fortumo services allow customers to make mobile payments in 95 countries on six continents , with a strong focus on emerging markets .

fortumo started in 2007 as a spin-off of the mobile services company mobi solutions , and currently employs over 80 people in its offices in estonia ( tartu & tallinn ) , usa ( san francisco ) , china ( beijing ) , india ( delhi ) , singapore and vietnam ( hanoi ) .

as of june 2016 , over 150 thousand developers have signed up to fortumo 's services .

fortumo

fortumo had also signed a similar deal with sony liv earlier in december 2015 .
with fortumo , we can provide customers an improved online payments experience .
fortumo offers mobile payments without commission fee for the first 5000 . - usd processed .
how many sites from each region we first detected using fortumo at specific date periods .
founded in 2007 , fortumo is a leading global provider of direct carrier billing . fortumo payments cover 100 markets and connect merchants to subscribers of more than 350 mobile operator networks .
our management team brings a combined 40 + years of experience in telecommunications industry to fortumo .
fortumo provides bundling , carrier billing and messaging in 100 markets simultaneously through just one integration .
fortumo has been profitable since 2009 because we have been constantly one step ahead of the market .
fortumo is a digital enabling platform for app stores and digital service providers for user acquisi . . .
this tutorial will teach you how to create fortumo sms service . 1 . ) sign in to your fortumo account . 2 . ) click on
dashboard
item in top menu . 3 . )
the cooperation with fortumo in service deployment and system integration for google play has been very smooth .
through partnership with fortumo , there are more opportunities for developers to monetize users in emerging markets .
in february ' 13 estonian company fortumo announced a new growth round led by intel capital and greycroft partners .
get a list of 288 websites using fortumo which includes location information , hosting data , contact details , 58 currently live websites and 230 sites that used this technology previously and 33 websites in the united states currently using fortumo .
now ! & fortumo team up for payments via mobile operator bill - now ! innovations solutions b . v .
script address is addres you have to enter in your fortumo service , so fortumo will know where to look for reply message that wil be sent to your users . here is where you should enter your script add . . .
google play has been enabled by fortumo’s carrier billing platform that supports both app stores and digital merchants in other segments like music and video streaming , social networking and gaming . fortumo will also provide webe with access to fortumo insight , a smart data analytics platform that helps carriers track and analyse app store performance to make improvements for growing carrier billing revenue .
previous award winners include the following companies : grabcad , zeroturnaround oü , fortumo , planet os inc . , transferwise .
fortumo has previously announced partnerships with nook , telenor and slideme as well as with a number of chinese appstores for providing an in - app purchasing solution for developers in these stores . fortumo solution enables developers to collect payments from many stores through just one sdk integration . fortumo also works with device manufacturers like zte to preload developer apps into smartphones and tablets .
about fortumo fortumo allows any merchant to set up payment processing for web and mobile services , games or apps . users with a mobile phone are then able to make one - click payments using fortumo without the need for a credit card - payments are charged to their mobile operator bill instead . fortumo payments are cross - platform and work in pc applications , web services and html5 , android , windows phone and windows 8 apps . fortumo supports payments in 81 countries through 300 mobile operators , including a number of exclusive carrier billing partnerships . founded in 2007 , fortumo has offices in estonia , san francisco , beijing and delhi and is backed by intel capital and greycroft partners . for more information , visit urltoken .
in addition to google play , fortumo’s customers include spotify , sony , hooq , gaana , electronic arts , gameloft , kinguin and rovio . to enable payments for these merchants , fortumo works together with mobile operators in more than 90 countries .
following the partnership , android developers can earn revenue with fortumo’s one - click direct payment solution from 35 million turkcell customers .
fortumo has also been instrumental in the rovio – idea deal and is the billing partner for the angry birds’ company globally .
fortumo’s platform is used by thousands of leading digital merchants including google , spotify and electronic arts . founded in 2007 , fortumo has offices in san francisco , beijing , delhi , singapore , estonia and hanoi . for more information , please visit urltoken .
fortumo has previously announced partnerships with leading oems such as alcatel onetouch , oppo , mitashi , and gionee . in addition to oems and app stores , fortumo works with top digital content providers like ea mobile , gameloft , rovio , times internet and gaana .
fortumo is the only carrier billing company to operate on a self - service concept , allowing any merchant to sign up via the fortumo web site and to start accepting mobile payments . fortumo’s payments system is optimized for all key platforms , including web , mobile web , html5 , and in - app purchases on both smartphones and tablet devices . fortumo has been profitable since 2009 and has added over 72 , 000 registered merchants , including several of the world’s largest gaming companies and content publishers , over the past 5 years .
fortumo allows any merchant to set up payment processing for web and mobile services , games or apps . users with a mobile phone are then able to make one - click payments using fortumo without the need for a credit card - payments are charged to their mobile operator bill instead . fortumo payments are cross - platform and work in pc applications , web services and html5 , android , windows phone and windows 8 apps . fortumo supports payments in over 90 countries through 350 mobile operators , including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships . founded in 2007 , fortumo has offices in estonia , san francisco , beijing , delhi , mumbai , singapore and london and is backed by intel capital and greycroft partners . for more information , please visit fortumo ' s profile on about - payments .
, less than a month after fortumo inked partnerships with four indian telecom operators – idea cellular , vodafone , airtel and tata docomo .
in the middle eastern and african region , carrier billing through fortumo is now available to more than 600 million people in 24 countries . globally , over 3 . 5 billion people in 97 countries can make payments using their mobile phone with merchants who have integrated fortumo .
huawei , a leading global information and communications technology ( ict ) solutions provider , partners with the mobile payments company fortumo . fortumo will combine its global carrier billing capability with huawei global carrier billing @ digital incloud service to extend business in more countries and cover more users , especially in emerging markets . thanks to the cooperation , fortumo and huawei have created one of the biggest joint global carrier billing networks .
working with fortumo gives developers an easy - to - use interface for direct mobile payments , connecting to millions of customers globally .
in recent news from the region , fortumo has announced partnerships with the live streaming platform fission and daily deals service mydala for carrier billing .
fortumo has brought google play payments to vietnam , launching payments for the mobile operators vietnamobile and mobifone along with its existing partnership with viettel .
fortumo , founded in 2007 , is the most developer - friendly mobile payments provider , enabling app and game developers to easily monetize their users through carrier billing . fortumo has payment connectivity to over 300 mobile operators in 80 countries , including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships . with unique features like self - service signup and seamless ui , fortumo’s mobile billing technology is used by some of the most awesome online and mobile publishers . fortumo is headquartered in estonia and has offices in san francisco and beijing . for more information and signing up , visit : urltoken
fortumo ' s platform enables carriers to launch payments across a wide variety of streaming services , app stores , games and social networks , taking away merchant onboarding and integration hassles from the carrier . orange is one of the leading telecom groups in europe , the middle - east and africa , and fortumo is glad to enable digital payments for millions of orange users ,
said gerri kodres , chief business officer at fortumo .
mobile payments service provider fortumo has partnered with turkish mobile operator turkcell to start providing an in - app purchasing solution for its appmarket app store .
“fortumo is a fast - growing , profitable company with a global footprint and strong management team , ” says klaus konrad , investment director of intel capital . “we’re excited about being part of fortumo’s strategy of bringing seamless mobile payments to more users , merchants , and mobile operators worldwide . ”
fortumo’s bundling platform helps digital content merchants be smart about user acquisition and customer lifecycle management by making mobile operator bundle partnerships highly flexible and scalable .
fortumo is a specialist in mobile carrier billing , which lets users to pay for apps and goods in apps without coughing up credit card numbers .
the latest deal comes not long after fortumo inked a deal with two of the largest telecom groups in the world , namely vodafone and china mobile .
fortumo , a fast - growing company with offices in estonia , san francisco and beijing , had also in february raised cash from intel and graycroft .
