22 October 2012, Buenos Aires: Statement from Sebastian Cabello, Director GSMA Latin America:

“Last week the regulator in Ecuador, CONATEL, approved a resolution on the future adoption of 4G services in the country. The GSMA welcomes the decision made by Ecuador to promote the deployment of 4G services by allocating the Digital Dividend spectrum to mobile broadband services. This spectrum has ideal characteristics to deliver coverage in rural bareas and therefore provides a unique opportunity to offer innovative mobile broadband services to the previously unconnected.

“Following earlier decisions by Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico, Ecuador has also now decided to adopt the Asia Pacific (APT) band plan for the allocation of the Digital Dividend. The GSMA recognises the importance of all countries in the region to work together towards spectrum harmonisation. This will deliver much-needed scale for mobile equipment manufacturers, resulting in lower prices for industry and consumers. Mobile broadband will thereby become even more accessible to more of the region’s citizens, generating significant social and economic benefits.”

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

Statement from CONATEL can be found here:
http://www.telecomunicaciones.gob.ec/?p=3819/conatel-aprueba-regulacion-que-permitira-a-ecuador-vertiginoso-crecimiento-tecnologico-4g

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contacts:

GSMA Press Office

press@gsm.org

Worldwide Unique Mobile Subscriber Penetration Stands at Only 45 Per Cent; Global Mobile Subscribers to Hit Four Billion within Five Years Driven by Growth in Developing Markets

The GSMA today announced the results of a global, multi-year study that for the first time examines not only the total number of mobile connections 1 , but also the number of individual mobile subscribers, defined as the unique users subscribed to mobile services. The primary research, undertaken by the GSMA’s Wireless Intelligence team over three years and across 39 developed and developing markets, found that:

• By Q4 2012, total mobile connections will stand at 6.8 billion including machine-to machine (M2M) communications, or 5.9 billion excluding M2M and inactive SIM cards
• With consumers using an average of 1.85 SIM cards each, the total number of mobile subscribers globally will stand at 3.2 billion by Q4 2012, growing to 4 billion within the next five years
• Global penetration based on total connections is set to exceed 100 per cent in 2013, with mobile subscriber penetration standing at only 45 per cent by the end of 2012

“This research, for the first time, highlights the difference between mobile connections and individual mobile subscribers, and points to a significant growth opportunity for the mobile industry as we continue to connect the world’s population,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General of the GSMA. “By identifying inactive SIMs and multiple SIM ownership, we have developed the most accurate measurement of the global mobile subscriber base, which shows that only 45 per cent of the world’s population has subscribed to mobile services.”

The study found that future mobile subscriber growth will be driven by demand among currently ‘unconnected’ populations in developing countries, particularly those in rural areas, which the research estimates to be 1.8 billion people throughout the next five years. By 2017, subscriber penetration in developed countries is set to have passed 80 per cent² and growth in these markets is expected to slow. In contrast, subscriber penetration across developing economies is forecast to increase from 39 per cent in 2012 to 47 per cent in 2017, and will be the largest factor spurring the global growth of mobile over the next five years.

Europe has the highest mobile penetration in the world 3 , with countries such as Denmark, Finland, Germany and the UK already averaging close to 90 per cent subscriber penetration. Africa currently has the lowest penetration, with only one out of three people in the region subscribing to mobile services in 2012, a figure that is expected to increase to 40 per cent in 2017. In Asia, subscriber penetration stands 40 per cent, and is expected to grow to 49 per cent by 2017. In China, the world’s largest mobile market, subscriber penetration will grow from 43 per cent to 52 per cent over the next five years.

“In developing markets, where there is clearly an opportunity for growth for the mobile industry, SIM per user patterns are influenced by cost-conscious, low-usage consumers who tend to accumulate prepaid SIM cards depending on the latest and most affordable prepaid tariffs,” continued Bouverot. “In developed markets, SIM per user patterns are influenced by the ownership of smartphones, tablets and other devices connected to mobile broadband networks and through the wider availability of shared data plans.”

According to the research, approximately a third of the world’s population of 7 billion are unlikely to be able to subscribe to mobile services for a variety of reasons 4 , resulting in an ‘addressable’ mobile subscriber base of around 5 billion. Wireless Intelligence predicts that the mobile industry will reach the 5 billion users milestone over the next decade as network expansion continues to progress in developing markets and as people in rural areas, many of whom currently live on less than $2 a day, subscribe to mobile services.

In India, according to figures from the World Bank and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), approximately half a billion people in the country’s rural areas are unconnected to mobile networks, with rural mobile penetration of 39 per cent. Rural penetration tends to grow slowly and, even when coverage has been deployed on a nationwide basis, it takes time for users to adopt mobile services. For example, in several African markets, such as Malawi, even though mobile coverage is close to 95 per cent of the population, connections penetration still stands at only 29 per cent in Q2 2012.

The below table provides global mobile subscriber penetration data in 2012 and 2017, and highlights the ‘addressable’ growth opportunity for the mobile industry.

Gross demographic subscriber assessment

- ENDS -

Notes to Editors
¹ Total unique SIM cards (or phone numbers, where SIM cards are not used) that have been registered on the mobile network at the end of a period. Connections differ from subscribers such that a unique user can have multiple connections.
² Unlike total and active connection penetration rates, which can gravitate towards and above 200 per cent of the population, subscriber penetration measures the number of unique users and cannot exceed 100 per cent.
³ Mobile penetration, connections versus unique subscribers (Wireless Intelligence):
⁴ Globally there remains a share of the population without access to a mobile network – the (as of yet) ‘unconnected’ population. In addition, there will always be a share of the population within an area of coverage who are not mobile subscribers for other reasons. For example, within the youth, elderly, disabled, incarcerated or unemployed demographics, mobile subscriber penetration is likely to be lower than the overall average.
* Aggregated from UN population data
** Estimated proportion of demographic split in 0-14 and 65+ age brackets, based on World Bank data
*** Estimated proportion of unconnected population; assuming 70% GSM coverage by population in developing markets

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

About GSMA Wireless Intelligence
GSMA Wireless Intelligence is the definitive source of mobile operator data, analysis and forecasts, delivering the most accurate and complete set of industry metrics available. With twelve million individual data points (updated daily), the service provides coverage of the performance of all 1,550 operators and 1,600 MVNOs across 3,500 networks, 65 groups and 237 countries worldwide.

Media Contacts
GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

Inconsistencies between the existing e-Privacy Directive and the proposed Data Protection Regulation need to be addressed

Brussels : The GSMA and ETNO today raised the need to tackle discrepancies between the proposed Data Protection Regulation and the 2002 ePrivacy Directive, which create inconsistent consumer privacy experiences and rights for equivalent services and data. A consistent data protection framework is needed for both industry and consumers. Operators strongly support the harmonization objective of the proposal but highlight that technology and service neutrality has not been sufficiently addressed yet.

The event brought together the European Data Protection Supervisor, Peter Hustinx and MEP Lara Comi, Rapporteur from the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection ( IMCO ). Representatives from the European Commission and the privacy and civil rights organisation European Digital Rights also attended.

“While policy makers may have felt specific telecom privacy rules were justified in the past, the rules no longer seem appropriate,” said Martin Whitehead, Director of GSMA Europe. “Today it makes little sense to single out one particular sector when there are such a broad range of online service companies collecting and processing large volumes of functionally equivalent data. Against a background of global competition in innovative services, the co-existence of the ePrivacy Directive and General Data Protection Regulation would be incompatible with technology and service neutrality, and the need to provide users with consistent privacy experiences”.

“Were the current e-Privacy Directive and the proposed General Data Protection Regulation to co-exist, a number of difficulties which are already seen under the existing regulatory regime, would be experienced by both businesses and consumers. Firstly, telecoms companies and their customers would face dual compliance regimes, and so be disadvantaged in competition. Secondly, consumers would face inconsistent privacy experiences for functionally equivalent services. They would need to be aware of whether a service was being provided by a telecoms operator or an online service provider in order to assess their rights” said Daniel Pataki, ETNO Director.

Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), welcomed the opportunity for debate. “In the context of the European Court of Justice decision on the independence of the data protection authority, the CNIL decision on the Google investigation and this GSMA-ETNO seminar, it is a great day for data protection work. Communication today generates a great amount of sensitive data, and it is clear that inconsistencies within the e-Privacy Directive would call for review in order to apply the same rules to all similar data services. It is a question of consumer consent, which should be informed, specific, free and unambiguous. Principles and definitions should always be applied in a consistent way; legal certainty is indispensible.”

