Mr Colin Miles: What doesn't change is the need for brands to connect to consumers and build a lasting relationship that is rewarding for both parties, and we help make that creative engagement happen and viable.

i-POP Networks is riding the wave of mobile growth throughout the region by providing a host of related services including its flagship billing on behalf (BoB) services, which leverages a person’s subscription to mobile operators to charge for content and services consumed.

“One challenge during the dotcom era was successful collection of payment for goods sold,” said Mr Colin Miles, Executive Vice President and Co-founder, i-POP. “In the mobile space, Premium SMS was already widely accepted and so offered a more specific way to get paid for services in real time through mobile operator gateways and agreements.”

The result of i-POP’s initiative is a platform that now allows billing through mobile devices connected to more than 55 mobile network operators in 19 countries, and about 750 million subscribers.

According to Mr Miles, such a platform is particularly relevant in Asia where there is a high growth of digital content distribution over mobile networks, but relatively few credit facilities.

“The lack of credit cards in emerging markets across Asia means that this business model remains a critical plank in the economic development of the regional digital economy,” he said. “This way of doing business is actually growing very rapidly with the rise of web-based social games requiring payment for virtual goods; these are now being completed more often through mobile PIN codes than charging via credit cards.”

i-POP’s success as a neutral billing service provider sees it generating as many as three million premium billing transactions a day, and it lists as its customers mobile content download companies and industry giants such as Dada Mobile, Venista, PlayPhone and EA Mobile.

Beyond billing, i-POP also operates in other areas of the digital media ecosystem to provide services according to its customer’s needs. “Also core to the company is mobile messaging solutions, mobile publishing and mobile marketing services,” said Mr Miles. “The next most important part is media support, offering mobile integration to broadcasters and supporting mass participation TV shows.”

He cites previous programmes like Pop Idol in Singapore and Vietnam, plus more recently Indonesia’s Got Talent, and servicing well known cable sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports.

In the future, the company also expects to add more services such as customised branded content delivery through handset applications, augmented reality campaigns and advanced billing logic for virtual goods. “As a company, we have to swiftly adapt to the different technical requirements that spring up regularly in mobile media,” said Mr Miles. “What doesn't change is the need for brands to connect to consumers and build a lasting relationship that is rewarding for both parties, and we help make that creative engagement happen and viable.”

i-POP's core assets have already expanded into three countries outside of its Singapore headquarters - Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam - and the company is confident of further expansion.

“There is no reason why our integrated service proposition can't eventually be exported worldwide,” said Mr Miles. "The main strategy is really to maintain organic focus in areas that generate business that can scale profitably over networks. It is evident that premium billing continues to grow, as does the requirement for media mobilisation onto handsets for ever more demanding consumers. Satisfying this demand is what i-POP does best, especially in emerging markets like the Middle East and soon, the booming Indian subcontinent.”