KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- Paridin Satim from Sabah won the 1Malaysia pantun SMS (short message service) competition which was held from March 31 to April 30 this year.

His pantun, which reads "Satu Malaysia Satu Bahasa, Sumber Insan Menjadi Ungkapan, Berbagai Agama Berbilang Bangsa, Rakyat Didahulukan Pencapaian Diutamakan" beat 3,000 other entries in the competition organised by the Malaysian Mobile Content Providers Association.

Paridin, 50, was presented with an iPhone worth almost RM3,000 by Information Communication and Culture deputy secretary-general Datuk Mohd Ali Mohamad Noor.

Mohd Ali said it was the first time the competition was held using the text message format in line with today's technological development.

"The public constantly follow technology, especially the younger generation, so by using SMS we can attract more youths to take part," he added.

-- BERNAMA

Source : http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=517903

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile phone users will no longer receive unsolicited SMSes, said Malaysian Mobile Content Providers Association (MMCP) president Azli Paat.

“It was possible before for content providers to send such SMSes to consumers without them asking for it, but telcos have since installed preventive gateways.

“These gateways prevent unsolicited SMSes from getting through. When consumers receive these SMSes, they should not be charged for it,” he said after attending a prize-giving ceremony for a contest.

He added that if unsolicited SMSes still got through the gateways, the fault lay with the telcos.

The Star reported on Nov 28 last year that consumers were frustrated at being charged for receiving unsolicited SMSes from external content providers.

Consumers complained that their monthly bills had spiked from these charges with each SMS costing between RM2 and RM5.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/1/nation/6776667&sec=nation

 

PETALING JAYA, 31 March 2010 - As part of its mission to promote 1 Malaysia throughout the country, Malaysian Mobile Content Providers Association (MMCP) will launch a 30-day-long pantun contest using an SMS platform.

The contest will be launched in tandem with MMCP 4th Annual General Meeting by Yang Amat Berhormat, Dato' Joseph Salang Gandum, Deputy Minister of Information, Communication and Culture.

The aim of the contest is to encourage Malaysian to embodied the spirit of 1 Malaysia while at the same time to encourage participation in enriching one of the Malaysia literary element, which is pantun. The SMS contest is one of the initiative by MMCP along with the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), as the strategic partner to popularise and revitalise the tradition of poetry and to be one of the platform for participants in showcasing their creative writing and poetic talent, skill and ability.

To participate, send PANTUN<space>4 LINES PANTUN to 15888. The entries should be sent latest by 30 April and must be original works of not more than 140 characters. The terms and conditions of the contest can be found at www.mmcp.org.my.

About Malaysian Mobile Content Providers Associations

The Malaysian Mobile Content Providers Association (MMCP), was initiated back in 2006 as a platform for all Mobile Content Providers to come together under one banner to better address issues raised and ensure the interest of Content Providers are protected. The association was formalized in 17th August of 2007 and currently has 26 ordinary members and 5 associate members. For more information, log on to www.mmcp.org.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile-content providers want the Government to do away with the requirement that such companies must contribute 6% of their annual revenue to the Universal Service Provision (USP) fund.

Azli Paat, president of the Malaysian Mobile Content Provider Association (MMCPA) said the USP fund is an infrastructure fund and not a content fund, so content providers (CPs) should not be required to contribute to it.

“The telecommunications companies are already contributing to the USP fund, which will eventually be beneficial to them,” he said. “Once an underserved area is developed (using the fund), the telcos can profit from it by charging for their infrastructure.”

“We get some benefits because we can then sell our content in these developed areas, but not as much as the telcos because we do not have the infrastructure to profit from,” Azli said.

The USP fund was established in 2003 to help provide telecoms facilities and Internet access to underserved areas. The fund currently totals RM5bil and is managed by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM), the telco industry regulator.

CPs in the country, such as M-Mode Sdn Bhd and Radius Sdn Bhd, develop and sell content, including wallpapers, ringtones and games, for cellphones and other portables.

The CPs claim that their profits from such content are dwindling. They said the value of the local industry has shrunk from about RM540,000 to RM300,000 in just one year.

“The mandatory contribution to the USP fund is stifling the growth of CPs,” said Azli. He explained that CPs that make more than RM2mil in annual revenue are required to hand over 6% of that to the fund.

“This requirement is counter-productive. Some CPs are purposely trying not to exceed RM2mil in annual revenue because of this. This puts a damper on CP growth,” he said.