Both the GSMA and ETNO consider the overhaul of the European data protection rules to be welcome and timely and an appropriate opportunity to harmonise the handling of personal data across Europe . The associations will continue to work with the relevant policy makers to ensure a sound regulatory regime for the benefit of all. Failing to address the inconsistencies that are now apparent would be a considerable oversight.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For further background to this issue, please access the joint ETNO/GSMA briefing paper on the inconsistencies between the proposed General Data Protection Regulation and the e-Privacy Directive.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem , including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

About ETNO

ETNO’s 38 member companies and 12 observers from Europe and beyond represent a significant part of total ICT activity in Europe . They account for an aggregate annual turnover of more than €600 billion and employ over 1.6 million people. ETNO companies are the main drivers of broadband and are committed to its continual growth in Europe . www.etno.eu

Media Contacts:
Charlotte Durrant, Weber Shandwick for the GSMA
Charlotte.durrant@webershandwick.com
+32 (0)2 894 9014

Thierry Dieu, ETNO
+ 32 (2) 227 10 82

dieu@etno.be

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

NFC Demonstrations to include NFC-enabled ALFA 159 Coupe Car; New GSMA White Papers Will Examine the Use of Mobile NFC in Retail and Transport Sectors

16 Oct 2012, Milan: At the GSMA NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012 taking place 22-25 October in Milan, the GSMA will provide a unique, interactive “NFC Experience”, showcasing a range of mobile NFC services both within the Milano Congressi and throughout Milan. Delivered in partnership with Telecom Italia, all registered attendees will receive a Samsung Galaxy Mini II, one of the latest NFC-enabled handsets on the market loaded with Telecom Italia’s mobile wallet containing €15. The mobile device will be fitted with an active NFC SIM, provided by Gemalto, which will be operational throughout the attendee’s stay in Milan, ensuring that they have the opportunity to experience all of the services on offer.

“Mobile services are changing the way that billions of people around the world live, work and socialise and we are seeing a steady evolution towards a fully digital life,” said Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA. “At the NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012 we will see and uniquely this year, experience, mobile NFC providing a critical link between our digital life on our smartphone and the connected world around us, as it carries our wallet, identity, keys, music, books, photos, tickets, loyalty cards, mail, itinerary and much more.”

The GSMA has developed a variety of event activities to showcase the capabilities of NFC-enabled technology. A highlight of the exhibition is an NFC-enabled ALFA 159 Coupe, provided by Centro Ricerche FIAT, which will demonstrate NFC’s access control capabilities, allowing attendees to unlock and start the car using only NFC technology. Throughout the Milano Congressi, with a tap of their NFC handset on an NFC tag or reader, attendees will also be able to experience the following NFC activities:

• NFC-tagged Smart Posters, providing information and content from exhibitors and partners;
• Feedback posters, to allow attendees to provide their views on the NFC & Mobile Money Summit conference programme, keynote presentations and session discussions;
• An exhibition-wide NFC-enabled Treasure Hunt, with the opportunity to win a Samsung Galaxy Note II; and
• Badge reading, where attendees can use NFC to exchange business card details contained in their NFC & Mobile Money Summit badge.

In addition, the GSMA stand will feature innovative SIM-based NFC demos from Telecom Italia and Etisalat, including:

• Couponing and POS – a SIM-based NFC loyalty solution which allows users to tap an NFC reader and loyalty points, discounts, premium services and coupons are seamlessly downloaded onto the handset;
• Coffee Vending Machine – the user makes a selection, taps their SIM-based NFC handset on the reader, the payment is instantly made and the goods are released;
• Smart City Bike Sharing Station – use NFC to enroll in a bike sharing solution and also to retrieve and drop off a bicycle automatically;
• NFC Business Totem – this solution uses NFC to enable a user to tap on a totem to leave and share their business card details;
• Supermarket POS – by touching a smart poster, the user is shown supermarket products and suggestions for product usage on their handset, which they can then purchase for collection or later delivery; and
• SME-in-a-box POS – Using a SIM-based NFC handset as a POS, a merchant may take payments from customers with NFC handsets. On the NFC handset POS, inventory management information can be displayed for the merchant.

GSMA to Release White Papers on Mobile NFC in the Retail and Transport Industries

At the Milan event, the GSMA will release two new white papers that outline the benefit of mobile NFC for both the retail and transport sectors. These new reports draw on the views of the broad NFC ecosystems and are designed to help retailers, transport operators, mobile operators and their partners deploy mobile NFC solutions to improve their consumer’s shopping and travel experiences. The papers outline the potential benefits, possible obstacles and key considerations relating to the deployment of mobile NFC services in these two industries.

The Retail White Paper shows how mobile NFC could enable consumers to interact with physical stores in the same way they interact with online websites. The report considers mobile NFC solutions in the retail sector in Europe and other developed markets, such as South Korea and Japan. The findings from the white paper are applicable to all forms of retail, including restaurants, coffee shops, bars, pubs and cafes, as well as shops selling products.

The Transport White Paper demonstrates how mobile NFC solutions can be used in the public transport sector in Europe and other developed countries, for commuters, as well as occasional travellers. The findings from the white paper are applicable to all forms of land-based public transport, such as trains, buses, trams and hire bikes. Although the paper’s primary focus is Europe, much of the content is relevant to public transport systems in other countries.

The white papers are to be released at the show and will be available on the GSMA website on 23 October at www.gsma.com/mobilenfc/news-information-resources/

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

Visa is the Platinum Event Sponsor for the NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012. Visa is also sponsoring the event’s social networking portal – My MMS – and the networking reception that is open to all attendees on 23 rd October. For more information on the NFC & Mobile Money Summit, including details on how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, please visit www.nfcmobilemoneysummit.com .

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem , including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contact:
Abigail Faylor (London): +44 (0)2070 670 851
gsmapressoffice@webershandwick.com
GSMA Press Office: press@gsm.org

New Keynote Speakers, Exhibitors, Sponsors and Partners at Mobile World Congress

15 October 2012, London: The GSMA today provided new details and event updates for the 2013 GSMA Mobile World Congress, which will be held 25-28 February 2013 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona. The GSMA announced that the CEOs of NTT DOCOMO and Vodafone will be delivering keynote addresses in the Mobile World Congress conference programme and the GSMA also outlined additional new exhibiting companies, sponsors, partners and event elements for the show.

“Mobile World Congress 2013 is shaping up to be the largest and most exciting edition ever,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. “The breadth of exhibition, educational programmes, meetings, events and networking opportunities coming up in February is unsurpassed, underscoring again why Mobile World Congress is the industry’s “must-attend” event. We continue to add to this outstanding agenda and we look forward to welcoming more than 70,000 attendees from across the ever-expanding mobile ecosystem to Barcelona.”

New Keynote Speakers for Mobile World Congress

CEOs from the mobile industry’s leading companies will be delivering keynote presentations in the Mobile World Congress conference programme. Newly confirmed keynote speakers for Mobile World Congress 2013 include Kaoru Kato, President and CEO, NTT DOCOMO and Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group.

These executives join previously announced keynote speakers including:

• René Obermann, CEO, Deutsche Telekom
• Franco Bernabè, Chairman, GSMA and Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia Group
• Suk-Chae Lee, CEO, KT Corp.
• Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla
• Susan Whiting, Vice Chair, Nielsen
• Stephen Elop, President and CEO, Nokia
• Lars Nyberg, President and CEO, TeliaSonera

In addition to insightful keynote sessions, the 2013 conference will also include focused track sessions exploring a range of topics such as applications, business strategy, cloud computing, connected living, developing markets, devices, mobile consumer marketing, mobile health, mobile money, next-generation technologies, NFC, OSS/BSS and social media, among other subjects. For more information, visit http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/conference/.

Experience the Latest Technologies, Products and Services

The GSMA today announced that several new companies have confirmed their presence on the Mobile World Congress exhibition floor, including Acer, Brightstar, Ericsson and MasterCard, joining previously announced exhibitors Airwatch, Alcatel-Lucent, Amdocs, Bharti Airtel, Cisco, Deutsche Telekom, eBay, Ford, Fujitsu, Gemalto, HTC, Huawei, IBM, Intel, LG, Motorola Mobility, NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Oracle, Orange, Qualcomm, Samsung, SAP, Sharp, SK Telecom, Sony Mobile, Telefónica, Tellabs, Visa, Vodafone and ZTE, among others.

Across 80,000 square metres of exhibition and hospitality space, attendees can visit pavilions focusing on various elements of the mobile ecosystem, such as Embedded Mobile Devices, Green Technology, Mobile Cloud, Mobile Health, and NFC and Mobile Money. The exhibition will also include country pavilions with companies from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Catalonia, China, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/exhibition/.

mPowered Brands Programme at Mobile World Congress 2013

Mobile World Congress will again host the mPowered Brands Programme, which is designed to develop marketers’ and enterprise leaders’ mobile knowledge and to fast-track their use of mobile for marketing and consumer engagement. The mobile marketing and advertising programme comprises three elements: the mPowered Brands Zone, mPowered Brands Theatres and mPowered Brands Mobile Ambassadors. The GSMA announced that Nielsen has signed on as an mPowered Brands Supporting Sponsor and will be leading an mPowered Brands Theatre session. The GSMA also announced that, due to high demand, it is expanding the mPowered Brands Zone on the exhibition floor; current exhibiting companies include Adfonic, AOL/AdTech, mAdvertise, Millennial Media, Telmap and Velti, among others.

