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Day One

08:30 Registration and Coffee

09:00 Informa Welcome & Speed Networking

09:05 Chairman’s Introduction
Rob Gallagher, Principal Analyst, Head of Broadband and TV Research, Informa Telecoms & Media, UK

09:10 Looking Beyond Pure Play IPTV Services: Future Opportunities for Telcos in MENA

• Multiscreen deployment of TV services: which device is proving most popular?
• OTT and Smart TV activities: Partnership and strategies for future proof service
• Experience from the launch of Connected Boxes and Smart TVs
• Customer reactions and uptake

Matthew Willsher, CMO, Etisalat, UAE

09:30 Taking Advantage of Combined Broadcast and Broadband Services: Creating Hybrid Platforms for Maximising Customer Experience

• Developing customer centric interface for increased subscriber retention
• Paving the way to the future through advanced interactive services
• Changing TV viewing habits through personalised applications
• Targeted advertising and content discovery at the forefront of personalisation

Raed Khusheim, CEO, Selevision

09:50 Bringing Interactivity and Entertainment in Saudi Homes via State of the Art Technology

• Bringing distinguished value and product positioning in the Gulf markets
• Following the distinctive requirements for the customers in these markets based on customer needs and wants
• Creating clear value added services and differentiation for consumers through bundling, customer support and innovation
• Maintaining punctuality and aligning the services of spiritual obligations with the assistance of STC’s service

Saad Dhafer Al Qahtani, VP – Residential sector services, STC, Saudi Arabia

10:10 HDTV, 3DTV and Content Exclusivity

• To what extent is new technology increasing demand from operators for exclusive rights
• When is it right to provide content exclusively?
• What business model will benefit both operators and content providers?

Kasia Kieli, EVP & MD, Discovery Networks CEEMEA

10:30 Networking Coffee Break

11:30 Strategies for Penetrating Markets with Low ARPU Customers: Leveraging TV Services via OTTtv as Opposed to IPTV
Utilising OTT as a way to overcome challenges to implement IPTV as a controlled service
Kasia Kieli, EVP & MD, Discovery Networks CEEMEA

11:55 Business Case for OTT and Web TV: How to Monitor Usage and Offer Appropriate Content?

• Offering the right content for faster uptake
• Choosing Web TV as a first trial of IPTV services due to ease of deployment
• Benefiting from the low cost of implementation compared to the penetration rates
• Using Web TV as an education tool and client retention

Speaker TBA

12:20 Partnerships between Telcos and Broadcasters to Indicate the Rise of the Next Generation of TV Viewing

• Increasing returns by leveraging investment in interactive services
• Maximising on core knowledge and technical expertise of telcos to offer interactive services
• Using the content experience of Satellite players
• How to find the right balance and share revenues for content and network providers?

Marwan Al Tal, VP Sales & Marketing, NOORSAT, Jordan
Maitham Abdulla, Manager Internet & Messaging, Batelco, Bahrain
Cedric Vansteenkiste, Senior Expert Business Development, Omantel, Oman13:00 Networking Lunch Break

Pushing Content via Apps, Multi-screen and User Guide

14:20 The Opportunities for Smart, App Based TVs

• Planning for the business model of future connected devices
• Will the telco be sidelined in a connected device future?
• How many apps will be considered as too many?
• How to manage the influx of content?
• Improving the User Interface for finding the desired content

Robert Nurgberg, General Manager – Product Roadmap at LG Electronics, LG Electronics

14:40 How to Procure Additional Services for OTT?

• Roadmap for the future: having offered most OTT added value services what can we do from here?
• Adding fixed and mobile voice services to your TV screen
• Overcoming challenges for achieving excellent quality of experience
• How will connected future pan out in the Middle East?

Jamal Bnari, Platform Management Etisalat, UAE

15:00 Enhancing the Converged Multiscreen Experience

• Taking the multiscreen proposition to the next level
• How companion devices such as tablets and smartphones can complement the pay TV experience and create new monetization opportunities for service providers and broadcasters
• Delivering social loyalty for second screen experience

Alper Turken, Director Southern Europe & MEA Home Sales, Motorola Mobility, UAE

Quality of Content and Quality of Experience to become Key Differentiators for Service Uptake

15:20 Is Scalability a Major Concern for Increased Penetration of IPTV Service in the Middle East?