“the opportunity in the mobile payments segment is enormous , and we believe that fortumo is well positioned to capitalize on the trend of operator based billing . the fortumo team is a great example for the strong talent in the central and eastern european region able to build innovative and globally successful solutions . ”
“we have been impressed with fortumo’s strong product focus and ability to execute , ” said dana settle , a partner with greycroft , in a statement . “what sets fortumo apart from their competition is their focus on geographies where mobile payments will have the biggest impact and growth over the next few years . ”
in recent news , fortumo has partnered with games2win , an indian mobile gaming company , to provide in - app purchasing in mobile games using carrier billing .
fortumo and the mobile operator group orange have announced a direct carrier billing partnership that covers 29 markets in which orange operates , according to a press release .
carriers and fortumo make the best effort to notify you after a successful payment but sometimes things just go wrong . for example , there can be a hiccup between fortumo’s server and yours . in case of a charging error , you should simply try to give the service out again instead of offering a refund .
carrier billing specialist fortumo is claiming a first for the mobile industry , thanks to a trial which involves paying for physical goods via a user’s phone bill .
february 21 , 2013 – fortumo , a mobile payments company with offices in estonia , san francisco and beijing , announced today that intel capital and greycroft partners will be new investors in a growth round of financing . prior to the funding , fortumo has been majority - owned by mobi solutions , an estonian mobile solutions company , which will remain a shareholder . the funding will be used to further strengthen fortumo’s position as the go - to provider for mobile payments in emerging markets .
through the partnership with fortumo , developers can start accepting purchases from users through direct carrier billing - the most widely available payment method in emerging markets .
online video streaming application hooq hs partnered with fortumo for direct carrier billing in india . customers can now subscribe to hooq by charging payments to their mobile phone bill .
fortumo is also announcing new direct contracts with two of the largest telecommunications groups in the world : vodafone group for direct operator billing in 13 countries and with china mobile . fortumo has also recently added gameloft , vostu and cut the rope game - maker zeptolab to its growing list of blue chip merchants , which already includes rovio ( publisher of the angry birds line of games ) badoo , and others . recently , fortumo has partnered with microsoft to promote it’s in - app payments solution for windows 8 .
fortumo is an international mobile payment provider . the company offers various mobile payment solutions for web services and mobile applications . fortumo services allow customers to make mobile payments in more than 70 countries on six continents . fortumo enables payments from customers who do not own a credit card - there are only 1 . 3 billion credit card users in the world , compared to 5 billion mobile phone owners . in addition , no sign - ups and faster payments result in up to 10x better conversion than credit cards .
today’s post draws attention to a simple yet useful feature of fortumo’s cross - platform mobile payments product that makes life easier for merchants : tracking unique customers and their transactions .
one of the key differentiators for fortumo is their self - service concept . basically allowing any merchant to sign - up and start accepting mobile payments all through their website .
fortumo’s direct carrier billing platform allows more than 4 billion end - users to pay merchants using their phone bill in 90 countries across the world . for regions with a good data connection , payments are completed in 1 click and the user is charged over mobile internet . in countries with an insufficient mobile internet infrastructure , fortumo also enables offline payments for users . fortumo has announced partnerships with leading carrier groups of the world , including telefónica , telenor , singtel , turkcell , kyivstar and leading mobile operators in india and china .
fortumo’s global coverage requires global presence from our team . we have offices in north america , europe , china , india and singapore . our management team brings a combined 40 + years of experience in the telecommunications industry to fortumo . our technical platform is maintained by people with experience from building software at skype , microsoft , google and leading european mobile operators .
fortumo lets you do this type of tracking by providing the cuid ( consumer unique identifier ) and operation _ reference ( transaction identifier ) parameters that can be included in each transaction .
in addition , fortumo is announcing new contracts with two of the largest telecom groups in the world , namely vodafone ( for direct operator billing in 13 countries ) and china mobile .
fortumo’s system works via direct carrier billing , which means consumers pay for digital goods via their mobile billing plans with their operators rather than cash , credit cards , or debit cards .
according to a report from gfk , the biggest smartphone device growth markets in 2015 are dominantly large emerging economies such as india , china , indonesia , nigeria , brazil and pakistan . these are exactly the markets that fortumo is strong in - out of the top 10 smartphone markets for growth by value during this year , fortumo already provides carrier billing in 9 of them .
a number of developers , including gameloft , glu mobile , ea mobile , rovio and creative mobile , are already using fortumo in - app purchasing in their android and windows phone apps .
european telecommunication operators telefonica and telenor have signed an agreement with mobile payments firm fortumo , further solidifying the fast - growing company’s position as one of the leaders in providing such a service .
this tutorial will teach you how to register fortumo account . 1 . ) go to urltoken and click on register or sign up , as shown on picture below . or you can use
“fortumo is proud to be selected by huawei as their partner for payments , enabling carrier billing for huawei intouch partners across the world . carrier billing stands out as one of the most convenient methods to charge for content and apps for oems and app stores , especially in the emerging countries which have low credit card penetration , ” added gerri kodres , chief business officer at fortumo .
the mobility services company now ! innovations and the carrier billing provider fortumo are today announcing a partnership for charging payments for parking , ev charging , and other mobility services to mobile operator bill .
“the opportunity in the mobile payments segment is enormous , and we believe that fortumo is well positioned to capitalize on the trend of operator based billing , says marcin hejka , managing director of intel capital eastern europe , middle east and africa . “the fortumo team is a great example for the strong talent in the central and eastern european region able to build innovative and globally successful solutions . ”
in addition to product innovation , fortumo has a razor - sharp focus on emerging markets where mobile payments make the biggest difference . fortumo has the longest experience in the industry with providing carrier billing in central and eastern europe and latin america . we also unlock new markets for merchants before any other carrier billing provider gets there : china , india and kenya , just to name a few .
estonian fortumo and finnish kuneri have won a free pass to nordic mobile media conference in tallinn , estonia on december 3 - 4th . both companies will also get an exhibition stand in the event .
“we have been impressed with fortumo’s strong product focus and ability to execute , ” says dana settle , a partner with greycroft . “what sets fortumo apart from their competition is their focus on geographies where mobile payments will have the biggest impact and growth over the next few years . ” worldwide gross transaction volume for mobile payments for digital goods is expected to more than double by 2015 to $ 268 billion .
through the deal with fortumo , our subscribers will enjoy the ease of paying for many global games and apps through their phones . this will also benefit further the game developer ' s community .
webe , a digital mobility services provider and a subsidiary of telekom malaysia ( tm ) , has partnered with mobile payments company fortumo to launch a direct carrier billing solutions on the google play app store .
from fortumo’s side , we published our western europe market report in june and also shed some more light on how bundling is coming an increasingly popular way for digital companies to grow . check it out .
fortumo ( coverage ) enables quick and free creation and monetization of web - based mobile services maintenance , while kuneri ( coverage ) provides a variety of flash lite tools and services , latest release being pikkoo .
fortumo is connected to more than 350 mobile operator networks in 100 countries . our platform processes millions of payments each day , which means we have extensive data about user profiles and payment preferences around the world .
fortumo has also recently added electronic arts , gameloft , vostu and cut the rope game - maker zeptolab to its list of blue chip merchants , which already includes angry birds maker rovio , badoo and others .
fortumo is a digital enabling platform for app stores and digital service providers for user , acquisition , monetization and retention . the company connects service providers with more than 350 mobile operators across asia , europe , latin america , the middle east and africa . service providers use fortumo’s platform to manage the end - to - end customer lifecycle of mobile users on these networks through the company’s bundling , carrier billing and messaging solutions .
using carrier billing to pay for physical rather than digital items such as games , movie or bus tickets is unusual , but fortumo has launched a trial with angry birds creator rovio and singtel , the singapore operator .
sony liv has partnered with fortumo to offer operator billing on the platform . this will enable users to pay for movies on sony liv through their prepaid or postpaid mobile accounts with airtel , vodafone , idea or aircel .
we have been watching fortumo grow from a tiny startup to become a global player present in 73 countries . last month they announced an investment in the amount close to $ 10 million from intel capital and greycroft partners .
the pilot involves the now familiar angry birds’ toys on sale via an e - commerce site ( rather than physical store ) , which fortumo says is the first time real goods have been charged to users’ phone bills .
the mobile payments company fortumo has announced that it has expanded its carrier billing services to 3 new african markets . more than 79 million mobile phone owners in algeria , ghana and tanzania can now make payments for digital services .
if you configured sms payment plugin or system , and listed prices and message sending instructions on your site ( or plugin / system did this autmatically for you ) , you may want to submit your fortumo sm . . .
“our competitors in the mobile payments space have focused mostly on the us and on western europe , ” says rain rannu , co - founder and ceo of fortumo . “while fortumo covers these regions well , what differentiates us is our strong emphasis on emerging and growth markets where credit card penetration may be low but mobile usage is very high . working with intel capital and greycroft will help us to pursue additional growth opportunities , including strategic partnerships and acquisitions . ”
fortumo services app stores including google play , digital media providers including spotify , sony , hooq , gaana and gaming companies like ea mobile , gameloft and kinguin with carrier billing , local market insights and facilitates relationships with mobile operators .