As part of the mPowered Brands Mobile Ambassador Programme, Shelly Palmer, the prolific author and American TV personality who speaks on a wide range of topics relating to the challenges of digital disruption, is bringing his Digital Leadership Series to Mobile World Congress. Shelly Palmer will conduct bespoke tours during the event for business leaders who seek to rapidly get up to speed on mobile industry trends and opportunities to build an actionable roadmap for their business. To learn more about the Shelly Palmer Digital Learning Series, please visit: http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/mpoweredbrands-ambassadors/.

For more information on mPowered Brands at Mobile World Congress, visit: http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/mpoweredbrands

App Planet: The Centre of the Apps Universe

Now in its fourth year at Mobile World Congress, App Planet will again connect the developer community with the broader mobile ecosystem. Across four days, mobile industry leaders and the application development community will participate in programmes focusing on the explosive growth in the mobile apps market. App Planet also features exhibition, product and service demonstrations, networking and workshops from some of the largest and most influential mobile industry companies. The GSMA today announced that Generalitat de Catalunya - Government of Catalonia is the Official App Planet Sponsor, and Inneractive and Wireless Industry Partnership (WIP) are App Planet Supporting Sponsors. For more information, visit http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/app-planet-overview/.

Forum Series to Explore LTE, Mobile Cloud and Mobile Security

Mobile World Congress 2013 features the Forum Series, a sponsored programme that brings together industry players to discuss and debate a range of topics in focused sessions. Currently scheduled Forums include the LTE Forum, the MNO Developer Cloud Forum and the Mobile Security Forum. The GSMA announced that Metaswitch Networks will be presenting in the MNO Developer Cloud Forum, joining other participating companies including AdaptiveMobile, who will be presenting in the Mobile Security Forum, and ZTE, who will be presenting in the LTE Forum and the MNO Developer Cloud Forum.  For more information, visit http://www.mobileworldcongress.com/forum-series/.

GTI to Hold Seventh LTE TDD/FDD International Summit

The Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) with China Mobile will hold its seventh LTE TDD/FDD International Summit (GTI Summit) at Mobile World Congress. The Summit, scheduled for the morning of Tuesday, 26th February, will be focused on promoting the convergence of LTE TDD and FDD and accelerating TD-LTE deployment in global markets. At the 2013 Summit, leaders from mobile operators pioneering the adoption of TD-LTE will join executives from companies across the ecosystem, as well as other industry watchers, to discuss the state of the market and explore the key factors and requirements to drive broad-scale adoption and successful commercialisation of this technology. More than 500 executive-level delegates from operators, vendors, service providers and consulting companies are expected to attend the LTE FDD/TDD International Summit. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/gti.

GSMA Ministerial Programme

The GSMA today announced that Upstream has signed on as a sponsor for the GSMA Ministerial Programme at Mobile World Congress, joining previously confirmed sponsors STC and ZTE. The Ministerial Programme is designed to bring together governments, regulators and industry leaders to discuss the specific regulatory issues shaping the development of mobile around the world. The 2013 Ministerial Programme features additional regional seminars and thematic workshops to facilitate in-depth policy discussions between public and private sectors, as well as an expanded series of Government Mobile Excellence awards. The Ministerial Programme will take place from 25-27 February 2013 and is expected to attract delegations from 140 countries and intergovernmental organisations. For more information, visit http://www.ministerialprogramme.com/.

For more information on Mobile World Congress 2013, including details on how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, please visit www.mobileworldcongress.com.

The Mobile World Congress is the cornerstone of the Mobile World Capital, which will be hosted in Barcelona from 2013 to 2018. The Mobile World Capital also includes the Mobile World Centre, the Mobile World Festival and the Mobile World Hub, programmes and activities that will span the entire year and will benefit not only the citizens of Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain, but also the worldwide mobile industry. For more information on the Mobile World Capital, please visit www.mobileworldcapital.com.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contact:

For the GSMA
Abigail Faylor: +44 (0) 2070 670 851
GSMAPressOffice@webershandwick.com

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

12 October 2012, Hong Kong: Statement from Chris Perera, Senior Director, Spectrum Policy & Regulatory Affairs, APAC, GSMA:

“The National Communications Commission in Taiwan today announced that they will adopt the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) band plan for the 700MHz band for mobile services. The GSMA welcomes this announcement, which will support our efforts in promoting the allocation of the Digital Dividend spectrum to mobile in a harmonised way.

“Home to many manufacturers of electronics and integrated chipsets for mobile devices, Taiwan is a critical market in this region. Today’s decision will help reduce the cost of network roll-out and devices which, in turn, will result in a greater take-up of mobile broadband services, driving diverse socio-economic benefits for the country. This is a win-win situation for both Taiwanese customers and the mobile industry and we urge other regulators in the region to follow this approach without delay.”

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

Statement from the National Communications Commission can be found here:
http://gazette.nat.gov.tw/EG_FileManager/eguploadpub/eg018190/ch01/type1/gov01/num1/Eg.htm

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contacts:

GSMA Press Office

press@gsm.org

Mobile Operators to Help Consumers Better Understand and Manage Data Usage, Addressing Head-On the Issue of Bill Shock

Santiago, Chile: Today the GSMA announced that more than 40 Latin American mobile network operators (MNOs) have launched a data roaming transparency scheme in the region that will provide consumers with greater visibility of their roaming charges and usage of mobile data services when travelling within the region and abroad. The initiative is supported by operator groups including América Móvil, Antel, Entel Chile, Millicom, Oi, Orange, Telecom Italia and Telefónica, all of whom agreed to undertake a number of measures in the countries in which they operate to help mobile subscribers better understand their data roaming charges and more effectively manage their use of data services when visiting other countries. The MNOs participating in this initiative account for more than half a billion mobile subscribers across the region.

“The Latin America region is unique in that we are at different stages of economic development, so it is important that we help consumers to better understand any costs that they may face and provide a consistent experience for consumers, wherever they travel,” said Javier Delgado, Chair of the GSMA Chief Regulatory Officers’ Group of Latin America.

“This is an important initiative and the second recently undertaken by MNOs in in the region, following on from a commitment to combat mobile phone theft earlier this year,” said Sebastian Cabello, Director of GSMA Latin America. “MNOs are acting proactively in order to address customers’ needs to both ensure increased transparency of services and maintain the security of consumers’ information and data.”

The GSMA is committed to working with MNOs in the Latin America region and around the world to adopt the following measures:

• Sending text messages to remind customers of their data roaming tariffs when they arrive in another country and turn on their mobile device;
• Implementing a monthly data roaming spending limit to help consumers manage their roaming bill and sending alerts when their data usage approaches the limit; and
• Temporarily suspending data service when usage exceeds the spending limit.

All national Latin American operations of the above listed MNO groups have agreed to implement these data roaming transparency measures starting now, with full completion by end of the first half of 2013. The GSMA has been promoting the adoption of roaming transparency measures across its membership of nearly 800 mobile operators worldwide following the launch of its global data roaming transparency initiative on 21 June 2012 1.

Roaming services in Latin America have been growing steadily following retail price reductions of up to 80 per cent since 2007 in some countries, through the provision of an increasing range of innovative pricing tariffs and the expansion of these additional services to prepaid customers. However, the availability of these roaming services is still constrained by several factors, including double taxation that can increase end-user prices by up to 40 per cent 2.

“Data usage is continually increasing in Latin America with the adoption of smartphones, tablets and new generation devices, and we look to continue working with regional operators to offer better, customised and more transparent services to customers,” added Delgado.

-ENDS-

Translations –
Spanish
Portugese

Notes to Editors:

On 17 July 2012 GSMA Latin America announced the commitment of the main MNOs in Latin America to collaborate with the regional governments in initiatives designed to reduce mobile phone theft and related crime. This voluntary initiative of GSM MNOs will allow the sharing of stolen mobile device information in order to block stolen devices and make their trafficking and reuse across the region more difficult. For more information on this announcement please see: http://www.gsma.com/latinamerica/latin-american-mobile-operators-commit-to-combat-mobile-device-theft/

See press release: http://www.gsma.com/newsroom/gsma-launches-data-roaming-transparency-initiative/

2 AT Kearney report on Latin American roaming available and further roaming related resources can be found at: http://www.gsma.com/latinamerica/gsma-latin-america/roaming-latin-america/

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem , including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

GSMA Latin America is the branch of the GSMA in the region. Its regional public policy orientation is defined by the Chief Regulatory Officers Group for Latin America (CROG Latin America) comprised of senior public affairs representatives from 14 of the largest operator groups in Latin America and The Caribbean. For more information, visit www.gsmala.com .

