Steinar Svalesen has over 14 years experience in the telecommunications and media industries. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering (cum laude) and a Master of Science from Texas A&M University, in addition to being a graduate from a corporate executive training program from the Norwegian School of Management. Over the years, he has managed a wide range of key issues within the wireless space, ranging from service development and deployment to strategic marketing and business consulting. Mr. Svalesen had held management positions with Ericsson in Scandinavia and Nortel in the US and is one of the pioneers in the European and US premium text messaging industry.

The Mobile Media Company is the leading producer and global distributor of branded, made-for-mobile entertainment, interactive TV formats and mobile marketing concepts. We work with leading industry partners and a wide-range of customers that extend from the wireless consumer to mobile carriers, broadcasters, media companies and major consumer brands. Mobile Media was founded in 1993 to pioneer mobile messaging services and technologies and since then, has become a fast developing, multi-media organization with over 200 employees.

mo:life
Your company is based in Oslo. Does Australia enter your radar? What kind of reputation Australian developers and mobile specialists have over there, if any?

Steinar Svalesen
We have agents in Australia and work with content providers, including games companies.

Being a leader in 3G enabled content; we are already supplying content to 3 Australia. With the other operators in the launch phase of their 3G offerings, we believe Australia will be an exciting market to watch going forward.

We work closely with Viva La Mobile, whom we consider to be one of the definite leaders in 3G gaming, providing outstanding real-time multiplayer games. However, outside of Viva La Mobile, we have not seen a whole lot of activity in the mobile gaming arena from Australian companies.

We have been watching service providers like Legion Interactive (Blue Sky Frog) as they have been very innovative in certain areas.

We do believe that the market has potential for growth, both from a supplier perspective, but also from a growth perspective in terms of uptake of advanced content services by mobile users.

mo:life
It appears that competitors could easily duplicate some of the services you offer. What makes Mobile Media unique?

Steinar Svalesen
Mobile Media is a Personal Broadcaster, which means we not only satisfy demands for full service mobile media content and entertainment but we also fuel the demand through mobile response Television (interactive TV9 and mobile marketing campaigns. Most companies are focused in one or two areas only).

mo:life
Has there been a take-up of mobile scanning technologies in any of the markets in which you operate? If so, what interesting things are businesses doing with barcode technologies? Do you envisage barcode technologies taking-off globally as a means of interacting with video and other content?

Steinar Svalesen
We do not currently deploy services that rely on bar code readers as part of the Mobile entertainment product line, as few phones currently have the readers embedded. In the area of mobile marketing we have made some initial investigations as a part of pilot coupon discount project.

mo:life
What is the most common transaction/billing method/process used to view mobile video?

Steinar Svalesen
Premium wap, sms and subscription billing. Premium wap includes per event and time billing. The US mobile video users are currently paying a monthly subscription rate for individual channels of their choice and/or a bundle of channels. This content is being distributed on the carriers’ decks.

mo:life
Everyone is keen to hear some numbers - can you give us an estimate on the number of screens your most popular content reaches?

Steinar Svalesen
All the US players are cautious about releasing numbers for competitive reasons. V-Cast, the Verizon streaming system, Sprint TV, the Sprint system, and MobiTV (on Sprint) have been growing steadily and are producing meaningful revenues. The growth will take place as new channels with more creative content are offered.

With regards to the TV to mobile services it’s a very important question, but one that is very difficult to answer. Our solution works with any mobile with a built in video player that supports streaming. But it is very difficult to get statistics from the operators and handset manufacturers regarding this.

mo:life
The war of the Worlds packages have set a new film marketing standard, have you heard any reports on whether the initiative was successful, and do you see that kind of integration between mobile screens and cinema screens becoming the norm?

Steinar Svalesen
This integration is part of the strategic plans of most of the big film distribution companies. Mobile Media currently streams the movie trailers for Fox on Sprint TV. These trailers are accessed by low six figure numbers of people. This is a very meaningful number, when one considers that these trailers are available on Sprint only, and only on high-end handsets.

mo:life
Is the mobile content you are seeing pushing new ground by utilizing the distinctiveness of mobility, or, because you deal with branded content, is the majority of fare extending in to mobile from television, film, and the web?

Steinar Svalesen
We are seeing that there is a growing commitment to ‘made for mobile’ content, vs. repurposing of content for mobile or using mobile as a way to promote TV, film or web content/programmes/films. Mobisodes are a good example with both Vodafone and Verizon running those from Fox.

All of the big content owners are integrating mobile interactivity into their strategic plans for the US.

mo:life
Do you see a future in the mobile space for non-branded content? Is mobile media beginning to simply reflect television’s channel structure?

Steinar Svalesen
We envisage the need for a great mobile search engine for people to navigate on and off carrier portals. Yes, people will eventually be able to choose from a very wide range of content and services. Remember it is not just entertainment that will drive video on phone, how about CCTV footage of busy highways to check for traffic congestion or seeing what the weather is like where you are travelling? We already run mobile alert and information services for traffic and weather, but video is the obvious next step.

mo:life
How can independent producers best get their fare to market?

Steinar Svalesen
This is a tough one! Of course, they can try and deal direct with carriers and hope that in the deal they are given full marketing support. Alternatively they can go to a mobile content aggregator and join their portfolio of services and products and enjoy their distribution network. Mobile Media works with mobile content providers and games companies in this way and market their products across our global carrier network. Producers can also work with industry associations much as the iFA who are looking at mobile initiatives who may offer support in financing and advice.

mo:life
From your vantage point, can you signpost the next five years in the mobile media sector?

Steinar Svalesen
Protection of privacy, lowering of costs and cross network and country accessibility will have a huge part to play. Also, using entertainment services to build and maintain communities across markets will be important in order to build critical mass and steady revenues.