1 . ) login to your fortumo account . 2 . ) select your service from the list of services : 3 . ) select and copy string of numbers and letters next to
secret
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fortumo features payment connectivity with over 300 mobile operators in 80 countries , including a number of exclusive carrier billing partnerships . mobile billing is available for over 4 billion mobile users worldwide without a need to register or have a credit card .
fortumo , a fast - growing company with offices in estonia , san francisco and beijing , has raised a new ‘growth round’ ( size undisclosed ) to solidify its position as one of the leading providers for mobile payments in emerging markets .
fortumo features payment connectivity with over 300 mobile operators in 80 countries , including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships . mobile billing is available for over 4 billion mobile users worldwide without a need to register or have a credit card .
tallinn , estonia , march 26th , 2014 – the mobility services company now ! innovations and the carrier billing provider fortumo are today announcing a partnership for charging payments for parking , ev charging , and other mobility services to mobile operator bill .
carrier billing with fortumo enables merchants to earn revenue from any platform and any type of content . whether you are processing payments on the web , mobile web , inside applications , smart tv - s or feature phones , we have you covered .
in total , you should expect your first carrier billing launch to take approximately 3 - 5 months . if that seems slow , the good news is merchants working with fortumo do not have to deal with the majority of the activities listed . we are connected to most of the worlds telcos and the team working on operational matters is already in place . this means most merchants are able to launch carrier billing through fortumo in less than 2 weeks , with global coverage and through a single integration .
fortumo’s system works via direct carrier billing . customers pay for digital goods via their mobile billing plans with their mobile operators rather than cash , credit cards , or debt cards . carrier billing is a strong alternative to credit cards for purchasing virtual and digital goods . fortumo features payment connectivity with over 300 mobile operators in 80 countries , including a number of exclusive direct carrier billing partnerships . mobile billing is available for over four billion mobile users worldwide without a need to register or have a credit card .
mobile payments company fortumo said it has expanded its carrier billing services to algeria , ghana and tanzania to enable over 79 million mobile phone owners to make payments for digital services . the firm says all three markets where fortumo has launched have extremely low credit card penetration : algeria at 6 percent , ghana at 0 . 9 percent and tanzania at 0 . 7 percent . this means that while people can access online content , most of them are unable to make payments for paid features of these services .
in a blog , fortumo ceo rain rannu ( pictured ) wrote that conversion rates in the trial are encouraging compared to conventional mobile checkout . in the first week , shopping cart abandonment was five times lower than previously with credit card - based checkout .
( estonia chapter ) : fortumo allows even layman mobile users to establish and earn revenue with their own text messaging services . there are several pre - defined services to choose from . for example , you can establish an sms - info service , like
“we were evaluating a lot of billing partners and fortumo fit the bill . the whole idea was to have a common sdk for dealing with operators . we can take the same sdk to other operators , so that the game does not change drastically . ”
the injection of cash , fortumo says , will be used to build out its business further , with an emphasis on strategic partnerships and acquisitions in emerging markets in regions like latin america , asia , central eastern europe and mena , according to a spokesperson .
carrier billing solves this problem by allowing any mobile owner to make payments conveniently through their carrier and either deduct payments from their airtime balance or charge them to their monthly phone bill . additional information on africa’s digital ecosystem can be found from fortumo’s recent market report .
hard bundles work great for postpaid subscribers where the mobile operator has the capability to charge users on a monthly basis , while soft bundles enable service providers to also tap into the dominant prepaid audience of emerging markets . fortumo’s bundling platform supports both of these approaches .
this white paper gives an overview to merchants using carrier billing on how fortumo prevents fraud with carrier billing and what additional steps merchants can take to avoid it . in general , fraud with carrier billing is significantly lower than with credit cards for two primary reasons :
this market report gives an overview of the mobile payments landscape of western europe . it covers 12 countries where fortumo has coverage : germany , france , united kingdom , italy , spain , netherlands , belgium , greece , portugal , austria , switzerland and ireland .
in any case , carrier billing supports both models , whether you want to delegate taxation to partners like fortumo or handle them on your own . if you are interested in expanding your payments reach through the most widely available alternative payment method globally , get in touch .
there is a key difference , however , between fortumo and bango — which reported a loss of $ 3 . 8 million in the nine months that ended december 31 , 2012 . fortumo is , a spokesperson says , “basically the only mobile payment provider who has been profitable and is profitable . ” the company says that has been the case since 2009 — although as it now sets its sights on ramping up its services , it will be interesting to see whether it can remain in the black or whether it will push itself out of profitability in a gamble for more growth .
fortumo ' s system works via carrier billing , wherein customers pay for digital goods via their mobile billing plans with their mobile operators . it is often regarded as the most convenient and most accessible way of paying for things , as it does not require the users to have a credit card .
boxtv is charging rs 20 for a 1 day pack , rs 49 ( for a 3 day pack ) , rs 99 ( 7 day pack ) and rs 150 ( 15 day pack ) . unless they’ve got a differently negotiated deal with fortumo , below is how much boxtv makes from these options .
in singapore last week , moderating a panel discussion on the future of telco and digital merchant partnerships with hooq , pt . hutchison 3 indonesia and huawei technologies . if you want to drive that future at fortumo , we ' re also looking for a carrier relations manager to join our team : urltoken .
fortumo sports challenge 2018 is over . 30 of our people tried their hand ( and feet ) at roller skiing , rock climbing , billiards , track & field , beach tennis , step dance and sup polo . here we are celebrating after the final pub rally event last friday . until next year !
all three markets where fortumo has launched have extremely low credit card penetration : algeria at 6 % , ghana at 0 . 9 % and tanzania at 0 . 7 % . this means while people can access online content , most of them are unable to make payments for paid features of these services .
fortumo says it integrates with 300 carriers across more than 80 countries , along with over 81 , 000 developers . those include long - standing agreements to provide carrier billing services to angry birds maker rovio , pop cap games and badoo , and it also powers the in - app payments for windows 8 apps .
in addition to the two new carrier partners , fortumo says it integrates with 300 carriers across more than 80 countries , along with over 81 , 000 developers . those include long - standing agreements to provide carrier billing services to angry birds maker rovio , pop cap games and badoo , and it also powers the in - app payments for windows 8 apps . it’s an area that is still relatively nascent compared to other payments like cards in developing markets , but it is growing . all together , worldwide gross transaction volumes for mobile payments for digital goods is expected to more than double by 2015 to $ 268 billion , fortumo notes .
there are several of these partnerships , including arpuplus / t - pay , bango , boku , centilli / infobip , danal , dimoco , docomo digital , fortumo , mobile embrace , sla mobile and others . in the 12 - to - 18 months prior to 2016 , some examples of direct carrier billing for physical goods included :
üllar jaaksoo , ceo of now ! innovations added : “mobile invoicing is not only convenient method for payments but may also be essential in countries , where banking and particularly credit cards do not have high penetration rates . fortumo has a great vibe and energy , and we believe the partnership will bring many interesting and game - changing projects” .
up until now the company was self - funded with mobi solutions being the main shareholder . this isn’t a surprise , considering that fortumo turnover in 2011 was €8 . 5 million of which a €863 thousand was pure profit . this marked a 102 % growth from 2010 and we suspect the numbers to be a lot better for 2012 .
üllar jaaksoo , ceo of now ! innovations added : “mobile invoicing is not only a convenient method for payments but may also be essential in countries where banking and particularly credit cards do not have high penetration rates . fortumo has a great vibe and energy , and we believe the partnership will bring many interesting and game - changing projects . ”
the winner will receive €10 , 000 euro ; a special newcomer award of €5 , 000 euro will also be granted . both awards are provided by baff . past recipients have included companies like grabcad , zeroturnaround and fortumo . this year , facebook will award a special “creativity recognition award” specifically for innovation in the area of social media apps .
prior to this raise , fortumo was majority - owned by mobi solutions , a specialist in sms - based services ( carrier billing services usually use sms for the backchannel confirmation for payments , so makes sense for them to have developed something like this ) . in addition to greycroft and intel , mobi solutions will remain a now - smaller shareholder .
kotkas had some specific ideas for developing a new complex verification system , which he pitched to a few investors . in no time , he managed to persuade two major names in the local startup scene , intel ventures ' backed fortumo ' s co - founder rain rannu , and the same company ' s board member linnar viik , to back it .
the reason why companies like fortumo exist is that doing launching telcos on your own is not scalable . one integration with credit card processing companies gives access to all bank card owners , but integrating one telco gives access only to the subscriber of that telco . most countries have 3 - 4 telcos which means 3 - 4 integrations to achieve full market coverage .
refunds are an inevitable part of processing payments . you should try to keep them to a minimum by establishing a reasonable refund policy and trying to offer alternative benefits to users before proceeding with refunds . using fortumo’s turn - key products also helps reduce the amount of refunds as the checkout process has been optimized to make sure the user clearly understands what they are buying .
the jury comes from both sides of the atlantic , and will include entrepreneurs and innovators from cloudant , facebook and fortumo . the winner will be announced in january 2015 at a special ceremony with introductory remarks from u . s . ambassador jeffrey levine and keynote speaker dr . patrick h winston , a godfather of artificial intelligence and professor at the massachusetts institute of technology .
you can do this by implementing a feature to your platform through which you are able to manually deliver goods and services to your users , separate from the automated carrier billing processing solution . this is the quickest way to keep your paying users happy as you do not have to rely on fortumo or the mobile operator investigating the transaction or confirming the purchase from our back - end again .