Media Contacts:

Abigail Faylor (London): +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com

Tatiana Cantoni (Brazil), +55 (11) 9535 1983
taticantoni@pimenta.com

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

Industry Executives Highlight the Expanding Power of Mobile Money

The GSMA today announced speakers for the GSMA NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012, which will be held 22-25 October, in Milan, at the Milano Congressi. The Summit features two days of conference sessions that will cover the latest trends and strategies for both the mobile money industry and the wider ecosystem. It will address the latest innovations and developments within the NFC and mobile money arenas through sessions such as ‘Exploiting Opportunities for Mobile Money in Untapped Markets’; ‘Navigating the Mobile Payments Landscape’; ‘The New Mobile Money Horizon’; ‘Innovation in Mobile Payments: What’s Hot?’ and ‘Partnerships & Joint Ventures: The Future of Mobile Money?’.

The Summit will include stimulating presentations and visionary speeches from leaders in the mobile money industry. Confirmed keynote speakers include:

• Tomasz J. Smilowicz, MD, Head of Global Mobile Solutions, Citi
• Philippe  Vallée, EVP, Telecom Business Unit, Gemalto
• Jung Hee Song, Senior EVP, Service Innovation Group, KT
• Dr. Hoojong Kim, SVP, Head of Global Technology Research Institute SK Planet
• Bill Gajda, Global Head of Visa Mobile, Visa
• Michael Joseph, MD, Mobile Money, Vodafone

The conference programme will feature presentations from many other prominent speakers including :

• Frédéric Schepens, SVP of Mobile Financial Services, BICS
• Arianna Azzolini, Head of Cards & Daily Banking, BNL
• Bruno Prexl, Payments Innovation Manager, BNP Paribas
• Jon Prideaux, Chief Business Officer, BOKU
• Jean Prévost, Innovations Director, Casino Group
• Abhishek Sinha, Co-Founder & CEO, Eko India Financial Services Private Limited
• George Held, VP Commerce, Etisalat Group
• Valerio Zingarelli, CTO, Expo 2015
• Delwar Hossain Azad, Deputy Director & Head, Financial Services, Grameenphone
• Arnaud Ventura, Co-Founder, mBank Group
• Francesco Prato, Director, Sales & Business Development, Siemens Austria
• Tricia V. Dizon, Head of Financial Services, Smart Communications
• Paresh Rajde, Founder, MD & CEO, Suvidhaa Infoserve Private Limited
• Joaquin Mata Atance, Director of Financial Services, Telefónica Digital
• Rene Batsford, CIO, The Coffee Mob
• Alan Moss, VP, Marketing, Western Europe, Middle East & Africa, VeriFone

In addition to the conference programme, the NFC & Mobile Money Summit includes two days of exhibition showcase, as well as two days of invitation-only industry meetings designed to create dialogue around the opportunities and progress for the broad mobile money ecosystem. The GSMA will utilise its central role in the mobile industry to provide a unique opportunity for delegates and exhibitors from all parts of the ecosystem to network, interact and share experiences in a world-class environment.

“The rapid growth of Near Field Communications (NFC) is driving the development of new technologies and applications by ecosystem players around the globe,” said Reed Peterson, Head of NFC, GSMA. “For the past four years, the NFC & Mobile Money Summit has been the premier event for the leaders and players in the mobile and financial industries to network and showcase the latest developments and solutions in this rapidly evolving and dynamic marketplace."

The hugely popular complimentary ‘Mobile Money Accelerator Classes’ will be held each morning before the main conference sessions, with content tailored to that day’s conference topics. Accelerator classes are intended for those who wish to understand the roadmap to commercial launch, the required partnerships, investment estimates and the business case for successful mobile money services. This year the accelerator classes are ‘A Focus on Emerging Markets’ and ‘Emphasis on Growing Maturity of NFC solutions’.

Bankable Frontier Associates will again be hosting the ‘ Executive Regulatory Training for Mobile Operators’ event, a one-day, invitation-only workshop, which explores the link between regulation and strategy and explains the most important regulatory concepts of mobile money. On the last day of the NFC & Mobile Money Summit, the GSMA’s exclusive Leadership Forum will bring together a large number of decision makers from mobile operators and central banks to discuss how to promote dialogue between financial regulators and the operator community.

Visa is the Platinum Event Sponsor for the NFC & Mobile Money Summit 2012. Visa is also sponsoring the event’s social networking portal – My MMS – and the networking reception that is open to all attendees on 23 rd October. For more information on the NFC & Mobile Money Summit, including details on how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, please visit www.nfcmobilemoneysummit.com .

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About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem , including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

For further information, please contact:

Abigail Faylor: +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com or press@gsm.org

Thirteen Latin American mobile operator groups pledge to work together across the region to block the use of stolen devices

Today GSMA Latin America announced the commitment of the main mobile network operators (MNOs) in Latin America to collaborate with the regional governments in initiatives designed to reduce mobile phone theft and related crime. This voluntary initiative of GSM MNOs will allow the sharing of stolen mobile device information in order to block stolen devices and make their trafficking and reuse across the region more difficult.

At a meeting of the Chief Regulatory Officers Group for Latin America (CROG Latin America), public affairs representatives of the regional MNOs agreed on the steps to start exchanging stolen handset information via the GSMA’s IMEI Database. The agreement implies the information shared between MNOs be used to identify devices reported as stolen from users to ensure they are recognised and eventually blocked subject to local regulations.

Javier Delgado, Chair of the CROG Latin America, highlighted that: “This joint effort by all regional operators to be part of this initiative will help regulators in our countries to face and address this scourge.”

This coordinated action by mobile operators is already showing results in Central America, where industry and telecommunications regulators in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama are aligning their efforts to facilitate the identification and blocking of stolen devices. “The idea is to build upon the experience of collaboration between telecom operators and governments carried out in Central America and expand it country-by-country throughout the region over the next six months,” said Delgado.

The creation by the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) of the Regional Front to Fight against the Theft of Mobile Terminal Devices was a key element of the resolution approved in 2011 by CITEL during the meeting of the Advisory Committee (CCPI). Among the proposals of this resolution, it recommended: ‘Regulating at the regional level the exchange of black-listing databases and blocking their unique identification codes (IMEI) to prevent the activation and use of cell phones stolen in other markets and helping to control illegal trafficking of devices among the region’s countries’.

“Sharing of information via the global IMEI Database is an important collaborative step that our member MNOs are willing to take and is also proof of how public and private sectors can work together to address specific issues of concern to society and governments,” emphasised Sebastian Cabello, GSMA Latin America Director. “While information sharing can help to reduce crime, it is essential to explore and adopt other measures to ensure appropriate detection, prosecution and punishment of such crimes.”

GSMA member operators that are committed to connect to the stolen handset database and to implement measures to block stolen terminals in all countries where they operate in Latin America are: América Móvil, Antel, Cable & Wireless Panama, Corporacion Digitel, Entel Bolivia, Entel Chile, ICE, Tigo Colombia, Nextel/NII Holdings, Nuevatel PCS Bolivia, Orange Dominican Republic, Telecom Italia and Telefónica.

The agreement, full implementation of which is expected to conclude in March 2013, covers more than 500 million mobile connections throughout the region. The GSMA will continue working to promote the adoption of these guidelines to all GSMA member companies in Latin America through the signing of memorandum of understandings among operators on a country-by-country basis.

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Notes to Editors:
The GSMA maintains a unique system known as the IMEI Database (IMEI DB), which is a global central database containing basic information on serial number (IMEI) ranges of millions of mobile devices (e.g. mobile phones, laptop data cards, etc.) that are in use across the world’s mobile networks. The IMEI is a 15-digit number that is used to identify the device when it is used on a mobile phone network. The IMEI must be unique for each device, so there needs to be a way of managing allocations of IMEIs to handset manufacturers to ensure that no two devices use the same IMEI. The GSMA performs this role, and records all of the IMEIs that are allocated to mobile device manufacturers in the IMEI DB. When reserving IMEIs for a device manufacturer, the GSMA stores some basic information associated with the IMEI. This information includes the manufacturer name and the model identifier of the associated handset and some of its technical capabilities (e.g. frequency bands supported by the handset, the handset power class, etc.). This initiative protects mobile phone users and ensures no details of a personal nature such as telephone numbers, addresses is exchanged. More information can be found here: www.gsma.com/technicalprojects/fraud-security/imei-database/

About GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

GSMA Latin America is the branch of the GSMA in the region. Its regional public policy orientation is defined by the Chief Regulatory Officers Group for Latin America (CROG Latin America) comprised of senior public affairs representatives from 14 of the largest operator groups in Latin America and The Caribbean. For more information, visit www.gsmala.com.

