World Telemedia Malta 2010
9th June - 11th June 2010, Malta

World Telemedia Malta 2010 Phew, what a scorcher! In every sense of the infamous Sun newpaper phrase, Telemedia Malta 2010 was hot. The conference sessions showed just how vibrant the ideas in the sector are; the exhibition hall reverberated with the cacophony of business being done; and, outside where the networking was in full swing 24x7, the sun shone down like marmalade.

The two main themes to emerge from the show were that billing tools are crucial and that new devices such as the iPad, iPhone 4 and the growth on Droid do offer some interesting new opportunities for telemedia.

On the billing front, the audience and panelists were all somewhat chuffed with Payforit3.0. The new iteration of the UK WAP billing tool actually looks good and would no doubt work well for consumers. The fact that the network operators do nothing to promote it still irks, but with companies such as Impulsepay getting PFI3.0 out into the mass market through mobile services such as car park payments, the billing tool looks set to gain acceptability by stealth at the very least.

The mobile gambling community also welcomed PFI3.0 – as well as all the developments in billing and alt.billing that have taken place – since they feel that the more tools there are for getting cash into the system the more m-gambling will be used. Similarly, apps stores need to start to offer a wide array of billing tools too to make them easier to use for the mass market, said several delegates and speakers. In-app billing in particular needs to be offered with a variety of ways to pay. This multiple payment tools idea is nothing new – it is really what makes the internet tick – but it seems that on mobile it still needs to be worked on and popularized for mass market take up.

The m-web verses apps debate also raged across the show, with the general consensus being reached that actually you need both to reach the largest market share. Apps are a great way in, but really they should just be gateways to the mobile web, where real commerce can take place.