O2 announces ‘50 To Watch In Mobile’ for 2007

O2 UK, in conjunction with Real Business magazine, announces for the second year running, the independent ‘Real Business / O2 50 to Watch in Mobile 2007’ listing, recognising the most advanced and innovative mobile companies in the UK. The independent list demonstrates how UK companies are tapping into users’ growing demand for services that allow them to use their mobiles as they want, offering advanced mobile services, such as location-based services, mobile blogging or video content. Mark Stansfeld, Sales Director at O2, comments: “The use of mobile technology is rapidly evolving thanks to highly innovative and talented companies such as the 50 listed. The industry will continue to see year-on-year growth with an expected 400 million mobile subscribers in 2007 and the UK mobile-data market alone is estimated to be worth £1billion by 2009*. As customers become more sophisticated in their adoption of mobile services, the demands for newer services and better user experiences will only increase.” The ‘Real Business / O2 50 to Watch in Mobile’ were selected by a panel on criteria which included financial performance, management track record, level of innovation and market potential of each business. The judges also considered creative flair and talent to develop new business models to support the innovative products or services. Charles Orton-Jones, Deputy Editor of Real Business adds: “We are delighted to have compiled this list for the second year. It includes the most promising UK companies offering highly innovative and advanced mobile applications. This year, we are celebrating companies such as Yospace (mobile blogging), Arieso (enabling networks to remove signal blackspots) and Volantis (offering mobile television), to name but a few.” Several companies have made it into the ‘Real Business / O2 50 to Watch in Mobile’ for the second year running including Trackaphone, Sponge, TynTec and HSL. Companies like Bango and mBlox have gained a stronghold in the industry becoming established players. Christina Domecq, CEO of SpinVox, which featured in last year’s list, said: “It was a great achievement to be recognised by the industry as one of the 50 most exciting companies to watch for 2006, especially in a sector such as mobile, which continues to thrive in the UK. Winning this award has helped us raise our profile with carriers and operators globally and solidify our position within the business community.” The ‘Real Business / O2 50 to Watch in Mobile 2007’ were selected from a list of over 200 companies by an independent panel of experts composed of: Ken Blakeslee, Chairman, WebMobility Ventures; Christina Domecq, Founder, SpinVox; Mike Short, Chairman, Mobile Data Association; and Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst, Ovum. *Gartner