“the ability to ensure that all our members are able to fully connect with online experience is important to us . working with fortumo , their experience will help us ensure that every member of our many communities – especially huge communities like online gaming – are able to seamlessly purchase and enjoy their games , in app upgrades and any other content they desire , ” said nazeem nasir , chief marketing officer at webe .
now ! innovations will start offering payments for mobile parking , ev charging , and other services , through fortumo ' s carrier billing solution , available in the number of european and asian countries and in the us . as a result of the partnership , interested municipalities , parking and ev charging network operators as well as now ! customers will be able to easily add mobile operator billing as an additional option for accepting payments from users .
now ! innovations will start offering payments for mobile parking , ev charging , and other services , through fortumo ' s direct carrier billing solution , available in the number of european and asian countries and in the us . as a result of the partnership , interested municipalities , parking and ev charging network operators as well as now ! customers will be able to easily add mobile operator billing as an additional option for accepting payments from users .
“africa’s digital ecosystem is quickly growing and we are seeing strong interest from international merchants who want to expand their activities there . while each day a large amount of new smartphone owners are coming online , collecting payments from these users has so far been a challenge . our expansion in africa gives locals better access to digital mobile services such as games , music , and video while helping merchants generate additional revenue from the region , ” said gerri kodres , chief business officer at fortumo .
“mobile operator billing has proven itself as the most convenient way to pay for parking . for example , in estonia - - where such solution has been in use for more than 10 years 90 % of parking payments are charged to mobile operator bill , ” says rain rannu , co - founder and ceo of fortumo . “we ' re excited to work together with now ! innovations to make mobile operator billing available in new territories , as well as for electric vehicle charging . ”
“mobile operator billing has proven itself as the most convenient way to pay for parking . for example , in estonia - where such solutions have been in use for more than 10 years - 90 % of parking payments are charged to the mobile operator bill , ” says rain rannu , co - founder and ceo of fortumo . “we ' re excited to work together with now ! innovations to make mobile operator billing available in new territories , as well as for electric vehicle charging . ”
carrier billing still is a good way for video streaming applications to get users to pay for their subscriptions . in an interview with medianama , fortumo chief business officer gerri kodres said that india grew to have the highest transactions for the company . although , the transaction size in india is smaller than average : between $ 0 . 2 and $ 0 . 3 ( around rs 12 . 5 to rs 19 ) . kodres added that that the trend in the value of transactions is slowly increasing , because more smartphones are in the market .
due to the high cost of refund fees , you should initially offer the consumer an alternative benefit instead of a refund . for example , if you have a music subscription service , you can give the user 30 days of free access . if you are developing an online game , offer the user virtual items inside the game . in case of carrier billing , you can use fortumo’s voucher distribution platform and create a batch of free service vouchers for potential refund cases . you can also consider benefits not related to your service , for example an itunes gift card .
maybe fortumo doesn’t offer recurring billing , or billing higher than rs 150 , which boxtv would need to charge for parity in its monthly billing . our take is that these are largely promotional offerings , to try and get users to pay for content in the short term , and use this pricing as a gateway to monthly subscriptions . the revenue share on offer clearly isn’t substantive enough to interest boxtv to expand it to monthly recurring payments , for which they would rather use credit card based recurring subscriptions , for which transaction fees are likely to be 5 % or less .
fortumo — a specialist in mobile carrier billing , which lets users to pay for apps and goods in apps without coughing up credit card numbers — is today raising its game a bit against competitors like bango ( partner to facebook , amazon and more ) , boku and paypal’s zong — the estonian - hatched startup has announced a new growth round — which techcrunch understands to be in the region of $ 10 million — led by intel capital and greycroft partners . at the same time , to push its business in emerging markets , it also announced two new carrier deals , with china mobile and vodafone .
the terms of the new investment were not disclosed publicly , but we understand from a source close to the matter that it is similar in size to the $ 10 . 2 million raised by bango a couple of weeks ago . meanwhile , the two carrier deals mean that fortumo is now working with two of the largest mobile operators in the developing world , with china mobile leading the market in its home country , and the vodafone agreement covering 13 countries : uk , germany , italy , spain , portugal , netherlands , ireland , hungary , romania , czech republic , greece , egypt and south africa . in other words , a mixture of both developed and developing markets .
note that multi screen media’s video on demand service sony liv launched paid subscriptions just last week , starting with the hindi movies category . the service launched with 400 - 500 movies , and would be available over the web and android & ios apps .
web exclusive content : in october , sony liv launched its second web exclusive show called shutter , after having launched its first web exclusive show called # lovebytes the previous month . earlier this month , the company also said it would broadcast pro wrestling league on 3 of its tv channels , as well as stream it on sony liv .
– in december last year , microsoft enabled carrier billing on windows store in india with idea cellular , allowing idea subscribers buy windows phone apps through this payment option .
– in october last year , carrier billing service boku acquired competitor mopay for an undisclosed amount .
– in march last year , gameloft started offering its old and existing games , as part of the subscription and as an inaugural offer , with idea via carrier billing .
policybazaar’s parent etechaces gets infusion of rs 190 . 5cr from info edge & macritchie
bhim saw 16 . 3m transactions in june 2018 accounting for only 6 . 6 % of upi payment
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the subscription charge is either deducted from the prepaid balance or added to the user’s monthly postpaid invoice .
the company says that the payment method is available to 584 million subscribers of airtel , vodafone and idea in india on both prepaid and postpaid plans .
hooq is a start - up joint venture established in january 2015 by singtel , sony pictures television and warner bros . the video streaming service also says that it has 15 , 000 hollywood and regional titles . hooq also signed a multi - year deal with sun tv and would carry sun tv’s library that includes a mix of films in tamil , telugu , malayalam and kannada . hooq also added over 1 , 000 shemaroo video titles on its platform in august 2015 .
netflix had said that it is looking at local payment methods such as prepaid cards and gift cards . currently , subscriptions for netflix can be paid only via an international debit card or credit card . paying for content has been a problem in india as it is unclear whether companies like netflix , movies and music on google play , itunes may be violating the reserve bank of india’s guidelines for card - not - present transactions in india ( there’s a counter argument that the company may not be in violation … yet ) .
– in december 2014 , microsoft enabled carrier billing on windows store in india with idea cellular , allowing idea subscribers buy windows phone apps through this payment option .
– in october 2014 , carrier billing service boku acquired competitor mopay for an undisclosed amount .
– in march 2014 , gameloft started offering its old and existing games , as part of the subscription and as an inaugural offer , with idea via carrier billing .
upi transactions jump 30 % to 246 . 4m in june 2018 ; rs 40 , 834 cr transacted
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since 1998 tartu city government has organised a competition to recognise the most successful entrepreneurs in tartu . the competition is for entrepreneurs that are located and mainly operating in the city of tartu . additionally , the competitor must not have any tax liabilities .
the best partner of the tartu vocational education centre : a . le coq ltd
while boxtv has been pitched as a premium service , targeting users with credit cards with its online content , the inclusion of telecom operator billing essentially offers a wider reach for boxtv .
so , at best , boxtv will make 45 % revenue share on these deals , excluding vat .
what’s is particularly noticeable here is the distinction between the payment options for the short term and longer term packs . the billing options mentioned above are only for short term packs of less than a month , and only for mobile operators . what’s more , these packs are not renewed automatically . for a month and above : boxtv charges rs 199 for a month , rs 499 for 3 months , rs 799 for six months and rs 1499 per year , and offers only credit card as an option .
so why is boxtv doing this ? boxtv says that their data suggests that “a lot of online content consumption happens on weekends and boxtv’s weekend pack makes it easy for people to watch premium content without paying for an entire month” , which is why the short term plans .
next step : boxtv might want to approach dth players for doing what ditto tv has done ( albeit with a group company dishtv ) , and offer boxtv subscriptions as a prize on timespoints .
boxtv competes with the likes of bigflix , spuul , hungama , and , of course , youtube .
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• upcoming animated series on netflix originals—disenchantment , cupcake & dino : general services , hilda and the hidden people , the epic tales of captain underpants . read to know more at urltoken for more !
the news of rovio partnering with idea to introduce carrier billing made headlines in the gaming industry and could trigger the long awaited monetisation vehicle , which has been stuck in limbo with google , apple and telecom operators for years now .
speaking exclusively to animationxpress . com , rovio entertainment , country director ( india and south asia ) , anurag sachedeva explained about the deal and how this could benefit the industry on the whole .
“we are something like the audience we appeal to and wanted to find a perfect partner for our carrier billing feature . it was purely a function of what kind of customer are we looking for and who is more interested in gaming as a platform . idea is one of the fastest data operators right now , so it was a good fit for us , although idea doesn’t have exclusivity for carrier billing for us . so , for the start it is idea for some time and we will be expanding to other operators soon . ”


guardian media group plc ( gmg ) is a british mass media company owning various media operations including the guardian and the observer .

