The GSMA today announced that the mobile world has celebrated its
four billionth connection, according to Wireless Intelligence, the
GSMA’s market intelligence unit.
This milestone underscores the
continued strong growth of the mobile industry and puts the global
market on the path to reach a staggering six billion connections by
2013.
The growth is driven by two primary sources: the integration of
mobile into previously unconnected devices and subscriber additions in
emerging markets. At Mobile World Congress, the world’s leading mobile
communications industry event, taking place from 16th - 19th February
in Barcelona, the industry will be exploring ways of sustaining this
growth.
Mobile Broadband
The GSMA’s Mobile Broadband initiatives focus on the development of
a ubiquitous Mobile Broadband infrastructure and the proliferation of
Internet-connected mobile devices. With the world’s mobile connections
now numbering four billion — nearly 100 million of which are Mobile
Broadband — and with 1.1 billion fixed broadband lines reaching only
one sixth of the world’s population, the opportunities are vast.
At Mobile World Congress on Wednesday 18th February C-level
executives from China Unicom, Google, Nokia Siemens Networks, Qualcomm,
Skype, Telstra and Verizon Communications will unite at the “Mobile
Broadband” and “Mobile Internet” sessions to explore Mobile Broadband
uptake, how consumers are adapting, and how Internet services become
even more compelling when married with always available Mobile
Broadband. In addition, at the Mobile Broadband Showcase (Hall 2 -
2C37) the GSMA will be highlighting a number of Mobile Broadband
implementations, including an HSPA+ demonstration, connecting a
notebook with a device at peak rates of up to 21 Mbps, and more than 50
HSPA devices including netbooks, smartphones, USB modems, datacards and
wireless routers.
Mobile Lifestyle
The GSMA’s Mobile Lifestyle initiatives concentrate on the
cross-industry creation of innovative services that combine web
attributes with mobility to make services, such as banking or
entertainment, far more compelling.
Chris DeWolfe, CEO and Co-founder of MySpace will be sharing his
perspective on the role of the mobile industry in entertainment at the
Mobile Backstage conference on Thursday 19th February at Mobile World
Congress. The conference, which features both Kevin Spacey and
will.i.am, will also tackle the technical challenges of delivering
mobile services and commercial elements influencing mobile industry and
entertainment partner collaboration.
Mobile Planet
The GSMA’s Mobile Planet initiatives leverage mobility to help
improve the lives of individuals across the developing world in a
socially responsible manner. With countries like India adding 10
million new mobile connections per month, and many users accessing the
Internet, email and banking exclusively via mobile devices, the
developing world is central to mobile industry growth.
As grid electricity is inaccessible to many emerging market areas,
Mobile World Congress will be exploring the use of renewable energy.
The GSMA’s Development Fund, that facilitates the delivery of mobile
offerings to people living on less than $2 per day, will be presenting
the Green Power Pavilion where leading green technology providers will
meet with operators. The “Green Power for Mobile” seminar on Wednesday
18th February will explore the role of renewable energy in expanding
off-grid network coverage and reducing OPEX.
“Mobile phones have evolved to become broadband-enabled multi-media
devices that connect mass markets in mature and emerging markets alike.
Mobile World Congress will showcase how the industry will continue to
push the boundaries into the mobile future,” said O’Hara.
For more information on Mobile World Congress, please visit http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/