Press release

Industry Survey Finds Predictions for Mobile-Broadband Convergence in 2008 Less than Expected

Valista Poll Results Show Broadband & Cable Industry Remain Skeptical About Extending Program Offerings to the Mobile Channel in 2008

DUBLIN, IRELAND and SAN MATEO, Calif — January 29, 2008 –Valista, the leading provider of multi-channel merchandizing, payments and settlement solutions, accelerating the growth of digital commerce, today announced the results of a global poll of the media and entertainment, broadband/cable, and mobile industries on significant industry developments in 2007 as well as upcoming challenges and opportunities for 2008.  The survey revealed surprising results about the role of convergence within the mobile and broadband industries during 2008.  Forty-six percent of mobile industry insiders surveyed believe that developing business strategies to capitalize on convergence will be the biggest challenge in 2008 – followed closely by declining ARPU at 30 percent. Capitalizing on convergence may become even more challenging when confronted with the pessimism within the broadband and cable industry where three quarters predict that less than 10 percent of broadband and cable providers will offer programming over the mobile channel in 2008 – showing that mobile-broadband convergence is still viewed by the industry to be in its early stages.

Almost half of the respondents in the media and entertainment industries believe that the biggest challenge for 2008 is developing new business models for new channels, followed closely with maintenance of advertising revenues at 33 percent. Only 11 percent feel that managing and protecting content would be a challenge for 2008.

“The difference in responses between the industries on the topic of convergence signifies the challenges the industries face in developing new business models in the new environment,” said Fran Heeran, CTO, Valista. “With consumers becoming more and more technology savvy, it is crucial for providers to be able to offer access to content in a variety of channels. It is still to be seen whether 2008 will be the year in which the mobile, broadband, and media and entertainment industries will align their business processes to capitalize on convergence.”

Further to the issue of convergence, thirty-six percent within the mobile industry believe that there are significant opportunities in mobile advertising, with almost one-fourth showing optimism for growth in user-generated mobile content and mobile media.

The survey also polled the industry on what they saw as significant developments in 2007. A majority of media and entertainment industry respondents found that the growth of user-generated content and digital video recording were key developments in the industry with a combined 66 percent of votes.  Sixty-six percent of broadband and cable industry pollsters believe that the growth in subscriber figures worldwide was the most significant achievement for the broadband industry. The release of the iphone topped the survey as the most significant development within the mobile industry during 2007.

The demand for various payment methods for mobile content is also evident. Forty-five percent of mobile industry pollsters believe that direct-to-bill will be the most prevalent payment method for mobile content in 2008, with PSMS coming in second at 27 percent followed by credit card coming in third with five percent. All broadband and cable respondents agree that direct-to-bill will be the most widely used payment method for broadband services in 2008.

To learn more about Valista’s payments, settlement, and merchandizing solutions including Valista’s Operator Payments Service which provides operators with a hosted solution to safely and securely allow third party content and application providers to bill the mobile operators’ customers, visit Valista at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Valista will be available for meetings in hospitality suite 3-1 Gallery HS175, from February 11 – 14. To set up a meeting, please send an email to mwcmeetings@valista.com.

Notes:
For more information, please contact:

Valista®
Jennifer Cakir
Marketing Manager
Tel: +353-1-276-4511
Fax: +353-1-276-4533
Email: marketing@valista.com

Sylvie Tongco
Reichert Communications, LLC for Valista
Tel: +415 296 5132
Email: sylvie@reichertcom.com

About Valista® Ltd.

Valista accelerates the growth of digital commerce with multi-channel merchandizing, payments and settlement solutions. The company enables mobile, broadband and cable operators, and media and entertainment companies to support the entire commerce ecosystem including end-to-end transaction management; advanced settlement; discounting, promotions and loyalty programs with a choice of software or managed services.

Valista specializes in managed services which enable operators to expand their markets and customize their offerings in a timely and cost efficient manner utilizing Valista’s best of breed application ValistaPlus™ software platform.

Key customers include:
America Online, Cricket, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMo, France Telecom’s w-HA, Orange, 3, mBlox, and Orascom/Mobilink.

Valista® and ‘accelerating commerce™’ and ‘new ways to purchase with multiple ways to pay™’, ‘payments software enabling the purchase of premium services™’, ‘ValistaPlus’, ‘PaymentsPlus’, ‘OffersPlus’, ‘SettlementPlus’ are registered trademarks and trademarks of Valista Limited. All other trademarks and registered trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners.

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