The MMCPA informed the SKMM of this in November and are awaiting feedback. The association has also requested a meeting with Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim over the issue.

Another thorn

Besides the USP fund requirement, the set up of a so-called Preventive Gateway is also causing CPs that develop content for mobile devices to suffer declines in their revenue.

The gateway is a technology that helps screen out unscrupulous CPs, such as those who deliver content to consumers without asking first, and then bill the consumers for the content.

This electronic gateway checks SMSes from the CPs and consumers to ensure that the consumers have given consent for the content to be sent to them.

“This is all very well but another 3% of our revenue is taken away for maintenance of the gateway annually,” said Azli. “The law-abiding CPs are also being made to pay for the sins of a few unscrupulous vendors.”

The MMCPA also believes that the revenue share that telcos demand from CPs for pushing their content is too high.

“In Japan, it is an 80%/20 % revenue share between CP and telco. But here, the telcos demand a 50%/50% share,” Azli said.

He said the association had asked the telcos to switch from revenue share to a fixed rate but the call had fallen on deaf ears.

“This unfair revenue split is forcing most of the local CPs to do business overseas where they can enjoy better returns. We are focusing our business on Indonesia, Thailand and China because it is too limiting here,” he said.

The MMCPA is two years old and looks after the rights of mobile-content providers. The organisation has 31 members now. There are 300 CPs dealing in mobile content nationwide.

By Steven Patrick

Taken from The Star

The Malaysia Mobile Content Providers Association (MMCP) exhibited at GoMobile 2009, especially to raise awareness amongst consumers that it can also handle their complaints related to issues such as unsolicited content pushed to their phone for which they are charged a fee and similar issues.

The organisation which has a website at www.mmcp.org.my was established in 2006 to enable mobile content developers to offer their advice, opinions, ideas and voice their concerns to the industry regulator on all matters related to mobile only.
 

To date, it has 30 members, including Astro Measat, Dapat Vista, Nextnation Network, MNC Wireless, Sybase Software, Macro Kiosk and others, plus five associate members.

Taken from Mobile World Magazine

2009

• 31 March - 2nd MMCP AGM
• 10 April - MSC Mobile Content Dialogue, organized by MDEC. MMCP President presented a topic on Challenges Faced By Mobile Content Providers in Malaysia
• 18 May - Courtesy visit to Content & Industry Development, MCMC with Mr. Roslan Mohamad, Director.
• 19 May - Communication & Multimedia Conference 2009, organized by MCMC
• 22 May - Majlis Jasamu Dikenang, a farewell dinner to Dato Dr. Halim Shafie, organized by MCMC at One World Hotel
• 25 May - Task Force Meeting with MCMC, MMCP and Celcos. Discussed on suspension guidelines.
• 26 May - Courtesy visit to Content, Consumer, Security & Postal Department, MCMC with Mr. Amarjit Singh, Senior Director.
• 9 June - MSC IPCC Workshop organized by MDEC. MMCP President presented a paper on Mobile Network Guidelines.
• 9 July - Task Force Meeting with MCMC (Mr. Amarjit Singh & Mr. Azizan Affandi), MMCP and Celcos. Discussed on lifting the earlier suspension on promoting 3 series via 6 series.
• 17 July - Asia Telecommunication Forum, organized by Asli. MMCP President presented on Innovation in Application & Content Propelling Broadband Uptake and Revenues
• 24 July - Discussion with MCMC (Mr. Azizan Affandi & Puan Hazirah Nawawi) on Mobile Content Services Operational Overview (Shortcode Segregation) and Revenue Sharing.
• 
  13 August - Discussion on Dasar, Strategi & Program Pembangunan Kandungan Negara organized by Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan at PJ Hilton Hotel. MMCP President presented a paper on Mobile Content Industry.
• 30 September - Submission of Comments on the Public Inquiry for the Proposed Mandatory Standard for the Provision of Mobile Content Services to MCMC
• 15 October - Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri MMCP @ Cyberjaya
• 23 October - MMCP @ GoMobile 2009

 CYBERJAYA - MAY 18, 2009 - Roslan Mohamad, Director of Content & Industry Development Department, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) briefed on the Network Content Development Grant (NCDG) with the members of Malaysian Mobile Content Providers Association (MMCP) during our courtesy visit to his department. This is one of the activity program that is organized with closed co-operation between MCMC and MMCP which just formed new line-up of Council Committee last March

Roslan explained that the idea behind NCDG is to encourage local content providers to come out with fresh and exciting rich content that could be distributed by various network channels; internet, mobile and television with promising business module including export potential. According to Roslan, up to this date, there are only 34 applicants who made it to the final stages, but only 7 have been successfully granted with the financial incentive.

