AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – This month’s AOE Expo and World Telemedia conferences in Amsterdam will focus on the emerging mobile and gaming markets, according to the events’ coordinators, with proponents of mobile markets issuing a collective rallying cry that “the time is now.”“As much as 70 per cent of premium mobile content distributed in the UK is now done off-portal, but this lively market could stagnate if billing processes, search engines and mobile network operators don’t all play their part in making it as easy as possible for consumers to find, download and buy services,” reads a recent World Telemedia press release.

A keynote debate is scheduled to take place at the World Telemedia conference which will feature representatives from Vodafone, Ericsson, Bango, Openwave, Transact Group, Mobile Media, Echovox, Opera and Volantis debating the role of on and off-portal content.

“The whole mobile media industry will get a unique insight in to the future plans of the MNOs in further embracing off-portal and what it means for content developers and publishers,” according to the World Telemedia release.

The central question where billing is concerned appears to be ‘what comes next?’

“By the end of the event we hope to have the beginnings of an industry consensus,” World Telemedia said in its release.

AOE reports a record number of “pure gaming delegates and promoters” will be attending the event, and asserts that with online poker “achieving a respectable profile… the online gaming industry has become a ‘respectable business’ and clearly a run away online success.”

A panel to include companies 777Mobile, Spin3 and WorldPlay Media will explore gaming issues, and discuss the role of mobile in online gambling’s future – and whether there will be an explosion of mobile gambling, similar to what has happened with online poker rooms on the Web.

AOE and the World Telemedia Conference kick off this Wednesday, November 16th, and continue through Saturday the 18th. For more information, check out http://www.worldtelemedia.co.uk and http://www.aoexpo.com.