the group is wholly owned by scott trust limited , which exists to secure the financial and editorial independence of the guardian in perpetuity .

guardian media group

what businesses does guardian media group own ? the core business of gmg is guardian news & media . the group also owns a number of investments .
david pemsel has been appointed chief executive of guardian media group . photograph : sarah lee / guardian
latest marketing and advertising news for guardian media group , including insights and opinions .
guardian media group , the publisher of the guardian , has sold its stake in trader media group to apax partners for around £600m to bankroll its loss - making newspapers and website .
guardian media group to cut 250 jobs and restructure its operations in hopes to break even . . .
guardian news and media launches branded content guardian labs service with 7 - figure unilever . . .
guardian media group plc ( gmg ) publishes its financial statements detailing the group’s financial performance and that of its subsidiary companies ( such as the core business guardian news & media limited ) , joint venture top right group and associates . the gmg group accounts are prepared in accordance with international financial reporting standards ( ifrs ) .
executive to leave guardian group after 24 years to lead airline . by mark sweney
despite turbulent trading conditions and advertising volatility across the media sector , guardian media group reported revenues of £214 . 5m , up 2 % on the previous year , as the guardian continued to strengthen its relationship with its readers and saw good growth from guardian us and guardian australia .
revenue including share of joint venture companies trader media group and top right group ( formerly emap ) £466 . 7m ( 2011 £466 . 1 million )
carolyn mccall , the chief executive of the guardian media group , is poised to leave the company to become chief executive of easyjet .
david pemsel was appointed ceo , guardian media group ( gmg ) in july 2015 with responsibility for leading gmg’s commercial and financial business strategy .
ebita , before exceptional items , including share of joint venture companies trader media group and top right group £48 . 4 million ( 2011 £49 . 6 million )
at guardian media group ( gmg ) , securing a sustainable future for quality journalism has been our number one priority during the last year .
© 2018 guardian news and media limited or its affiliated companies . all rights reserved .
© carnyx group ltd 2018 | the drum is a registered trademark and property of carnyx group limited . all rights reserved .
emap has confirmed it has sold its business - to - business magazine and events arm to guardian media group and private equity firm apax for around £1bn .
what are the values of the trust and company ? the trust has a strongly held set of values which guide the business conduct of guardian media group .
the scott trust was formed in 1936 , but the history of the trust and guardian media group began more than a century earlier with the launch of the manchester guardian on may 5 , 1821 .
pemsel , currently deputy chief executive of guardian news & media , the publisher of the guardian and observer newspapers , succeeds andrew miller .
the guardian is on track to achieve the aim of the plan , to break even at an ebitda level by 2018 / 19 , and for the guardian media group to become financially sustainable in perpetuity .
richard johnstone needs your help with “ the board of directors at guardian media group : katherine viner must resign as editor - in - chief at the guardian ” . join richard and 33 supporters today .
guardian news & media restructure sees david magliano promoted to managing director of marketing , . . .
guardian media group ( gmg ) is amongst the uk’s leading media organisations . its core business is guardian news & media ( gnm ) , publisher of theguardian . com , one of the largest english - speaking quality newspaper websites in the world . in the uk , gnm publishes the guardian newspaper six days a week and the world’s oldest sunday newspaper , the observer .
what is the relationship between guardian media group and the guardian ? gmg is the parent company of the guardian . however , editorially the guardian is completely independent from the commercial entity that owns it . the editor - in - chief is appointed by and reports directly to the scott trust , not the board of gmg .
guardian news and media will allow advertisers to tap into trending topics in real - time with . . .
“this set of results are a testament to the hard work of the management team and of everyone at guardian media group . there is much to do , but the strategy is on track .
anna is chief customer officer of guardian news & media ( gnm ) . she is responsible for the guardian’s membership , subscription and contributions programmes , partnerships with technology businesses including google and facebook , syndication and licensing , and other consumer revenues including the guardian’s live events . she also oversees the guardian brand and all guardian marketing .
guardian media group has completed the first year of a three - year transformation plan to increase revenues by building deeper relationships with readers , align its advertising business to market growth , and reduce costs .
other media organisations don’t go as far as kelner , but one senior figure , who sits on the board of a major company , says : “i think they [ the guardian ] are not immune to the possibility that the objectives of the guardian media group as a whole are influencing the attitudes and tone of their journalists . ”
described by management today as
one of the toughest operators to have risen through the guardian media group ' s ranks
mccall , a mother - of - three , started her career at the guardian in 1986 as a research planner , moving quickly into sales .
guardian media group said total revenues increased by 2 . 4 % to £214 . 5m in the year to 2 april , thanks to the popularity of its membership scheme , one - off contributions and growth in international operations .
the newspaper ' s proprietor , guardian media group , has told its 1 , 500 staff that some of their jobs will be lost as part of its plans for the second year of its three - year turnaround plan .
on 13 june , the guardian announced plans to move the guardian and observer print titles to tabloid format , from early 2018 .
– trader media group : one of europe ' s largest specialist media companies , and publisher of the auto trader website and magazine . trader media group is jointly owned by gmg and apax partners . – top right group ( formerly emap ) : a leading international business - to - business digital intelligence and events business , also jointly owned by gmg and apax partners . – gmg property services : the leading provider of software , technology and design solutions to the property industry . – an externally managed investment fund .
gmg has also built an endowment fund , which includes the proceeds from the 2014 disposal of its 50 . 1 % holding in trader media group . the sole purpose of the fund is to secure the editorial independence and financial security of the guardian in perpetuity . the business conduct of the group is guided by the scott trust values .
we are an independent charity which supports media under threat , promotes diversity in the media and empowers children and young people to engage with the news .
3 . 20 widen the scope of the rules to take account of cross - media ownership across all mediaperhaps looking at share of voice and revenues ( especially advertising ) across all media , to ensure that organisations like google or news corp cannot acquire too big a share of voice across all media .
9am ( bst ) 25 july 2017 , london : guardian media group ( gmg ) – publisher of the guardian and the observer newspapers and theguardian . com , one of the largest english - speaking quality newspaper websites in the world – today announced financial results for the 12 months to 2 april , 2017 .
group revenues surpass £300m for the first time in our history . fy 14 group revenues were £312 . 7m and adjusted ebitda was £85 . 3m , up from £271 . 4m and £69m respectively in fy13
prior to joining gnm , david worked in many senior roles within the media industry , including launching shine entertainment in 2000 , before becoming group marketing director of itv plc in 2005 .
the tesco writ made a reference to guardian media group ' s purchase of emap plc in partnership with apax and sought to make parallels with its property deals . ian griffiths and felicity lawrence set out below the details of the deal and the tax consequences
or in the day - to - day editorial control of news and content , nor do the board of guardian media group plc . the day - to - day editorial control of news content is the sole responsibility of the editor and his staff .
katharine viner is editor - in - chief of the guardian , a position she has held since june 2015 . she joined the guardian as a writer in 1997 . she was appointed deputy editor of the guardian in 2008 ; launched the award - winning guardian australia in 2013 ; and was also editor of guardian us , based in new york .
katharine viner joined the guardian as a writer in 1997 and has since undertaken numerous roles , including editor of weekend magazine , features editor , and saturday editor . she was appointed deputy editor of the guardian in 2008 ; launched the award - winning guardian australia in 2013 ; and was most recently editor - in - chief of guardian us . she became editor - in - chief of guardian news & media in june 2015 .
but the idea of a knuckleduster at the heart of the guardian is oddly appropriate . a growing number of other media companies are asking questions about how the paper and its parent company , guardian media group ( gmg ) , are using their editorial and corporate influence . these critics include not only the independent , which has become increasingly angry about its rival , but also senior figures at channel 4 and itv .