In the discussion, Azli Paat, President of MMCP urges content providers to grab the opportunity provided by the government to apply this financial grant and assistance. Indeed, in this economic downturn and difficulties faced by the content providers, we shall take more proactive steps and actions to overcome  the  turmoil.

At the end of discussion, Azli Paat thanked the efforts taken by Content & Industry Development Department, MCMC to brief to the members of MMCP and MMCP will involve actively in the discussions and events organised by MCMC.  Others attendees are Lim Kim Seng, Secretary of MMCP, Datin Salena Ahmad, Council Committee of MMCP, representatives from Dapat Vista Sdn Bhd, Nextnation Network Sdn Bhd, Yomobile Sdn Bhd, MNC Wireless Berhad, M-Mode Sdn Bhd, M3 Technologies (Asia) Bhd, Gen-X Technology Sdn Bhd, Spninx Fusion Sdn Bhd, Wizio Sdn Bhd and others.

Paying the price for others
by Aishah Mustapha

An SMS comes in from an unknown number and tells you that you have won the grand prize of a contest from a well-known company that you don't recall taking part in. To claim the prize, you need to login to a website or call a number where you will be asked to divulge your personal details and bank account number. The next thing you know, your bank balance is down to nothing. These types of scams were rampant in 2005 and 2006.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) then established a set of guidelines to prevent such SMS scams. Telcos put in a preventive gateway platform that is designed to prevent unsolicited SMS with unauthorised short codes, such as scam SMS, from reaching their subscribers. Short codes are five digit numbers bought by mobile content providers (CP) to offer their products and services through the mobile phone. MCMC has also banned short code masking for mobile content service provider where they can mask their originating numbers with another number

Masking is only allowed for telcos themselves, for broadcasting their own important messages to their customers. But some of the honest CPs are feeling the pinch. With the preventive gateway, 3% to 7% of their SMS charge rate is being taken out by the telcos. It's basically considered a fee for letting their SMS through to the subscribers. For one thing, there is already revenue sharing with the telcos for each SMS. So, let's say that one SMS charge for subscription to ringtones, traffic information or voting people off on a hot reality show, is RM1. With revenue sharing, telcos can take up to 50% of the RM1. While 3%-7% does not seem a high percentage, when added to the almost 50% that telcos are already taking, it can be a backbreaker.

"I think it's unfair for having us (CP} pay for other people's crimes. We are already doing revenue sharing with telcos up to 50%, and to ask us to pay for a preventive gateway as a result of other people's crimes is taking more money from us," says Azli Paat, newly-elected president of the Malaysian Mobile Content Provider Association (MMCP).

According to Azli, if CPs take the road of offering ringtones, the remaining 47% will be divided with the singers, producer and band member of the ringtone song. This leaves CP with only five sen of each full RM1. With such dismal margins, it is not surprising that Azli's company has exited. "I have left the ringtone segment and any products which require using other people's contents. You can't sustain your business," says Azli who currently provides information, email and other services which offer a higher margin.

Azli believes the telcos should bear the cost of the preventive gateway, as innocent CPs are being punished. It's difficult enough that MMCP is also trying to push for CPs' exclusion from paying the Universal Service Provision Fund (USP).

The USP is a fund estimated to be worth RM2 billion to RM3 billion. It was established to enable broadband and other network services for communication in underserved areas - under it, service provider companies need to contribute 6% of their revenue, if it exceeds RM2 million yearly. "We are just content providers, we are not service providers like telcos," says Azli.

Pushing for the exclusion of CPs in the USP fund is only one of the agenda for MMCP this year. Azli hopes to be the central voice for any issues in the mobile content provider industry.

With the communication sector under the newly appointed Datuk Seri Rais Yalim, Azli would like their voices to be heard, as he believes that there is much potential in the industry. Malaysia has the third highest SMS traffic in Asia Pacific based on studies by Acision early this year (http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsbusiness.php?id=387362), which signifies the size of Malaysia's mobile market. Furthermore, the mobile application sector is also growing thanks to the numerous mobile platforms from mobile phone manufacturers. Azli feels this industry deserves a grant for itself as there isn't any grant available that is specific for them

Right now, the mobile content provider industry is not big. With 300 registered application service providers, roughly half of that figure is active. With shrinking margins and very few support, the number could very well get smaller soon.

The Edge Malaysia - 11 May 2009