Media Contacts
Tatiana Cantoni (Brazil), +55 (11) 9535 1983
taticantoni@pimenta.com

Apigee Purchases WAC Technology Assets and Signs Managed Service Partnership Agreement with the GSMA

The GSMA today announced that it has reached an agreement to integrate the major programmes and initiatives driven by the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) into the GSMA. Further to this agreement, Apigee, a leading provider of API products and services, has acquired the technology assets of WAC. Apigee will continue to develop and evolve the WAC Web Run Time and network application programming interfaces (APIs) and will provide these assets as a managed service to the GSMA and its mobile operator members.

“Since its inception, WAC has been committed to simplifying the developer experience and fostering innovation through an open web run time and cross-operator API platform,” said Franco Bernabè, Chairman, GSMA and Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia Group. “They have made strong progress, with operators deploying WAC apps and utilising the WAC Payment API. By integrating WAC into the GSMA, we will be able to scale this across our full membership, assisting operators around the world to better serve their customers.”

In February, WAC launched its Payment API, an operator billing service that enables customers to pay for digital goods via their operator bill. WAC’s Payment API offers developers an easy way to monetise their applications across a range of platforms and technologies, using a reliable, cross-operator billing service. The WAC Payment API has launched or is in trial with leading operators including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, KT, LGU+, SK Telecom, Smart Communications, Telefónica and Telenor, and is in development with a further 12 operators. The WAC Web Run Time has been enabled on approximately 12 million devices to date with a successful deployment by operators including KT, LGU+, SK Telecom and Smart Communications.

“We are very proud of the work that the team has done in developing and incubating an open, web-based platform that can run applications and utilise network APIs across multiple devices and operating systems,” said Michel Combes, Chairman, WAC. “Now we are excited to move on to the next stage of our development with the GSMA and their ability to make this technology available to their 800 operator members worldwide.”

“AT&T is pleased to be supporting the network API project as it transitions into the GSMA,” said John Donovan, Senior Executive Vice President – AT&T Technology and Network Operations. “Our industry needs a cross-operator solution for network and operator-based APIs such as messaging, billing and authentication. This will enable consumers to experience more compelling applications and reap the benefits of the mobile Internet.”

“The WAC Web Run Time, based on HTML5 technology, has demonstrated the possibilities for delivering cross-operating system applications,” said Dr. Terry Ahn, Executive Vice President of Mobile Business Group of KT. “With HTML5, we believe our developers can easily adapt from one platform to another and provide our customers with the greater usage of applications across multiple devices and multiple screens.”

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About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

Media Contacts:

Charlie Meredith-Hardy
+44 (0)20 7067 0647
GSMAPressOffice@webershandwick.com

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

Allocation of the 700MHz ‘Digital Dividend’ Band to Mobile Services Will Create New Jobs, Support Business Innovation and Generate Government Revenues

Asia Pacific is on the cusp of a significant opportunity to unlock US$1 trillion in GDP growth by 2020 through the harmonised adoption of the 700MHz spectrum band for mobile services, according to new research from the GSMA, in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As part of this economic growth, there is the potential to create 2.7 million new jobs, support 1.4 million new businesses1 and increase government revenues by US$171 billion.

“To realise this immense potential, it is imperative that the region works together to swiftly implement the harmonised 700MHz band plan for mobile services,” said Chris Perera, Senior Director, Spectrum Policy & Regulatory Affairs, GSMA. “Rapid adoption and alignment would generate huge cost efficiencies in both network technology and devices, and ultimately make mobile services more accessible and affordable for consumers.”

Since the plan was implemented in September 2010 by the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT), a number of countries across the region have either announced their commitment or have shown confidence including Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand, with Japan and Papua New Guinea recently awarding licenses. Furthermore, at the 2012 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-12) in Geneva, telecoms regulators in other regions, including Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, have expressed an interest in the APT band plan.

For Asia Pacific to fully realise the US$1 trillion opportunity between 2014 and 2020, it is imperative there is no delay in spectrum allocation and deployment. Even a delay of one year, from 2014 to 2015, could result in a loss of more than US$40 billion of incremental GDP growth across the region, and a delay of two years from 2014 to 2016 could result in a loss of US$138 billion in GDP growth. A one-year or two-year delay could also result in up to 500,000 or 900,000 fewer jobs being created respectively.

Asia Pacific countries that do not follow the APT band plan will cause interference up to 100 kilometres on both sides of their borders, also limiting their neighbours’ ability to utilise their own spectrum to its maximum extent. Furthermore, this will increase the cost of mobile devices since these will need to be customised to work across differing spectrum bands.

According to the study, non-compliant countries would experience 5 per cent less economic gain, 30 per cent less job growth, 30 per cent less new business and 18 per cent less government revenue. Countries neighbouring non-compliant countries would also lose up to 3 per cent of GDP growth, up to 10 per cent of job creation, up to 11 per cent of new business growth and up to 12 per cent government revenue.

“The availability of the 700MHz band, as a result of the switchover from analogue to digital TV services, presents a unique opportunity for spectrum harmonisation across Asia Pacific,” said Vaishali Rastogi, partner at BCG. “It offers the potential to create a coherent ecosystem for LTE and allow manufacturers to quickly roll out standardised devices in multiple territories. This would lower prices and enable more people to access the benefits of the Internet more quickly.”

For further information on and a copy of the report please visit:
www.gsma.com/spectrum/spectrum-resources/BCG_spectrum_fragmentation_AP

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Notes to editors
Includes new independent businesses and new departments/units/business areas within existing firms

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contacts:
Ava Lau (Hong Kong): +852 2533 9928
alau@webershandwick.com

Abigail Faylor (London): +44 (0)7702 332 350
afaylor@webershandwick.com

The GSMA today reported that more than 15,500^* unique visitors from 81 countries attended the 2012 Mobile Asia Expo, held 20-22 June in Shanghai. The three-day conference and exhibition attracted executives from the industry’s largest and most influential mobile operators, software companies, device makers, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as government delegations, and, for the first time at a GSMA event, consumers. The conference programme drew more than 1,800 attendees, with more than 60 per cent of delegates holding C-level positions.

“The strong attendance to the first Mobile Asia Expo is indicative of the impact and importance of mobile in China and throughout Asia,” stated John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. “We are entering a new era where mobile truly is transforming how the world communicates, how business is conducted and how people live their lives. We are very proud of the contribution that the GSMA and the Mobile Asia Expo have in furthering this transformation.”

China Dignitaries and Industry Leaders Gather at Mobile Asia Expo
Mobile Asia Expo opened on June 20th with a ceremony featuring Chinese dignitaries and industry executives including Mr. Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, Mr. Wang Zhixue, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. Liu Lihua, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Mr. Ai Baojun, Vice Mayor of Shanghai City, Mr. Xi Guohua, Chairman of China Mobile, Mr. Lu Yimin, President of China Unicom and Ms. Liu Zhengyi, Vice District Mayor of Pudong New Area.

Over the two-day conference, CEOs and senior executives from companies including Alcatel-Lucent, Bharti Airtel, China Mobile, China Unicom, Datang Telecom Group, HTC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Smart Communications and ZTE delivered keynotes exploring the trends and issues that are shaping the mobile industry today and into the future. Beyond the keynote programme, the conference included focused sessions on topics including applications, devices, embedded mobile, mobile advertising, mobile broadband, mobile health, mobile Internet, mobile money, mobile operator strategies, network evolution, NFC, retail in mobile and social media, among others.

Mobile Asia Expo also hosted several GSMA seminars and meetings, as well as partner meetings including the GTI Asia Conference and the China Unicom Partner Meeting.

Mobile Business and Lifestyle Exhibition
Approximately 200 exhibiting companies occupied over 8,000 square metres of exhibition and business meeting space at Mobile Asia Expo. Notable exhibitors included BMW, China Mobile, China Unicom, Cisco, Datang Telecom Group, Huawei, IBM, MasterCard, Mozilla, NEC, Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, PayPal, SanDisk, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Tencent, Visa, Yahoo! and ZTE, among others. Other highlights of the exhibition included new consumer-focused features such as the Angry Birds Zone, the Augmented Life Zone, the Mobile Gaming Zone and the Mobile Fashion Zone, as well as the Innovation Lab, which hosted 25 company presentations over three days.

The Shanghai event also included App Planet, a focused event designed to bring together the many critical elements of the broad mobile application ecosystem together in one location. Companies including China Mobile, Nokia and Research in Motion each held application developer conferences in the programme. App Planet also featured the MNO Cloud Forum and the mPowered Brands Open Forum, as well as a presentation of the winners in the Smarter App Challenge developers’ competition.