• Can IPTV overcome QoE in low bandwidth areas?
• Technical improvements and solutions to offer scale
• Creating bundled packages for customer retention

Roberto Kauffmann-Dev, Director Marketing (Home Services), Du
Anis Zouari, Fixed and Internet Executive Director, Tunisie Telecom

15:50 Networking Coffee Break

16:30 Maximising Returns from Multiscreen & OTT Content – Three screen offering and what it means for service providers

• Paying for tablet content: should there be surcharges if a consumer is already paying for a TV service?
• Strategies to secure viewership and reach wider audiences via OTT services
• Adjusting suitability of content for various screens

Syed Ahmed, Head of IPTV,Q-tel, Qatar

16:50 Strategies to Increase Content Consumption via Interactivity

• Convergence trends as natural follow up to consumer trends
• Helping customers to better, easily and more flexibly consume their old friend Linear TV
• Apps are the way forward: TV apps to follow look and feel of PC and Smart Phone apps
• Keeping services easy to use while investing in marketing campaigns and raising awareness about all features available

Cliff Nelson, SVP, OSN, UAE

17:10 PANEL DISCUSSION: Content and its Multifaceted Delivery in the New World of Connected TVs

• Including various elements of the ecosystem to protect content in the Middle East
• Engaging CDNs for improving quality of experience
• Ensuring variability of packages to appeal to various segments of the market
• Engaging multiscreen services to maintain service appeal

Sherif Iskander, Head of Digital Media, Rotana
Fahem Al Nuaimi, Vice President PMO&B, Etisalat, UAE
Jawad J. Abbassi, Founder and General Manager, Arab Advisors Group
Phillip Luff, Emerging Business Country Manager, Discovery Networks CEEMEA

17:40 End of Day One

Day Two

08:30 Registration and Coffee

09:05 Chairman’s Introduction
Nick Thomas, Principal Analyst, TV & Digital Media Informa Telecoms & Media

09:10 The Next Step of Development for IPTV services

• Integrating Social media for content discovery
• Developing EPG on the go
• Viewing and recording on own set top boxes remotely via smart phones and tablets
• Responding to high consumer demand for new TV services

Samer Geissah, Vice President – Network Development – Core Networks, Du, UAE

09:30 Capitalising on Consumers’ Thirst for High- End, Personalized Communications Services

• Customer requirements driving a new wave of strategic investment
• Teleconferencing, video on demand and mobile TV as part of the new services
• Maximising service on previous best practise across Etisalat Group
• Utilising partnership with TV set manufacturers for monetising new services

Sameer Ajjour, Director Broadband & Business Services Center, Etihad Etisalat/ Mobility*

09:50 IPTV Operations and Content Acquisition in the Middle East

• Overcoming challenges for last mile bandwidth speed requirements
• Recognising areas for growth for IPTV operators
• Tackling the issue of minimum guarantees, thus making content acquisition painless
• Differentiating your proposal with real value added service

Mike Sneesby, VP IPTV and Technology, Intigral, Saudi Arabia

10:10 OTT, Web TV, Broadband and Monetising Opportunities

• Lack of high speed broadband penetration for higher consumer take up of Web TV services
• Tackling competition of piracy by premium transaction based content
• Maximising returns by advertisement subsidised catch up TV
• Making space for Hybrid Set Top Boxes to overcome quality and speed challenges

Ahmed Ossama, Vice President, Telephony & Home, Telecom Egypt

10:30 Expansion and Uptake of Prepaid Video On Demand in Middle East

• Using the widely popular prepaid mobile card to purchase video
• Technical requirements and integration of OCS (online charging system)
• Applying IPTV platform as a part of the solution
• Marketing strategies to promote the benefits of using this service

Ahmed A. Almugbel, Section Head, Multimedia development, Data & BB Services, STC, Saudi Arabia

10:50 Networking Coffee Break

Strategies and Unique Case Studies for OTT Monetisation

11:30 Smart TV Strategies: CE Manufacturers and their Relationships with Operators & Broadcasters

• Achieving seamless middleware integration with apps
• Who owns the Customer relationship in an unmanaged environment?
• What are the Strategies for Forming Partnerships with Service Providers to secure Quality of Experience in the new operating environment?

