The GSMA today announced that six cities are competing to host the
GSMA Mobile World Congress event starting in 2013. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cologne,
Milan, Munich
and Paris have been named candidate
cities who are vying to become the home of Mobile World Congress for the
five-year period from 2013 through 2017.
The GSMA expects to identify a
short list of finalist cities in January 2011
and to complete the evaluation process and to announce the host city in
mid-2011.
"The
GSMA is committed to holding the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona through 2012," said John Hoffman, CEO GSMA .
"In partnership with the city of Barcelona,
the region of Catalonia, the Fira de Barcelona
and all our city partners, we have experienced tremendous success and
our association with Barcelona has been
extremely positive for the GSMA, for our exhibitors, for our attendees
and for the wireless industry."
The
Mobile World Congress is widely considered the industry's "must-attend"
event and is expected to draw more than 50,000 visitors at the 2011
Mobile World Congress, which will be held in Barcelona
14-17 February, 2011. The four-day
conference and exhibition attracts executives from the world's largest
and most influential companies across the mobile industry and adjacent
sectors, as well as government delegations. The Mobile World Congress
has been held in Barcelona since 2006
and the city will continue to host the event through at least 2012.
"The
mobile industry continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace and the
GSMA is also advancing its business to meet the changing requirements of
constituents across the global communications industry," added John Hoffman, "The Mobile World
Congress has grown significantly since it was started in 1987, and we
look forward to shaping the future of the event with one of these
outstanding candidate cities."