GSMA Hosts First Public Policy Forum
The GSMA held its first Public Policy Forum, bringing together delegations from 15 countries and international organisations to discuss the key enablers for mobile broadband growth and development. The one-day meeting included keynote speeches as well as panel discussions, where stakeholders debated and reflected on the key drivers to stimulate investment in mobile broadband in Asia Pacific, and how industry and governments can work together to achieve this. China Mobile was the Platinum Sponsor and Qualcomm was the Bronze Sponsor for the Public Policy Forum.

“We thank all who contributed to the success of our inaugural Mobile Asia Expo, including the government of China, the city of Shanghai, our Platinum Event Sponsor China Mobile and all of our exhibitors, sponsors, partners and attendees,” continued Hoffman. “We look forward to coming back to Shanghai next year and building the Mobile Asia Expo brand.”

Mobile Asia Expo 2013 will be held the week of June 24; specific timing and further details for the 2013 event will be made available over the coming months.

For news coverage and video highlights from Mobile Asia Expo, please visit Mobile World Live at http://www.mobileworldlive.com/mobile-asia-expo/. Replays of the Mobile Asia Expo keynote presentations will also be made available on Mobile World Live over the coming weeks.

Note to editor: ^*This figure represents the number individual attendees at the event, including delegates, exhibitors, contractors and media; it does not represent the total number of entries to the event.

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About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contact:
Xiong Wen (Beijing): +86 10 8569 9918
wxiong@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

Jerry Zhang (Shanghai): +86 21 2411 0003
jzhang2@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

Abigail Faylor (London): +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Connectivity Will Drive Significant Growth, Cost Reductions and Efficiencies Across the Automotive, Building and Energy Industries

The GSMA, in partnership with Machina Research, today announced that the business impact from the growth of connected devices in China will increase six fold from US$116 billion in 2012 to US$707 billion in 2020, fostering the Connected Life. Connected devices, including smartphones, tablets, consumer electronics and so-called machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity, are driving innovation and advancement in key industries across Asia Pacific. China’s growth in this segment leads all other countries worldwide as its economy continues to develop rapidly, backed by a vibrant and growing technology industry.

“China is not only the world’s largest mobile market, with more than one billion total mobile connections, but is using this to its advantage by creating new applications, products and services that can improve people’s daily lives and advance its economy,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. “China has positioned mobile technology at the centre of its expansion, from a booming car industry to the rapid development of new ‘smart’ cities, creating efficiencies and consumer benefits through cross-industry collaboration.”

Connected vehicles will facilitate a range of new business models in China. For example, the ability to locate and access vehicles and implement real-time charging will spur the growth of car share schemes and hire/purchase arrangements. Separately, built-in connectivity is predicted to become a must-have for consumers in 2020, driven in part by the increasing global demand for plug-in electric vehicles. Machina Research estimates that together these two areas alone represent a US$198 billion business impact for China’s automotive ecosystem in 2020.

The growing adoption of connected private building security – notably alarms, CCTV and intercoms – is also fuelling a huge market opportunity across the region. In China, the value of connected security systems, based on the cost of providing equivalent levels of cover without connectivity, will be worth US$62 billion in 2020.

The third major Chinese industry predicted to benefit greatly from the Connected Life is utilities and essential services, which will be worth US$37 billion in 2020. This market is fuelled by the need to reduce energy usage by both consumers and businesses, an area in which smart metering will play a vital role.

Matt Hatton, Director, Machina Research said: “There is little doubt that the biggest impact in the region will be felt in China. As its economy continues to grow, China is increasingly turning to technological solutions to address some of the challenges caused by this growth, whether it is the use of smart meters to manage electricity demand, or road monitoring solutions to manage congestion caused by growing car ownership. The Chinese government has demonstrated its willingness to introduce innovative M2M technologies and embrace the Connected Life for the benefit of its citizens.”

The Business Impact of the Connected Life Across Asia Pacific
The region’s second leading Connected Life market, Japan will unlock a business impact from connected devices of US$344 billion in 2020. While automotive and building security are two of the largest ‘connected’ industries in Japan, the leading segment in 2020 will be assisted living. This reflects Japan’s huge requirement to find new solutions to care for its aging population. As a result, enabling better care for older people at home, including managing medications and people-tracking devices, will provide a US$63 billion business impact for Japan in 2020.

Meanwhile, India will see a business impact from connected devices of US$128 billion in 2020, equating to 18 per cent of China’s Connected Life opportunity. India’s two largest connected industries, connected vehicles and intelligent buildings, are consistent with China, but development factors such as the comparative costs of M2M connectivity versus wages in India mean that manual labour will continue to be used in place of technology-led solutions up to 2020.

Health applications also dominate in many countries across the region including Australia, India and Pakistan, where mHealth services will be ranked in the top three Connected Life applications in 2020. This is spurred by the need to expand health services to the mass market of consumers, across a widespread, fragmented and predominately rural population base. However, in highly developed countries, such as Singapore, mobile technology is being adopted to address issues created by a growing, dense urban population, with smart cities and transportation creating a business impact worth nearly US$1 billion in 2020.

For more information on the GSMA Connected Life programme, please visit www.gsmaconnectedlife.com.

Notes to Editors:
The US$707 billion business impact of the Connected Life in China in 2020 is forecast to be worth US$393 billion in revenues (e.g. from the sale of connected devices and services, and revenues from related services, such as pay-as-you-drive car insurance), and US$314 billion in ‘cost reduction and service improvements’ (e.g. smart meters removing the need for manual meter readings; and service improvements, such as clinical remote monitoring for patients with chronic illnesses).

The countries in Asia Pacific to realise the greatest business impacts of the Connected Life are:

The top industries to benefit from the Connected Life in these four countries are:

All data provided by Machina Research (www.machinaresearch.com)

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About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

Media Contacts:
Xiong Wen (Beijing): +86 10 8569 9918

wxiong@webershandwick.com

Ava Lau (Hong Kong): +852 2533 9928
alau@webershandwick.com

New Measures Aim to Help Consumers Better Understand and Manage Data Usage, Addressing Head-On the Issue of Bill Shock

21 June 2012, Shanghai: At the Mobile Asia Expo, the GSMA announced that it has launched an initiative that will provide consumers greater visibility of their roaming charges and usage of mobile data services when travelling abroad. At a meeting held this week in Shanghai, 24 operator groups, including América Móvil, AT&T, Axiata Group Berhad, Bharti Airtel, Ltd., China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom-Orange, Hutchison 3 Group, KT Corporation, MTS, Qtel, SK Telecom, Smart Communications, Inc., SoftBank Mobile Corp., Tata Teleservices Limited, Telecom Italia Group, Telefónica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, Verizon Communications, VimpelCom and Vodafone Group agreed to undertake a number of measures which will help mobile subscribers better understand their data roaming charges and more effectively manage their use of data services.

“A number of our operator members are already implementing sound transparency practices, benefitting more than a billion subscribers worldwide,” said Franco Bernabè, Chairman of the GSMA and Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Group. “The initiative announced today will help to promote an even broader adoption of principles that will offer a more transparent and uniform experience for billions of consumers, wherever they travel.”

The GSMA is committed to working with mobile operators worldwide to adopt the following measures:

• Sending text messages to remind customers of their data roaming tariffs when they arrive in another country and turn on their mobile device;
• Implementing a monthly data roaming spending limit to help consumers manage their roaming bill and sending alerts when their data usage approaches the limit; and
• Temporarily suspending data service when usage exceeds the spending limit.

In the first phase of this initiative, these operators and their group subsidiaries have agreed to implement these data roaming transparency measures by the end of 2012, covering more than 4 billion mobile connections worldwide. The GSMA will also work to promote the adoption of these guidelines across its full membership base of nearly 800 mobile operators globally.  Further, the GSMA will develop a trust mark that will identify to consumers that their mobile operator is implementing these measures.

Note (3rd August 2012): Subsequent to the June announcement, NTT DOCOMO has also agreed to implement these data roaming transparency measures.

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About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com. 

Media Contacts:
Xiong Wen (Beijing): +86 10 8569 9918
wxiong@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

Jerry Zhang (Shanghai): +86 21 2411 0003
jzhang2@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

Abigail Faylor (London): +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

The GSMA today announced Flowit as the winner of the “Smarter App Challenge” developer competition at the Mobile Asia Expo. This challenge called on all developers to submit their commercially available mobile apps, on any platform, that meet the growing market need for greater efficiency as defined in the GSMA Smarter Apps for Smarter Phones guidelines launched at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona earlier this year. As the grand prize winner, Flowit will receive $10,000, with each runner up receiving $2,000 and all three received a trip to this year’s Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai for the final round of judging.

“There were some incredibly original and inspired apps submitted for the Smarter App Challenges and Flowit truly represents the most creative and innovative developer minds,” said Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA. “The GSMA is working with developers to ensure that their applications are more user and network-friendly. This developers’ competition will drive the development of efficient mobile applications that have improved connectivity, data and power consumption and security. In turn this leads to an improved user experience that helps to create and maintain app popularity.”

