Sunday, February 11, 2007, 3:00 pm – 4:15 pm
Asia is at the forefront of wireless telecom industry. Not only have wireless service providers in Asia enjoyed rapidly increasing wireless network subscription, but the variety and usage of value-added services/contents is phenomenal. What is the mobile phone’s role in the future: fashion statement, replacement of the PC, a social networking tool, all of the above? Are there any limits to what the mobile phone will do for people in their daily lives? What are the next killer applications after SMS (especially with arrival of 3G): music, video, web-browsing, instant messaging, location-based search, GPS, e-commerce? How will wireless infrastructure providers, operators, device manufacturers and content providers collaborate and compete to make 3G a success? All parts of the value chain are indispensable but which one will lead innovation, control standards and extract most of the value created? This panel will bring leaders in the field together to address these challenging questions.
Andrei is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy group at Harvard Business School, Principal at Market Platform Dynamics, a business strategy consulting firm and research fellow at the Research Institute of the Economy Trade and Industry (Tokyo, Japan). He is the co-author of “Invisible Engines: How Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries” (MIT Press, 2006). Andrei's research focuses on multi-sided markets, which feature platforms serving two or more distinct groups of customers, who value each other's participation. He is studying the business strategies used by such platforms and the structure of the industries in which they operate: payment systems, advertising supported media, personal computers, videogames, mobile devices, shopping malls, etc. In addition, he is also involved in competition and industrial policy research and advisory projects, in Japan, China and in the United States. Andrei graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et Adminstration Economique in France with an MS in economics and statistics, before obtaining a PhD in economics from Princeton University in 2004. Prior to joining HBS, he spent 18 months in Tokyo with RIETI, an economic policy think tank affiliated with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. His full biography is available here (external website).
Carl is Senior Managing Executive Officer of CA MOBILE, LTD, the leading Japanese mobile marketing venture company and Senior Advisor of Market Platform Dynamics, Inc, Counselor of Acrodea, Inc, the leading Japanese mobile software company, and also the visiting professor of the Graduate School of University of Okinawa. Widely known as the mastermind behind DoCoMo’s i-mode FeliCa service or Mobile Wallet service, from 1999-2006 he led DoCoMo’s i-mode Alliances of the Multimedia Service Department and was Managing Director of DoCoMo.com, Inc., a corporate venture capital and consulting firm on mobile content. He contributed to a business and capital alliance with Rakuten, Inc., a leading Japanese e-commerce company, and a business alliance with Tower Records Japan Inc. Carl was a member of the Board Directors at Rakuten Auction, Inc. and Tower Records Inc. Prior to joining DoCoMo, Carl worked for the Investment Bank Division of the Industrial Bank of Japan, Ltd (IBJ), currently Mizuho Corporate Bank. Carl was born in the United States and received his B.A. from the University of Tokyo.
Bumshik Hong is Vice President of Innovation and New Business Development at SK Telecom. He is responsible for overseeing corporate wide growth initiatives ranging from specific business model developments to transformation of business development process. Prior to joining SK Telecom, he was a partner at Monitor Group, a global strategy consultancy, serving clients in telecommunications and high-tech industries. His particular area of interest was how to overcome growth challenges faced by telecommunications companies in convergence era. Bumshik received his B.S from USC and a joint MBA/MIA degree from Columbia University.
Masaaki Maeda is the Senior Vice President of the Service and Technology Division at NTT DoCoMo USA’s New York headquarters and is responsible for developing new Mobile Multimedia Services and forming alliances with American companies. In 2004, Mr. Maeda launched DoCoMo USA’s first service in North America, called “namikiteru,” which is a Public Wireless LAN Access service for Japanese-speaking residents of the USA. Mr. Maeda began his career in 1983 at NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation). In 1994, Mr. Maeda moved to NTT DoCoMo Inc., the mobile arm of NTT and has since held a variety of managerial positions in various divisions. He joined the New York Office of NTT DoCoMo USA in 2002. Mr. Maeda holds both a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Master of Electrical Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In addition, he completed a MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Management in 2002.
Ravi Vijayaraghavan is a Partner in the North American practice of Bain & Company, based in Boston. Prior to relocating to Boston in January 2007, Ravi was a Partner in the Asian practice of Bain and was the head of Bain’s Asian technology practice based out of Singapore. Ravi has been with Bain for 12 years and has accumulated experience across a wide range of industry segments and geographies. Recent assignments include pan-Asian growth strategy assignment for a world-leading computer systems company, strategy and operations improvement for a major telecommunications equipment vendor, and a ‘full potential’ program for one of the regional largest telecom operators. During his career at Bain he has worked across the United States and Asia, leading teams in China, Australia, India, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.