The world's biggest mobile communications conference and exhibition, the third Mobile World Congress 2008, took place at the Fira de Barcelona, Spain, from February 11-14. The Mobile World Congress was a good opportunity for top executives from mobile operators, equipment vendors, IT companies, and entertainment providers to meet and explore new opportunities.

This premier mobile event has enjoyed a third successful year in Barcelona, with an increase in both the quantity and quality of visitors. An estimated 55,000 visitors from across the globe gathered at the Congress to do business and discuss the hottest trends in the mobile phone industry. The three-day conference featured more than 230 chief executives and attracted more than 8,000 delegates.

Star Attractions
The gathering had CEOs and board-level speakers at both the keynote and breakout sessions. Key industry leaders such as Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone; actor and filmmaker Robert Redford; Wang Jianzhou, CEO of China Mobile; John Chambers, CEO of Cisco; Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia; and film actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini addressed delegates.

Ubiquitous networks, services that aren't reliant on mobile operators, mobile's social and economic value, and the mobile digital content revolution were the highlights of the Congress. Also, as the mobile medium becomes increasingly important to the entertainment industry, the Congress hosted a new event, Mobile Backstage, at Barcelona's majestic National Palace. Mobile Backstage brought together leading figures from the entertainment and mobile industries.

Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin, in the opening Congress keynote session, called upon the mobile industry to simplify its future development and continue to adopt common standards. A central theme of his discussion focused on whether WiMax should become part of the Long Term Evolution (LTE).

At the Congress, China Mobile announced that it is to join Vodafone and Verizon Wireless in the trials of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. The three-way operator trials will focus on the testing of LTE in both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) paired spectrum, and Time Division Duplex (TDD) unpaired spectrum. Also, Alcatel-Lucent and NEC teamed on development of LTE with the creation of a new joint venture. Unveiled by Patricia Russo, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent, and Kaoru Yano, president of NEC, at the Mobile World Congress, the new venture will be “dedicated 100%” to the development of LTE.

Taking on New Initiatives
GSMA teamed with major global operators to launch the Mobile Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Content. The alliance is tasked with obstructing the use of the mobile environment by individuals or organizations wishing to consume or profit from child sexual abuse content. Hutchison 3G Europe, Mobilkom Austria, Orange FT Group, Telecom Italia, Telefonica O2, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile Group, Vodafone Group and dotMobi have joined forced with GSMA.

Advertising was also not left behind as five of the GSMA's operator members-Vodafone Group, Telefonica O2 Europe, T-Mobile International, FT-Orange Group and 3UK have formed a working group aimed at defining common metrics and measurement processes for mobile advertising as part of GSMA's Mobile Advertising Program.

The Indian Touch
Another highlight of the Congress was that Manoj Kohli, president and CEO, Bharti Airtel, was inducted into the GSM Association Board. Constituted in 2003, the Board is an apex body that provides GSMA's members with a stronger voice, clearer direction, and enables faster decision-making. Kohli is one of the three members to be inducted into the board this year, and he will represent the GSM industry across the Indian sub-continent and the Asian region.

Award Gallery
The most awaited event at the Congress, the 13th Annual GSM Association Global Mobile Awards, was announced at the event that showcased the best of the mobile world. Winners were announced at a glittering gala dinner in Barcelona hosted by famous international comedian Graham Norton.

Awards were presented by actor, writer and producer Isabella Rossellini, Bollywood actress Sherlyn Chopra and, from the music world, Black Eyed Peas front man William (will.i.am).

A major highlight of the event, from the Indian perspective, was the GSMA Chairman's Award. Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder chairman and group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, was presented with the GSMA Chairman's Award, the association's prestigious honor. This award, established in 1995, recognizes outstanding contribution to the growth and development of mobile communications around the world.

At the Congress, Impetus Technologies demonstrated various applications of the latest technology and tools in the mobile and wireless space. Impetus has invested significant time and efforts in researching mobile and wireless technologies that can help leverage wireless communication concepts for new and emerging mobile applications and services.

On the voice VAS front, Kirusa demonstrated the world's first exchange-of-voice SMS messages among diverse carriers using different voice SMS systems. This is the first-ever demonstration of voice SMS interoperability anywhere in the world. The trials were based on the technical specifications developed by the GSM Association. Ufone and Telenor Pakistan, with support from Kirusa and Mobile Arts, successfully exchanged voice SMS messages between their networks.

Keeping the agenda of mobile entertainment, Hungama Mobile participated in the MOFILM (Mobile Film Festival) initiative, which was undertaken by the GSM Association. Hungama Mobile represented Indian cinema and Bollywood in this festival. MOFILM showcased Ocher Studio and Adlabs' Sultan, the Warrior, which is a live action animation on superstar Rajnikanth.

ZTE, on its part, demonstrated the company's newly IOT (Inter Operability Testing) tested 5.76 Mbps HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) network equipment at the Congress.

A good number of the attendees at the Congress wanted to utilize the prospect provided to expand their business and explore new ventures. It bought mobile operators, equipment vendors, IT companies, and entertainment providers under one roof so that they would work together to make the world a better place to live.

Sandeep Budki
sandeepb@cybermedia.co.in