Full house at the Web Goes Mobile seminar
Brussels, November 9, 2007

More than 130 professionals participated last Thursday at the Web Goes Mobile seminar at Business Faculty. Operators and advertisers gave an extensive update on Mobile Internet and its opportunities.

The most important gatekeepers of the mobile internet are of course the mobile operators. Representatives of Proximus and Mobistar gave facts and figures on the PlazZza initiative. Since the launch in 2006 of this WAP service more than 100 mobile sites have joined. The majority of the sites concerns adult content and entertainment (logos, ring tones,…).

Another such entertainment application is the moblog, which allows Proximus subscribers to send a mobile photo by MMS to a photo blog. This initiative was initiated by the agency Emakina, in collaboration with MobileWeb.be.

e-Bay is also enthusiastic about the mobile platform: “We believe in mobile and the timing is now.”, says Alexis van de Wyer of eBay Belgium. On their market place it’s now possible to bid by SMS and to receive SMS alerts with updates on an auction.

With the use of the mobile internet on the rise, this medium is becoming increasingly interesting for advertisers. The French Screentonic, which was acquired by Microsoft earlier this year, already set up mobile campaigns for several companies such as Coca-Cola, Disney and Apple. Currently they measure a click-through rate on mobile advertisements of 3% to 6%.

An extraordinary presence at the seminar was the Brit Tom Weiss, former Vice-President at T-Mobile, who gave a very sobering vision on current mobile technologies. He pointed out that voice and SMS are still the main sources of revenue for mobile operators and that growth for external parties is mostly in niches.

The event, filling in its second edition a full room of interested professionals, was an initiative of MobileWeb.be, Belgian provider of mobile solutions and leader on the domain of Mobile Internet. Managing Director Danny Lein adds: “Our main goal of Web Goes Mobile is proving the potential of the Mobile Internet for marketeers. On the seminar, operators, providers and advertisers have all together proven that this medium is on the rise.”

The presentations are available on www.mobileweb.be