“The key people from all of the players were here. Operators, content providers, application developers and vendors, all sent the real decision makers from the right departments,” said Daniel Freeman, manager at Ericsson Mobility World.

“People seemed eager to talk business the whole day and the discussions went on even after the session was officially closed. In addition, this was a strong opportunity to discuss wider issues in ensuring the successful launch of new services.”

The session took place across several rooms – each allocated to a market segment, which gave an air of privacy, but yet with around six or seven customers in one room. It gave operators the opportunity to meet with many different potential partners.

“There was a real spirit of productivity with operators very keen to secure the very best content and applications for their customers,” Freeman said.

The matchmaking session was run in combination with the Ericsson Mobile Application Awards and drew a positive response from those who took part. Ericsson Mobile Application Award winner within the enterprise category, LocatioNet, enjoyed the experience. The company’s winning application was Mobile Workforce Management, a location-based application that enables companies to track down their workforce while out in the field.

“The matchmaking session was very useful, especially since we were one of the winners and the visitors had already seen our application and knew what it was about,” said Rony Shmulevitch, Vice President Sales at LocatioNet.

Shmulevitch said all meetings his company attended were productive; both in terms of leveraging existing relations and generating useful qualified new contacts. LocatioNet met new operators and some operators it already had arranged to meet.

“All operators we met asked detailed questions and showed a sincere interest. Our overall impression is that it was the right people from the operators who were there and that the whole event was very to the point and well arranged,” Shmulevitch said. “We had the opportunity to gain great exposure and meet with a wide range of leading operators.”

Jörgen Odgaard, program manager at Ericsson Mobility Word, said: “This is a key event for Ericsson to run and it is a very good opportunity for us to work closely to the customer and discuss services. They thought it was interesting and saw the event as a way to meet Ericsson’s customers.”

Best enterprise application
LocatioNet – Mobile Workforce Management. Enables companies to localize vehicles and resources working out in the field.

Best information application
NewBay Software – Foneblog. Internet-based diaries with photos, text and sound.

Best gaming application
Synergenix Interactive AB – Rally PRO Contest, a mobile rally game.

Best entertainment application
Media Republic – Jong-Zuid. Further development of TV soaps with interaction via MMS, SMS, MNS Messenger and the Internet.



Karin Hanson