Tristan Palmer, B2B Solutions Manager Samsung Electronics MEA, UAE

11:50 PANEL DISCUSSION: The Opportunities and Challenges for OTT: Content Providers’s Perspective vs Telecom Operators Perspective

• What are the major concerns from the content industry regarding OTT?
• What is the right format for ensuring returns?
• Is the I-tunes model (30% retention of profit) the best practice case for widespread implementation?
• Tackling security when shifting content between multiple screens

Mario Pino, Director, Business Development and Strategy, Digital Media Services Unit, Etisalat, UAE
Jim Lomax, Executive VP of Sales & Marketing, AirTies
Jim Welch, Worldwide Marketing and Communications, SecureMedia

12:20 IPTV as an Exceptional Opportunity to Enter the Iranian Media Market

• An upgrade in traditional digital TV broadcasting services and the telecommunications services responsible for connecting the consumers.
• Examining the feasibility to provide value-added services like IPTV and VOD in large cities of the country
• Experiences from the commercial launch of IPTV in Iran
• Sufficient investment, strong business models, cooperation with IRIB and TCI, and partnering with local companies as key factors for the success of operating VOD and IPTV services in Iran

Ali Karimi, Chief Project Officer, TelecomIran

12:40 PANEL DISCUSSION: Integrating Apps in Set Top Boxes, Smart TVs and Gaming Consoles as Means to reach a Wider Audience

• What are the major concerns from the content industry regarding OTT?
• What is the right format for ensuring returns?
• Is the I-tunes model (30% retention of profit) the best practice case for widespread implementation?
• Tackling security when shifting content between multiple screens

Thomas Helbo, Operations & Development Manager, Stofa, Denmark
Tristan Palmer, B2B Solutions Manager, Samsung Electronics MEA, UAE

Senior representatives from Xbox – Microsoft and Playstation Sony have been invited

13:00 Networking Lunch Break

Developing Consumer Driven Quality TV and Content Bundles

14:20 Content Becoming the Key Differentiator for TV Consumers

• The roles of operators and content providers in the newly created environment
• Building in interactive features to benefit the full value chain
• Who’s driving the development of new features?
• Can the managed network handle it?

Senior representative, MBC Group

14:40 Mobile TV as an Important Part of Multiscreen Offering

• The tablet and its customer appeal: dealing with another screen in the house
• Catching up with Live Events on your handheld devices
• Looking at mobile content that has had the biggest impact on Customers in the Middle East

Saleem Mobahani, Vice President – Data, Content and Portals, du, UAE

Social Media Leading the Way to Easy Content Discovery

15:00 Mobile TV as an Important Part of Multiscreen Offering

• TV companies can utilize social media to drive viewership to their TV shows
• Dealing with negative feedback via word-of-mouth at sites like Twitter, Facebook and Jeeran – leveraging uptake of new TV show by implementing social media marketing strategies
• Establishing the opportunities and challenges of working with social media

Sherif Safwat, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Investment, Du and Executive Director, 21st Century Digital Arabia, Anayou

15:20 The Importance of the Brand to Effectively Promote and Sell TV Content

• How to rebrand your business from connectivity providers to lifestyle enrichers
• Social networking, people’s social behaviour and the best approaches to understand them and utilize them
• Targeted Advertising and the customer intelligence required to do it effectively
• Cross-Selling: the most effective approach to cross sell IPTV and its content to your existing customer base

Ahmad Abu Zannad, Strategic Planning Director, Leo Burnett Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

15:40 Networking Coffee Break

16:20 The importance of Social Media Applications for Content Discovery and Targeted Advertising

• Using social feedback for targeting advertising
• Using search phrases to receive a mix of VoD content, linear channels and user generated content to choose from
• How social media influences the uptake of targeting advertising campaigns?
• Protecting customer details vs. providing tailored advertising – finding the balance

Hassan Suleiman, Vice President, Rotana, UAE

16:40 Content Discovery at the Forefront for Customer Acquisition

• Providing powerful and easy-to-use apps across the platform
• Consistent user experience for reaching the right content
• How to best solve “one size doesn’t fit all” challenge
• Giving consumers the ability to choosing from thousands of content delivery apps

Rone De Beauvoir, CEO, JOY Media Group, USA

17:00 OTT and Multiscreen in the Content Rights Battle

• Simplifying the process of shifting content between screens
• How to reduce cost to the box
• The opportunities from partnerships between Telcos and TV manufacturers
• Offering excellent EPG

Mohsen Malaki, Head of Strategy, Intigral, UAE

17:20 Over-The-Top Video: Opportunity or Power Shift

• Digital video acceleration and the TV 2.0 experience
• OTT value proposition in the ecosystem
• The way to play – winning strategies
• Business models to monetize investments

Hadi Raad, Principal, Booz & Company, Lebanon

17:40 Close of Conference

* Awaiting Final Confirmation