3 . 21 raise , however , the current thresholds for cross - media ownership to ensure that cross - media efficiencies can be harnessed on behalf of the consumer .
gmg and apax already have close working ties after the private equity firm paid £650m for a 49 % stake in trader media group , the gmg subsidiary that includes the classified advertising magazine auto trader .
zach is the chief digital officer of guardian news & media ( gnm ) . he is responsible for all aspects of the guardian’s digital products , enterprise systems and technology strategies , including the development and evolution of the guardian’s core products - from urltoken and the award - winning apps to its content management systems .
trader media reported pre - tax profits last year of £32m on revenues of £252m .
evelyn webster joined guardian news & media ( gnm ) in january 2017 as the interim chief executive officer ( ceo ) of guardian us . she was appointed as ceo of guardian us & australia in 2018 . in this role evelyn is responsible for leading the commercial and operations teams , working closely with useditor john mulholland .
joined the board in 2014 and is chair of the remuneration committee . jennifer is currently a non - executive director at mitie and council member for the royal college of art . prior to that she was executive vice president of people at arm , group people and culture director for six years at ubm plc and group human resources director for an international media and marketing services group emap plc . her earlier career was in management consultancy and banking .
it has , by any standards , been a remarkable year for gmg . the group ' s strategy is to use its portfolio of assets to support the guardian while we go through the tumultuous period that the media industry is experiencing . this gives us the huge advantage of being able to navigate our core business , guardian news & media ( gnm ) through these challenging times at a pace and within a timeframe that reflects the needs of the business .
the number of guardian’s paying members increased from 50 , 000 to more than 230 , 000 in the last financial year . photograph : sarah lee for the guardian
, which was established in 1936 to secure the ongoing independence of the guardian .
reader relationships : at the end of 2016 - 17 , guardian news & media ( gnm ) had more than 400 , 000 regular paying members and subscribers to our print and digital products . more people are paying for guardian journalism than ever before .
powerful media companies can be properly considered . currently , the framework focuses on
traditional media
, meaning that some types of organisation could fall outside its scope . the table below gives some examples of the consequences of the current regulatory framework for cross - media ownership and activity :
it is important not to exaggerate the anxiety about the guardian and gmg . as one senior media figure points out : “one should not get paranoid . in many respects the guardian does a good job . ” indeed , all of the executives interviewed for this article recognise it is right that they face media scrutiny . but given that one newspaper has such a dominant role , they think it only fair to ask : who guards the guardian ?
in a significant move towards securing gmg’s long - term future , the value of the group’s investments and cash holdings has risen to £1 . 03 billion . this was due to a 20 . 6 % increase in the value of the guardian’s long term endowment fund and the sale of gmg’s 22 . 4 % stake in ascential plc , the international business - to - business media and events group , for a gross consideration of £239m .
gmg’s relationship with apax has been controversial . the publisher was accused of hypocrisy on tax for using an offshore structure in the caymans to buy the magazine and events group emap , now rebranded top right group , in another joint venture with the private equity firm .
exists to create public value , not private gain . its unique ownership structure means that the wider guardian media group does not seek profit for the financial benefit of its owners or shareholders , but to sustain journalism that is free from commercial or political interference , and to uphold a set of values laid down by our former guardian editor , cp scott , and now enshrined as the scott trust values .
hamish nicklin is the chief revenue officer of guardian news and media . he is responsible for driving operational and strategic direction across the media , jobs and labs businesses . hamish also has responsibility for building long - term , sustainable business relationships directly with clients and agencies across the globe .
richard is the chief financial officer of guardian media group ( gmg ) . richard is responsible for the financial stewardship and efficient operational management of the business together with helping shape the strategic direction and improving the performance of the group . he is a member of the executive committee ( exco ) and the gmg board . richard manages the finance function , investment fund and newspaper publishing business as well as central functions including legal , risk , facilities , and company secretarial .
apax already owns incisive media , which publishes b2b titles including computing , legal week and insurance age .
gmg has continued to implement the three - year plan launched by david pemsel , ceo , and katharine viner , editor - in - chief of guardian news & media , in january 2016 .
im group and bluevenn create a coordinated national marketing solution for subaru dealerships nationally across the uk resulting in improved test drives and car purchases .
“david has been a key architect of gnm’s commercial success , digital strategy and international expansion , ” said neil berkett , chairman of guardian media group . “i am therefore delighted that he is now stepping up to the top job , unquestionably one of the most demanding and exciting roles in the media industry . i know that he will build on the strong strategic platform put in place by andrew miller , who has done an outstanding job as chief executive” .
guardian journalism goes from strength to strength . it ' s just our shape that ' s changing
audience / readership : more than 140 million monthly unique browsers consistently engage with guardian journalism online .
guardian’s editor - in - chief alan rusbridger reveals raft of senior management changes across . . .
the guardian media group ( gmg ) said it had reduced losses before tax to £200 , 000 in the year to 2 april from £173m in the same period a year earlier . total revenue hit £214m , up 2 . 4 per cent from the previous year . digital revenues rose by 15 per cent to £94 . 1m from £81 . 9m .
mail & guardian online owners originally a separate division of the mail & guardian . in 1997 a 65 % share was sold to internet service provider mweb , but then bought back in 2008 by trevor ncube ' s m & g ; media , the company that publishes the m & g ; newspaper .
joined the scott trust in 2016 . he is currently financial editor of the guardian . nils joined the guardian in 2003 , and was appointed to the scott trust board as journalist director in 2016 .
guardian media group , the parent company of the guardian newspaper , has used an offshore structure to complete its acquisition of emap ' s trade magazine and events interests , in partnership with the private equity firm apax partners . the deal , completed march 20 , 2008 , involved gmg incorporating a new company in the tax haven of the cayman islands and integrating it with an existing network of cayman companies set up at the same time by the private equity firm .
1 . 2 as news consumption is increasingly a cross - media activity , we have considered the impact of these regulations across the whole media sector , with a specific , separate focus on national and regional / local effects .
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the board fully supports the strategy and transformation programme for our core business , guardian news & media ( gnm ) , which chief executive officer andrew miller and his team are implementing with great skill and determination .
since 2016 , the guardian has added 230 , 000 new paying members , it said on tuesday .
the digital age puts customers in control , tesco ceo philip clarke says at guardian changing . . .
the mail & guardian online previously known as em & g ; and the daily mail & guardian . first cousin , once removed , to the mail & guardian . a pan - african daily online newspaper , published all day , all week , aimed at serious and not - so - serious readers .
“despite the challenging market conditions faced by all news organisations around the world , our three - year strategy is well on track to achieve its financial goals and to secure the future of the guardian , ” the group’s chief executive , david pemsel , said .
aligning advertising business with growth : group continues to refine and improve its advertising proposition , taking account of rapid changes in the print and digital advertising markets .
last year the group introduced a three - year plan to cut costs by 20 per cent , in its bid to break even by 2018 / 19 .
rank group achieve a centralized view of all its customers and prospects , to identify cross sell opportunities and optimize the marketing processes in each of its brands .
the company and the group are committed to high standards of corporate governance and the board is accountable to the company ' s shareholders for good corporate governance .
jonathan joined the board on 15 may 2013 and became chairman of the audit committee in november 2013 . he is also group finance director of close brothers group plc , joining in february 2008 and previously held the same position at the london stock exchange group plc since 1999 . jonathan has also been a non - executive director of emap plc and chairman of ftse international . the early part of his career was at price waterhouse where he qualified as a chartered accountant .
david is a non - executive director of the british fashion council , a voting member of bafta and a council member of the marketing group of great britain .
gmg’s core business is urltoken and the guardian and observer newspapers . investments are undertaken to support and develop journalism
in addition he is chairman of gmg ventures , a $ 50m fund making early stage investments in innovative businesses in the media technology sector . he is also a member of the scott trust , the ultimate owner of the guardian .
cath keers joined the board on 1 july 2017 . ms keers started her retail career with thorn emi and , after marketing and business development roles at sky tv , avon and next , joined the bt group in 1996 , holding a number of commercial roles , including marketing director o2 , chairman of tesco mobile and customer director o2 . ms keers is a non - executive director of the royal mail group , talktalk telecom group plc and liverpool victoria friendly society limited ( lv = ) and is the chairman of ustwo ; digital product and games studio . ms keers was a non - executive director of home retail group limited from september 2011 to september 2016 .
joined the scott trust in january 2013 . she is professor of professional practice at the columbia university journalism school and director of the tow center for digital journalism at columbia’s graduate school of journalism . she was previously director of digital content for guardian news & media , editor - in - chief of guardian unlimited and business editor for the observer .
the guardian has campaigned against tax avoidance but gmg paid no stamp duty on the emap acquisition . it also took advantage of hmrc’s substantial shareholding exemption to avoid corporation tax on the profits from the 2008 trader media stake sale to apax .
mail & guardian owners originally owned by hundreds of small shareholders who bought small blocks of shares at r1 000 each , as part of a surge of ' reader power ' to respond to the death of the rand daily mail . in the early 1990s , the guardian newspaper group in london became the largest shareholder when it came to the rescue of the then - ailing company . in 2002 , the guardian reduced its shareholding to 10 % and sold the majority share at 87 , 5 % to zimbabwean media owner and entrepreneur trevor ncube . having relocated to south africa , ncube also took over as ceo of the company .
mccall was appointed chief executive of gmg and chair of guardian news and media in august 2006 . she was first appointed to the gmg board in 2000 , having served on the gnm board since 1995 , becoming its chief executive in 2000 .
