPP Quarterly Meeting - 15th October
AIME 3 Year Strategy Meeting - 16th October
Industry PRS Group Meeting - 27th October
Meeting with PPP Board Member David Clarke (re 12th code) - 28th October

Central Industry Database

Central Industry Database applications include Merchant Registration, Customer Services, Network Due Diligence, PPP Number Checker, Mobile Operator Customer Care, MNO Short Code Ordering
AIME CID proposal document currently with MNOs to review
Meeting with e33
AIME met with PPP to discuss - 15th October - Constructive engagement & agreement for AIME to meet with PPP registration project team
AIME wrote to Ofcom in October to update on CID proposal and request a meeting to discuss
AIME working group considering how to implement fixed alongside mobile
Ofcom Scope Review statement recommended the introduction of a mandatory registration scheme for relevant parties operating in the PRS industry
AIME to meet with PPP & Ofcom project teams in November to ensure industry and regulatory interests working together in a cost effective manner

Interactive Broadcast Forum

SMS Voting working group meeting 7th Oct - full representation of Mobile Operators plus major Broadcasters & TPs
Still a desire to return SMS voting to high profile shows and progress was made looking at the key issues which need to be addressed
SMS Broadcasting brief outlining key issues and questions sent to each MNO for position
Next stage to draw up technical capabilities document and follow-up meeting of group
Further AIME work on Voice Short Codes in Broadcast is currently on hold until 2010 while SMS voting is addressed

Interactive Radio

Ofcom statement 16th Oct announced changes to the radio licence which makes licensees directly responsible for the management of all communications with the public
AIME written to Radio Centre to arrange meeting to discuss current Interactive Radio market and future cooperation on an AIME initiative to grow sector

AIME Mobile Operator Road Show

AIME Stakeholder meetings have continued with UK Mobile Operators to ensure homogenous Industry regulation, representation & to link up efforts that will drive industry growth

Industry Consultations

Ofcom: Wholesale Charges for Number Translation Services and Premium Rate Numbers

AIME to attend meeting 3rd November with Ofcom's appointed Independent analysts BDO
BDO will work with Ofcom to assess:
- relevance, reliability and comparability of BT information used to support the PRS Bad Debt Surcharge
- commentary on BT Bad Debt Management process & procedure
- review of BT explanation & analysis of BT Bad Debt

Ofcom PRS Scope Review

Ofcom statement published 28th Oct - recommendations include:
- Introduction of a mandatory registration scheme for relevant parties operating in the PRS industry
- PhonepayPlus should strengthen its requirements for PRS advertising in line with Ofcom’s approach to PRS in TV programmes
- PhonepayPlus should consult on establishing minimum standards for complaints handling across the PRS industry
AIME press release welcoming Ofcom's statement
AIME to work closely with PPP and Ofcom to ensure registration scheme is cost effective for members and can be intergrated as an application in to a wider central database.

Ofcom: Future Regulation of Video on Demand

AIME submitted letter stating this is an area of regulation it will continue to review

Ofcom: Audience Participation in Radio Programming

Ofcom statement publsihed 16th Oct - AIME continue to work in this area to ensure best practice and build consumer confidence

BIS: Proposed New Duties for Ofcom Regarding Networks’ Resilience

AIME submitted response supporting proposals for new Ofcom duties

PhonepayPlus 12th Code of Practice

PPP has now announced that the 12th Code formal consultation will be published Jan 2010

Industry consultations & AIME responses can be found in the members' area of the AIME website

Information

AIME K&N Seminar - 'Exploring the Mobile Widget Universe' - 29th October. Sponsored by Qualcomm with speakers including Julian Harris, Qualcom; Dave Markham, Vodafone; David Glennie, Mobile Interactive Group
5 member news articles on AIME website in October 09
9 member email alerts sent out including:
- Ofcom PRS Scope Review Statement
- AIME response to Wholesale Charges for Number Translation Services and Premium Rate Services
- Update on Ofcom research in to PRS Bad Debt & update on O2's Shield Filtering System
- Ofcom statement on the 'Use of PRS in Radio Broadcasting'

Member News

Networking

Attended PPP Micropayments Conference - 12th October
Attended Westminster Broadcast Seminar - 13th October
Attended Telemedia 360 & Board Member David Sheridan represented AIME in the 'Regulation: Making the system work' panel debate, which included discussions on the changing regulatory environment, PPP 12th Code & AIME's Terminating Provider Best Practice Code - 21st October
AIME K&N Seminar & Drinks - 'Untangling the Mobile Widget Universe' - 29th October

Dates for your diary!

5th November - mobileSQUARED Roadshow - AIME Supporting Association, member discount
17-18th November - Mobile User Experience - AIME Supporting Association, member discount
17-18th November - Digital TV World Summit - AIME Supporting Association, member discount
18-20th November - The Media Festival - AIME Supporting Association, member discount
23rd-25th November - Mobile Web 2.0 - AIME Supporting Association, member discount
3rd December - AIME K&N Seminar - Alternative and Innovative Payment Solutions for Web and Mobile Billing
7th December - Heroes of the Mobile Screen - AIME Supporting Association
8th December - AIME GM - Members only
11th December - The Future TV Advertising Forum - AIME Supporting Association, member discount
15-16th March - Mobile Social Networking - AIME Supporting Association, member discount

If you would like further information on any of AIME's activities, inititiatives or benefits of membership please contact me on zoe@aimelink.org.

Kind Regards,

Zoe Patterson
General Manager

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