Europe France : MIPCOM’s Mobile TV day kicks off on 11 October 2006 with an exclusive keynote address given by Sanjiv Ahuja, CEO of Europe’s biggest integrated operator Orange and concludes with MIPCOM’s 2nd annual Mobile TV Screenings & Awards.

CEO of France Telecom’s subsidiary Orange, Sanjiv Ahuja ( inset ) will share his vision of the tremendous potential for mobile entertainment and explore the opportunities offered by mobile broadband in the always-on, anytime, any-place era. Ahuja will also outline the most recent initiatives taken by Orange through service and network convergence to provide a pocket-sized entertainment centre.

“Orange is evolving into a one-stop-shop for our customers’ communication and entertainment needs. Television and TV content is central to our strategy,” says Sanjiv Ahuja. “I am delighted to have the opportunity of discussing the possibilities of converging technologies with MIPCOM delegates. Everything we thought we knew about this industry is changing. With new ways to create, consume and pay for content, only players with open eyes and open minds can win.”

Sanjiv joined Orange in April 2003 as chief operation officer, and was appointed CEO in March 2004. Prior to Orange, Sanjiv Ahuja was CEO of California-based technology company, Comstellar Technologies and was President of Telcordia Technologies (formerly Bellcore). Previously, he spent fifteen years at IBM in various executive roles.

An integral part of MIPCOM 2006's mobile focus are the Mobile TV Screenings & Awards. Cutting-edge made-for-mobile content from around the globe will be showcased during the Screenings and the prizes will be awarded in the evening of the same day. Last year's programme attracted 220 entries, from 110 companies and 28 countries. For the second consecutive year the contest will recognise and reward innovation and creativity in made-for-mobile formats.

Reed MIDEM's Director of Television Paul Johnson comments, "Our markets continue to attract the best players in the mobile entertainment industry from all over the world. Our commitment is to help the creative industry move forward on this new medium for entertainment content. Last year's awards already generated great business opportunities for the companies who entered the competition. We expect a growing and thriving mobile content market, and therefore even more entries this year. And naturally, the Ahuja keynote reflects the importance the mobile industry places on content within their future strategy."

The award categories continue to emphasize made for mobile film, TV and animation content and also recognize the growing importance of user generated content. The award categories are: Best Original Made-for-Mobile Film or Video Content, Best Repurposed Content from existing Film or TV Property, Best Made-for-Mobile TV Channel, Best Format for Interactive Mobile TV and Best Mobile Format for User-Generated Content. In addition to these five categories there will also be The Jury's Grand Prize for Innovation, given to the most innovative company.

The deadline for entries for the Mobile Awards is 4 September 2006. A pre-screening jury will nominate a selection of projects to be invited to Cannes for the Grand Jury judging on 9 October.
In addition to Sanjiv Ahuja’s keynote and the Mobile Awards programme, this year's conference programme entitled Reshaping Media, will feature 30 sessions with over 100 speakers in addition to four other prestigious keynotes, from Anne Sweeney Co-Chair, Disney Media Networks and President, Disney-ABC Television Group, Harry Sloan Chairman & CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., Beth Comstock President, Digital Media and Market Development, NBC Universal and George Bodenheimer President, ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports; Co-Chairman.
Check www.mipcom.com/conferences for latest updates on the programme and confirmed speakers.

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