2 . 2 the
plurality of media
provision is particularly important in sustaining a diverse , high - quality news ecology .
before joining gmg , richard was chief financial officer and acting chief executive officer of ubm emea , a division of ubm plc , a uk - listed ftse 250 media company . richard joined ubm in 2004 and was head of group development ( from 2004 to 2008 ) responsible for all the group’s mergers and acquisitions , cfo and senior vice president , events & publications of ubm aviation ( 2008 - 11 ) and then cfo of ubm emea ( formerly ubm live ) from 2011 .
during her executive career she oversaw the move of the guardian from a broadsheet format to the berliner . she was active in the sale of a stake in trader media group to apax for £675m and acquired emap ' s business - to - business titles alongside apax for £1bn . she was awarded the 2008 veuve clicquot business woman award , and is chair of opportunity now , which promotes change for women in the workplace .
james is the chief strategy officer at guardian news & media , responsible for strategy implementation and transformation . in his role james has overall responsibility for gnm’s 3 year change programme , working with the functional areas to ensure the business delivers on its priorities .
gmg is pleased to be offered the opportunity to comment on the current uk media ownership rules and the implications for provision of news .
despite operating at a loss , the group managed to increase its endowment fund to over £1bn , helped by selling off its stake in publishing company ascential , formerly known as emap .
emap communications is a strong business with a range of highly successful brands . the acquisition meets our requirements in terms of diversifying gmg ' s media interests , in line with our commitment to guarantee the long - term financial security of the guardian .
the guardian foundation is a partner of the european press prize which annually salutes and encourages the highest achievements in european journalism .
all material © mail & guardian online . material may not be published or reproduced in any form without prior written permission .
3 . 11 with news consumption increasingly becoming a cross - media activity , concerns about plurality of ownershipand , therefore , diversity of voiceshould cover all media . the current framework does not take sufficient account of the concentration of voice from any one organisation across all types of outlet .
it is true that gmg faces painful decisions of its own about staff numbers and budgets . the problem is unusual because the scott trust has a mandate to safeguard the guardian “in perpetuity” . this means there is a tension at the heart of gmg . guardian news and media ( gnm ) , publisher of the guardian and the observer , lost £26 . 4m last year but has so far been immune to compulsory redundancies . other parts of gmg , some of which are profitable , are having to axe staff .
it will also support the company’s international ambitions , which have already meant heavy investments in expansion in the united states and australia . andrew miller , chief executive of gmg , has also said he would like to enter the indian media market , as part of the left - leaning group’s quest to become “the world’s leading liberal voice” .
caspar llewellyn smith is the editor of the guardian’s digital platforms - principally the website , urltoken – and is also head of culture , another editorial role that involves responsibility for the guardian and the observer’s coverage of books , film , music and more .
apax ' s sole financial adviser was jp morgan while gmg was advised on its exit from trader media by bank of america merrill lynch and freshfields bruckhaus deringer . it is ultimately owned by the scott trust , which was first set up in 1936 safeguard the guardian .
blair crump was appointed to the board on 1 january 2018 having joined sage in august 2016 in the newly - created position of president , leading on sales and customer service across the group .
guardian ' s new membership scheme ' ahead of target ' - but no hard figures yet , says head of . . .
joined the board in february 2018 . yasmin is a non - executive director on the boards of the royal bank of scotland ring - fenced bank entities , nation media group ( east africa ) and an independent panel member of the cabinet office major projects review group . during her executive career , yasmin held chief information officer roles at bupa and the financial times , where she became the chief operating officer . she previously had a career spanning nearly 20 years at abbey national plc , latterly serving as an executive director on the board .
2 . 3 given the cross - media ownership rules inand derived fromthe communications act , we are concerned that
public interest
questions regarding plurality might be thought only to arise in merger situations involving tv , radio and newspaper assets . with consumption of news becoming an increasingly cross - media activity ,
public interest
considerations should apply explicitly to all media , including , for example , the internet , which may not currently be covered .
most media organisations are notoriously oversensitive about press criticism , of course . the woes facing these firms have been well documented beyond the guardian . and mediaguardian is bound to cause upset sometimes . in the past , the daily telegraph and daily mail have registered their anger . but it is also understandable that media companies are sensitive in a recession , which is happening just as business models are collapsing in the rush to the internet .
an attorney - at - law , frances bain - cumberbatch is the group corporate secretary and head of the legal department of the ansa mcal group . prior to joining the group , frances worked at j . d . sellier & co . as an advocate attorney - at - law . she gained invaluable practical knowledge and experience in several areas of law including intellectual property , corporate / commercial and industrial relations . she holds a ba double major in french and spanish from uwi , st . augustine , a llb from university of london and a legal education certificate from the sir hugh wooding law school .
our clients are a diverse bunch across retail , leisure & travel , automotive , publishing & news media , finance , charities and more . . .
joined the scott trust in 2015 . she is an independent journalism , media and technology advisor with over 20 years experience across the sector . previously she has held multiple high - profile media roles including head of news at twitter , general manager of urltoken and president and ceo of national public radio .
pemsel will work closely with katharine viner , who was appointed as the new editor - in - chief of the guardian in march .
one of the scott trust’s most crucial functions is to appoint the editor of the guardian , as well as that of the observer .
we are delighted to have secured the board ' s recommendation for our joint offer with apax partners ,
said carolyn mccall , the chief executive of gmg , which publishes the guardian , observer and guardian unlimited network of websites , including mediaguardian . co . uk .
paul johnson is deputy editor of guardian news and media , and head of news , business and sport . as irish correspondent for the guardian he won awards for his reporting when the violence was at its height , before becoming news editor . he was a member of the teams which twice won the british press awards investigation of the year and has also received the front page of the year award at the british press awards .
he joined the group in 2007 as a project engineer at alstons building enterprises ltd ( abel ) , and last serves in the position of general manager of abel building solutions prior to his move to standard .
4 . 6 for example , in spain , the competition authority ( servicio de defensa de la competencia ) has expressed its frustration with having to investigate three complex , inter - related media competition issueshistorical dominance of the football rights market , cross - selling and rights acquisition collaboration without the necessary media expertise . [
the publisher of the guardian and observer has rarely , if ever , seen a year like 2011 / 12 . the company embarked on a radical new strategy , its journalism reached record audiences and the revelations about phone hacking caused global shockwaves and had huge implications for british media , politics and policing .
he is more bullish about social media . “the thing that has changed fastest for us in the past three months” , he told me , “is facebook . it has made a vast difference . ” as part of its open policy , the guardian got into bed with facebook to try so - called frictionless sharing : if a reader who is signed into facebook reads something on the guardian site , the fact that they did so shows up in their facebook newsfeed , with a link . this irritates some users , but gives the guardian more young readers and a share of the revenue from any ads . “in the last week facebook has overtaken google for referrals . we’ve had 6m downloads of the facebook app , and it has rocket - charged traffic to guardian . co . uk . an audience of 18 - to - 25 - year - olds who would never have read the guardian in the past , are falling on guardian content . facebook are amazed by it , we’re suddenly on the facebook radar in a big way .
juan señor is a leading expert on newspapers , a spanish television reporter turned visiting fellow in news media at oxford university and partner at innovation media consulting , a firm which advises struggling papers . the remedies he prescribes—more explanation , stronger graphics , bolder features , full integration between print and web teams—look much like the medicine the guardian has taken of its own accord . but when he saw the three little pigs ad , he was unimpressed . “open journalism ? ” he wrote in a tweet . “how about profitable journalism first . the guardian lost £33m last year and counting . muddled rhetoric , poor model to emulate . ”
mr . sabga holds a b . eng in civil engineering from the university of the west indies , and an executive mba from the arthur lok jack graduate school of business . he currently holds several directorships within the group .
the guardian foundation has teamed up with the learn2think foundation and the week junior to launch the first ever journalism competition for children aged 8 - 11 .
the publication belongs to m & g ; media limited , which is majority owned by the international non - profit media development investment fund , together with ceo hoosain karjieker as the local empowerment partner . a 10 % share is held by the m & g ; staff share trust , and the remaining stakes are shared by minority shareholders .
aneal maharaj was appointed as the group finance director in february 2008 . he is a fellow of the chartered association of certified accountants ( fcca ) and has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector and business advisory . prior to joining the group , aneal was the vice president , finance at bhp billiton and has held a variety of senior finance and planning positions with bp , amoco and deloitte & touche , in trinidad , the uk and usa .
brendan joined gmg in april 2017 and is responsible for media relations , internal communications and public policy for the group . between 2010 and 2017 , brendan held a series of senior communications roles at the ftse 100 education company pearson . earlier in his career , he held roles as deputy press secretary at the british embassy in washington dc , senior press officer at downing street , and in other government departments .
gmg paid £622 , 000 in charitable donations and gifts in kind to the guardian foundation , an increase of more than 10 % over the previous year .
the source said : “the situation was not sustainable as a business could not have this lingering over it and the guardian needed the cash to survive . ”
mail & guardian focus political analysis , investigative reporting , southern african news , comprehensive coverage of local arts , music and popular culture , and more . . .
the sale howver means gmg will no longer enjoy annual dividends from trader media . nothing was paid last year amid restructuring , but in 2012 the publisher received a £50m ordinary dividend .
the combined value of our cash balance and investment fund increased from £197 . 4 million to £225 . 8 million , reflecting dividends and preference share redemptions from trader media group ( tmg ) , partially offset by cash outflow to fund gnm ' s operating losses . all our major joint venture and wholly owned portfolio companies grew operating profit before exceptional items and amortisation of intangibles and our investment fund proved resilient in a fluctuating market .
