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Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience ™ (FAME) Begins Global Effort Focused on Wireless User Marketing PALO ALTO, Calif., June 28, 2005 -- The Forum to Advance the Mobile Experience™ (FAME), a strategic authority leadership initiative to accelerate marketing and research aimed at driving wireless service and product adoption, today launched its global initiative with the announcement of a high-profile advisory board consisting of top marketers and industry experts from 24 of today's leading mobile technology companies. The FAME leadership advisory board includes executives from ARM, Alcatel, Autodesk, British Telecom, Casabyte, Cingular, Digicel, GSM Association, Gemplus, Good Technology, Google, Intel, Lucent, Nokia, Nortel, Openwave, palmOne, QUALCOMM, Sybase, Symbian, Virgin Mobile, Visto, Vonage and Yahoo!. FAME Advisory Board members include senior level executives from component manufacturers, wireless carriers, handset vendors, mobile application vendors, content providers, mobile game vendors, OS providers and middleware players that hold a key stake in the acceleration and mass-market adoption of mobile device/application usage. These executives, representing some of the world's most prominent and active brand names in the wireless space, share a common interest and concern in advancing the user experience. FAME's user-centric mission is based on the critical importance of usability and the user experience in driving adoption rates within the mobile marketplace. More than in most technology markets, the mobile user experience is being shaped by an entire ecosystem of companies, which are represented by the advisory board. FAME allows these industry leaders to work together to drive major initiatives designed to spear-head the development of user-oriented solutions for the mobile workforce and consumer. Sales of mobile handsets worldwide rose 17 percent from last year to a record 180.6 million units in the first quarter of this year, and global sales will approach 750 million units this year, according to the latest data from market-research firm Gartner. The dramatic increase in wireless handset usage will lead to an increase in user demand for "bundled services" that add wireless phone service to VoIP, television and Internet services. However, this increase in end-user demand will be dependent on content providers, vendors and carriers providing the mobile consumer with the best and most enriching user experience. FAME is a strategic initiative of the CMO Council, an elite affinity group of nearly 1,500 chief marketing executives from technology companies worldwide dedicated to high-level thought leadership and knowledge sharing. Critical stakeholders in FAME will team with the CMO Council to:
"Industry collaboration to benefit the mobile user experience is of paramount interest in the industry today, and I welcome the chance to work with the CMO Council and other market leaders to address these issues head on," said Jeff Belk, Senior Vice President of Marketing at QUALCOMM and Chairman of the FAME Advisory Board. "The extensive experience, vision and knowledge of the Advisory Board members will provide significant insight and valuable feedback for our current marketing and research efforts," said Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of FAME and the CMO Council. "We have experienced a very encouraging reception to FAME and its goals to date, and we look forward to continuing to tap into the expertise of the Advisory Board to develop very targeted and relevant information, insights, and perspectives." About FAME About the CMO Council |
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