The three finalists for the Challenge were

• ‘Flowit’ – a photo magazine application where members can post, share and view amazing pictures of their favourite local restaurants – Mr. Jun-Ho Choi, aFactory, South Korea.
• ‘Metrowizard’ – a Navigation App using Location-Based Services (LBS) for the Seoul subway system is the world’s first – Mr. Kyung Hum Kang, Merlin, South Korea;
• ‘New Dance Tracks’ – a Music Aggregator that retrieves data remotely from APIs of three online music stores – Mr. Marco Valent, Dedicado, the Netherlands.

Flowit was chosen particularly for its ability to provide rich functionality including sharing user generated images but also making optimum use of network resources and importantly having minimal impact on battery life. Flowit can also reduce data traffic by using compressed XML, image caching, thumbnail generation on the client and lazy image loading and adaptive image resolution depending on the connected network (mobile or Wi-Fi). It reduced the amount of XML data traffic by more than 70 per cent by compressing the data and removed the transmission of thumbnail data by creating it with the original image on the client. All the images are cached and lazily loaded and the image resolution is determined by the connected network.

The judges for the Smarter App Challenge were Alex Sinclair, chief technology officer, GSMA, Dr. Terry Ahn, executive vice president, KT, and Olli Andersson, head of Smart Lab, Nokia Siemens Networks. For full criteria, eligibility and other information, please visit www.mobileappchallenge.com/smarterapp.

Improving Mobile App Efficiency
Consumer demand for innovative smartphone applications has grown dramatically over the past few years and this high demand for and heavy use of mobile applications has resulted in a greatly increased signalling load at the network level, compared with a relatively low amount of data traffic. A driver behind this increased signalling load is the proliferation of “network-unfriendly” applications that are not optimised for mobile networks; mobile networks have their own specific requirements and constraints, and applications written for fixed networks may not necessarily perform well in the mobile world.

The GSMA released a set of recommendations for application developers at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year that will enable improvements across a number of areas including application connectivity, power consumption, network reliability and security. By following the guidelines, developers will be better equipped to create fit-for-purpose apps; mobile operators will see a reduced strain on their networks; and users will experience more responsive and reliable apps and improved battery life. For a copy of these guidelines, please visit http://www.gsma.com/smarterapp.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contact:
Xiong Wen (Beijing): +86 10 8569 9918
wxiong@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com
Jerry Zhang (Shanghai): +86 21 2411 0003
jzhang2@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

Abigail Faylor (London): +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com or press@mobileasiaexpo.com

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

Mobile Asia Expo, Shanghai: The GSMA today unveiled an update to its 2009 landmark report “Mobile’s Green Manifesto” which outlines the positive impact of operator initiatives in the areas of energy and carbon management. Analysis of 34 mobile networks worldwide¹ shows that, despite considerable growth in mobile connections and traffic, total network energy consumption increased only slightly from 2009 to 2010. The analysis also shows that the total energy per unit traffic declined by approximately 20 per cent and energy per connection declined by five per cent over this period, indicating that the industry is making strong progress towards its goal of reducing its total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per connection by 40 per cent by 2020.

“This is the first ever detailed global estimate of mobile network energy consumption and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions and it shows that the mobile industry is making progress in reducing its own emissions and energy costs, as well as those in other industry sectors,” said Gabriel Solomon, Head of Regulatory Policy, GSMA. “Mobile can enable savings through a range of smart applications and can contribute to a reduction of total emissions that is at least four to five times its own carbon footprint.”

The report used data and analysis from the GSMA’s Mobile Energy Efficiency Benchmarking (MEE) service to calculate both the energy costs and the CO2e emissions that result from the electricity and diesel consumption of mobile networks² globally. The MEE Benchmarking analysis shows that if all networks with above average energy consumption are improved to the industry average, there is a potential energy cost saving for mobile operators of $1 billion per annum at 2010 prices; improving to the top quartile could save over $2 billion annually.

Smartphones, tablets, consumer electronics and machine-to-machine (M2M) devices are beginning to connect everything from cars to health services and even entire cities, which will have a positive impact on many industries. Through these and other developments, the mobile industry today is enabling significant reductions in GHG emissions and energy costs across a range of sectors of the economy, and the opportunity exists for mobile to enable even further savings. Approximately 26 million mobile M2M connections worldwide³ are enabling GHG emissions savings estimated to be about 3 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2e annually.  On a regional basis:

• The US and Canada together comprise 50 per cent of mobile M2M connections and 38 per cent of global GHG emissions savings;
• Asia Pacific accounts for 23 per cent of M2M connections and 30 per cent of emissions savings; and
• Western Europe represents 17 per cent of connections and 23 per cent of GHG savings.

Future savings come from smart applications, often as a result of M2M communications, particularly in applications such as smart grids and meters, as well as smart transportation and logistics. The mobile industry has the potential to contribute to an abatement of man-made GHG emissions. In the future, there is a significant environmental and commercial opportunity for mobile operators to help companies in other sectors and industries to both reduce their GHG emissions and cut energy costs, for example:

• Global mobile M2M connections in smart grids, smart meters and fleet management are forecast to grow strongly, at 30 to 40 per cent per annum, reaching approximately 100 million mobile M2M connections⁴ worldwide by 2015. This would result in possible GHG savings of 18 Mt CO2e, the equivalent of taking over 4 million cars off the road⁵;
• Mobile has the potential to enable much greater emissions savings of at least 900 Mt CO2e in 2020, which is 1.7 per cent of the global 2020 GHG emissions forecast by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its “business-as-usual” scenario⁶; and
• Emissions savings in 2020 will result from the use of 3.5 billion mobile M2M connections⁷ and also from mobile dematerialisation applications, where travel, products and processes are substituted by virtual alternatives.

As more operators join the GSMA’s MEE benchmarking service, the accuracy of the estimations of total mobile network energy consumption, energy cost and CO2e emissions can be improved and the results used to track industry performance over time. The GSMA will continue to work with regulators and standards bodies to ensure the MEE Benchmarking methodology, already included in a global standard by the International Telecommunication Union, fits with other methodologies developed by the global ICT industry. Future development may include life cycle assessment of energy and carbon emissions based on an approach agreed by operators and manufacturers.
The full report can be found at: http://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/mobilesgreenmanifesto

-ENDS-

Note to Editors:
In 2009 at Mobile Asia Congress, the GSMA, together with the Climate Group, published “Mobile’s Green Manifesto” which set out how the mobile industry planned to lower its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per connection, and demonstrated the key role that mobile communications can play in lowering emissions in other sectors and industries. It also made specific policy recommendations for governments and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, including the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15), in order to realise the full potential of mobile communications’ ability to enable reductions in global GHG emissions.

Shortly after the publication of “Mobile’s Green Manifesto”, the GSMA set up a programme called Mobile Energy Efficiency (MEE) to help the industry measure and manage its own emissions.  The new report highlights the initial results from MEE as well as progress around mobile’s enabling role.

¹ Consisting of 16 from developed countries and 18 from emerging countries.
² Mobile networks are defined as the Radio Access Network plus the mobile elements of the Core Network.  Energy consumed by IT systems (including data centres) and overheads is excluded as it is much smaller and also harder to benchmark.
³ Source: Machina Research.
⁴ Sources: GSMA analysis based on Yankee Group and Machina Research forecasts.
⁵ Assuming annual emissions per car of 4 tonnes of CO2e.
⁶ The IEA publishes biennial forecasts of global CO2 emissions following the G8’s request for advice in 2005.
⁷ Source: GSMA analysis extrapolating from Vodafone’s “Carbon Connections” report.

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide.  Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

For further information, please contact:
Abigail Faylor: +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com or press@gsm.org

SingTel Group collaborates with GSMA on Mobile Energy Efficiency Benchmarking

New Initiative Provides Open Data for the Mobile Industry in the Developing World

13 June 2012, London: The GSMA today launched the Mobile and Development Intelligence (MDI) project in conjunction with Omidyar Network the philanthropic investment firm established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Through an open access portal, MDI will offer data and analysis to support business decision-making and clarify the evidence of the socio-economic impact of the mobile industry in the developing world. MDI will provide any user with over 70 metrics and the ability to tabulate, graph, map and export the datasets with country-level dashboards available for more than 140 developing world countries. MDI will continually add new datasets throughout the project and users can add data and content to the portal.

“The GSMA believes that open access to high-quality data will improve business decision-making, increase total investment from both the commercial mobile industry and the development sector, and amplify economic, environmental and social impact,” said Chris Locke, Managing Director, GSMA Development Fund. “The GSMA is uniquely positioned to aggregate and host data and analysis on behalf of our mobile operator members and the wider industry. This open data portal will provide for the first time a complete landscape of the organisations and mobile services that are influencing and changing lives in developing populations throughout the world.”