· to contact the mediaguardian newsdesk email editor @ urltoken or phone 020 7239 9857 . for all other inquiries please call the main guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332 .
the question hanging in the air is how long the print guardian can last . “it depends how quickly alan reacts , ” juan señor says . “i suspect the guardian will be a weekend paper soon . online they will exist as they do now , hopefully charging , and they will focus their commercial energy on the weekend . ”
david joined guardian news & media ( gnm ) in 2011 and was appointed chief commercial officer in 2012 . a year later he took on increased accountability for the gnm business in the newly - created role of deputy chief executive , with responsibility for leading commercial operations in the uk , the us and australia , and integrating them as one global organisation .
joined the board in november 2009 and was appointed as chair in september 2013 . neil is also a non - executive director of the sage group plc and until recently a member of the board of trustees of the nspcc . previously , neil was chief executive officer of virgin media . he joined ntl , virgin media’s predecessor , as chief operating officer in september 2005 and has also served on the boards virgin unite and bank of queensland as a non executive director . he has also held senior positions at lloyds tsb plc ( uk ) , prudential assurance company ltd uk , st george bank , eastwest airlines australia and icl australia .
it is to be expected that as we invest in the future of the guardian , we will see some increase in gnm ' s losses . meanwhile , difficult economic and market conditions notwithstanding , our portfolio of investments continued to fulfil its intended purpose of providing financial support and long - term security for the guardian and its journalism .
prior to ubm , richard worked in investment banking at lehman brothers and flemings and at prebon group in a senior business development role . between 2007 and 2008 , richard was a non - executive director of itn . he is a graduate of oxford university .
the feeling persists that the guardian may be heading full steam towards an iceberg . at the open weekend , i spoke to one of the paper’s senior staff , and said that i was writing about the guardian and whether it could survive . “if you find the answer , ” he said with a rueful smile , “let us know . ”
meanwhile , the guardian has to find ways of boosting its income . at the end of 2010 it launched guardian masterclasses , offering courses ranging from songwriting with one of adele’s co - writers ( two days , £500 ) to photographing london at dawn ( six weeks , £750 ) to “how to finish a work of fiction” with the author gillian slovo ( nine months , £7 , 000 ) . seven thousand ! the guardian , never a fan of the private schools , seems to have quietly joined their ranks .
the cash from the sale will help fund the guardian and the observer newspapers , and the urltoken website , which between them made an underlying loss of £31m last year .
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2 . 4 this could help to ensure that concentration of voice ( across all media ) is not a threat to plurality . we expand on this argument in our answer to the next question .
the constant bashing of jeremy corbyn has to stop , as do puff - pieces for tory ministers like the ' interview ' with jeremy hunt on monday 15th february . the rest of the media is more than right - wing enough without the guardian joining in . it ' s all gone downhill and way over to the right since katherine viner took over at the top .
the guardian foundation offers a number of bursaries each year for aspiring journalists to study for a postgraduate qualification in newspaper , web or broadcast journalism . meet this years’ bursary students .
in january last year , pemsel and the guardian and observer editor - in - chief , katharine viner , launched a strategy to cut costs by 20 % over three years .
mail & guardian online focus local , international and african hard news , sport and business ; publishing analytical , in - depth reports from its print edition , and more . . .
joined the scott trust in 2015 . he is currently head of commercial at adi . tv . previously , he was content director at the football league and the commercial director of digital at local world media .
donald joined the board in july 2012 and became chairman on 1 september 2012 . he is also chairman of the london stock exchange and the medical research council and was , until 1 september 2015 , chairman of the royal mail plc , and until 19 november 2013 , chairman of smiths group plc . donald had a 20 - year career with barclays group , during which time he was chairman and chief executive of bzw investment management and acting chief executive of bzw followed by fifteen years with the axa group including holding the posts of chairman and chief executive of axa investment managers and chairman of axa framlington . he has also recently chaired the london metal exchange , amersham plc , taylor nelson sofres plc and the ifs school of finance and is a past chairman of everychild . he has also served as senior independent director of allied domecq plc and scottish power plc .
james joined gnm in 2014 from bain & company , where he led teams focused on strategic and operational questions across media , private equity and other industries . he holds a ba in history from the university of bristol .
the weekly mail was started in mid - 1985 by a group of journalists who had been recently retrenched from the rand daily mail and the sunday express , which had both closed down . the paper was run on a shoestring , but made possible by the revolution in “desktop publishing” of the 1980s .
steve joined sage in january 2014 , having previously been operating partner and co - head of the portfolio support group at the private equity firm apax partners , which he joined in 2009 . prior to this he built over 10 years’ experience leading the finance function for three listed uk companies culminating as cfo for ftse 100 company invensys plc , the global technology - related business , from 2006 to 2009 . between 2004 and 2006 steve was group finance director for spectris plc , the ftse 250 precision instrumentation and controls company and from 1997 to 2003 he was with marconi plc , acting as cfo from 2001 .
during the year , gmg reduced its costs by £19 million to £259 . 2m , and reduced headcount by approximately 300 fte roles . these moves , painful though necessary , enabled the group to reduce losses at the ebitda level by 35 % to £44 . 7m before £9 . 6m of exceptional costs .
he is executive chairman of ansa mcal limited and chairman of ansa merchant bank limited . on friday 23rd october , 2015 the executive chairman of the ansa mcal group of companies – a . norman sabga was the recipient of a doctor of laws degree , honoris causa from the university of the west indies .
david b . sabga is deputy chairman of ansa mcal limited . he is also a member of the executive committee . he holds a ba ( economics ) from windsor university , canada . david previously held chairmanships at standard equipment , crown industries limited and farmhouse industries prior to joining the group in 1988 .
joined the board in september 2012 . nigel is currently the chief strategy and innovation officer for dentsu aegis network . prior to this he was the chief executive officer of aegis media americas and emea . he was the founding ceo of isobar , the digital division of aegis media . he is also a founding member of the facebook client council and twitter influence council . nigel also sits on the steering committee of the world economic forum’s future of work initiative .
mail & guardian readers niche market , interested in a critical approach to politics , arts and current affairs . large numbers of readers among professionals , academics , diplomats , lobbyists , non - governmental groups .
history of the mail & guardian founded 1985 by a group of retrenched journalists from the deceased rand daily mail . built up a reputation for nose - thumbing attitude to the establishment and for uncovering inkathagate scandal . favourite prison reading of nelson mandela ; banned for a while by pw botha . in recent years , continues to be a thorn in the side of gravy - train politicians with reports on oilgate , the police chief and more . in 2005 , the m & g ; newspaper turned 20 . find out more
andy mahadeo is a mechanical engineer by profession and a member of both the association of professional engineers and the board of engineering of trinidad and tobago . he started his professional career in the energy sector working for both local and international oil service companies before joining the ansa mcal group in 1994 . during his time with ansa mcal , andy successfully progressed through the ranks of maintenance engineer to operations manager and then on to managing director of ansa mcal chemicals ltd . throughout his career , he has been able to consistently demonstrate the creativity , energy , passion and focus on people basics that are the hallmarks of the group’s core values .
early rumours had suggested that apax would look to merge emap ' s business - to - business arm with trade magazine publisher incisive media , which it acquired last year , leaving gmg with selected titles such as broadcast and screen international .
a source close to the deal said gmg had negotiated hard to extract the highest possible price from apax . the private equity fund acquired 49 . 9pc of trader media from gmg in 2007 at a total value of £1 . 35bn .
in this context , the guardian’s reporting of others’ difficulties has jarred with some readers . a recent media supplement cover story about the problems at the indie , by a former staffer , provoked strong reaction . “it strikes me that the guardian is currently compromising its integrity on an almost daily basis to discredit a commercial competitor , ” wrote one reader – a posting which , it should be noted , mediaguardian was happy to publish . another reader , an anonymous indie journalist , complained : “i look around and see a lot of talented , liberal journalists and see them being knocked by a load of other talented , liberal journalists and can’t quite bury the hypocrisy . ”
anna joined gnm in december 2016 as vp for platforms and partnerships , managing global relationships with digital technology partners including google and facebook , and pioneering the guardian’s commercial video strategy in partnership with editorial and digital teams .
joined the board in january 2016 . after having co - founded a publishing company in 1982 , baroness gail rebuck dbe went on to become the ceo of random house for 22 years from 1991 to 2013 . she currently , on the penguin random house uk global board of representatives and also the group management committee of bertelsmann .
3 . 9 we also note that ofcom has , in our view rightly , begun to give consideration to promoting public purposes in the arena of digital interactive participative media . however , we are not wholly convinced by the argument that public purposes are