“Omidyar Network is proud to partner with the GSMA on the MDI portal to help foster a thriving mobile ecosystem in the developing world,” said Raj Gollamudi, director of investments, Omidyar Network. “Using the power and ubiquity of the mobile platform to empower individuals with information and opportunities to improve their lives is core to Omidyar Network’s mission. We believe the mobile industry in emerging markets needs a credible and trusted source of market data to enable greater collaboration across various sectors and drive incremental investments in the most promising opportunities. In addition to becoming the industry’s de-facto data platform, we envision MDI becoming a vibrant community hub for all players in the ecosystem.”

Rich Data Landscape
A challenge facing mobile industry stakeholders in the developing world is the lack of publically available data and analysis to support their business decision making. MDI will fill this information gap and will aggregate and host publically available data from multiple sources such as the GSMA, the United Nations, the World Bank, the wider mobile industry and development organisations.

MDI hosts a landscape of more than 800 organisation profiles; in addition, over 750 products and services have been summarised, with an initial focus on mobile money and mobile health. Users can see these organisations, products and services on a global map and search for particular types of organisations. This will allow stakeholders to identify each other, understand each other’s offerings and objectives, and form collaborations and partnerships.

There are an estimated 6.6 billion mobile connections globally, with the developing world providing the majority of global connections growth. The industry is moving beyond basic voice to the use of mobile to deliver services in adjacent sectors such as agriculture, education, financial services and health. As the most widely adopted technology in history, mobile is uniquely positioned to drive economic, environmental and social benefit. MDI will help increase this momentum by providing a robust, data-rich, user-friendly and freely available portal that offers a new level of global visibility.

Locke continued, “By helping to increase the level of investment and the number of products and services offered that prove to be fundamentally valuable to developing populations, MDI will have an impact on the livelihoods of millions of people in the developing world.”

-ENDS-
Note to Editors:
MDI has also completed impact pathways for mobile money, mobile health and women and mobile to find, categorise and present impact evidence. PriceWaterhouseCoopers has provided data and analysis support and global IT consultancy ThoughtWorks has carried out platform development. For further information and to become part of the community, please visit: www.mobiledevelopmentintelligence.com.

The GSMA also provides a subscription based service covering global mobile market metrics and analysis through Wireless Intelligence. For more information go to www.wirelessintelligence.com.

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

For further information, please contact:
Abigail Faylor: +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com or press@gsm.org.

London: The GSMA today announced the appointment of Hyunmi Yang as Chief Strategy Officer. Ms. Yang, who was most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at KT Corp., will join the GSMA effective June 15 and will report to GSMA Director General Anne Bouverot. As Chief Strategy Officer, Ms. Yang will focus on working with the GSMA’s operator members in identifying opportunities that will advance the development of the mobile communications industry.

“Hyunmi brings to the GSMA a strong understanding of the mobile industry, and the opportunities and challenges that mobile operators are facing today,” said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA. “Her experience in Korea, one of the most innovative mobile markets in the world, combined with her experiences from the financial sector, will be invaluable as she works with the GSMA members in defining global strategies, initiatives and programmes that will offer collective benefit for our operator members and the broad mobile industry. I am excited to welcome such an accomplished executive to the GSMA leadership team.”

“I am pleased to accept this prestigious position with the GSMA at such an exciting time for the mobile communications industry,” commented Hyunmi Yang. “We are living in a magical time where the boundaries between telecom and many other industries are disappearing, and everything is converging to mobile. I view this as a hugely positive opportunity for operators, businesses and consumers around the world. I look forward to working with the GSMA’s members in exploring and maximising these new opportunities and extending the reach of mobile technology in the coming years.”

When joining KT as an Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Mobile Business Group in 2009, Ms. Yang was noted for being the first female executive in the history of telecommunications in Korea. Later responsible for both the mobile and fixed line businesses as a Chief Customer Officer, she had overall ownership of the master customer portfolio, development of a group customer loyalty programme and overall customer strategies. Further, with her unique blend of careers in the fields of telecom and finance, Ms. Yang has led the way and set the pace with regards to telecom–banking convergence services such as smart wallet and mobile money transfer services, as well as NFC.

Prior to KT, she was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Shinhan Bank in Korea, where she led marketing strategies and product development. Ms. Yang has also held senior management roles at American Express in New York, where she applied data-driven insights to marketing strategies and loyalty programmes. Ms. Yang holds a Ph.D. in applied mathematics and statistics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and M.S. and B.S. degrees in mathematics from Seoul National University in Seoul.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

Media Contacts:

Abigail Faylor (London): +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com

Ava Lau (Hong Kong): +852 2533 9928
alau@webershandwick.com

GSMA Press Office
press@gsm.org

GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit, Cape Town: The GSMA, in collaboration with the Qtel Group and Qualcomm Incorporated, today announced the finalists and overall winner of its inaugural Mobile Health University Challenge, a global competition that highlights key mobile health initiatives taking place within the university community, and which are being showcased this week at the GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa.

During the challenge, teams of university students from around the world were asked to develop a mobile health concept that would address a specific healthcare need. From the initial group of entrants, the top 13 teams were invited to attend this week’s finals at the GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit to present their ideas to a judging panel comprised of venture capitalists and major players in the mobile and health industries. From these 13 teams, four were chosen to present to the judging panel in a final round, and from the final four, one overall winner was selected.

The four finalists were:

• Jordan University of Science and Technology (Jordan) - Snore Detector
• UC Berkeley (US) - LifeCheck
• University of Oxford (UK) - BabeeMon
• MIT (US) and Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte (Brazil) - Sana AudioPulse

The winner of the challenge was the joint team of MIT from the US and the Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte from Brazil for its Sana AudioPulse. As the winning team, MIT and the Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte will be offered mentoring towards the future development of their innovation and the opportunity to exhibit at key industry events such as the GSMA’s Connected Living Latin America Summit, which is being held in Brazil in June 2012.

“The teams were challenged and encouraged to use their originality and creativity to create a compelling and viable mHealth solution, and we commend the enthusiasm and commitment shown by all those who took part in our inaugural competition,” said Jeanine Vos, Executive Director, mHealth at the GSMA. “Our congratulations to the winning team, MIT and the Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, and our thanks to all those who participated.”

For more information on the innovative solutions put forward by the final four teams, please visit: www.gsma.com/connectedliving/gsma-mobile-health-university-challenge.

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About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

Media Contact:

press@gsm.org

Abigail Faylor (UK)
P: +44 (0)20 7067 0851
M: +44 (0)7702 332 350
E: afaylor@webershandwick.com

Cape Town, South Africa: GSMA mHealth Tracker and Report Shows Evolution of Mobile Operators’ Health Services and Identifies Significant Value for the Health Industry

The GSMA today announced that mobile operators are driving significant value for the healthcare industry by improving access, reach and quality to care across the entire patient pathway. The findings come from a new report by the GSMA looking at the wider healthcare ecosystem, “Integrating Healthcare: The Role and Value of Mobile Operators in eHealth,” which was released at the Mobile Health Summit in Cape Town on 30th May 2012 and is supported by data from the GSMA mHealth Tracker.

“Over the past few years we’ve seen mobile operators delivering end-to-end healthcare solutions which have typically been provided by the traditional systems integrator but there is clear evidence supporting operators’ emerging role in eHealth,” said Chris Locke, Managing Director, GSMA Development Fund. “Today operators have evolved and are best placed to deliver the solutions addressing the issues that the global healthcare industry faces, by lowering costs and making healthcare more accessible.”

The healthcare industry is undergoing a fundamental shift as demand from patients for services outside of traditional healthcare settings, such as hospitals and clinics, increases. This in turn is driving increased demand for mHealth services, with the mHealth market estimated to be worth US$23 billion by 2017. In addition, operators are also developing ICT capabilities that enable them to serve the larger eHealth market, such as cloud-based medical records and imaging as well as in the provision of health information exchanges. This larger eHealth market is estimated to be worth up to USD$160 billion in 2015.

Leading mobile operators are expanding beyond their core capabilities in consumer voice and data, to global business integration capabilities. They are now integral to areas such as cloud computing, enterprise collaboration, machine-to-machine integration and integrated payments to support core clinical and operational processes. For example, the report highlights that Orange, in conjunction with GE, is integrating the imaging needs of the most populous region in France, connecting more than 90 hospitals and 500 radiologists and covering a patient base of more than 12 million individuals. AT&T has also recently signed large deals providing health information exchange services to the Indiana Health Information Exchange, which includes more than 80 facilities, 19,000 physicians and 10 million patients; as well as in private sector Baylor Healthcare system in Texas.

The report provides a market evaluation framework for operators to assess the opportunities and challenges in this broader market. The research also indicates that as mobile operators continue to develop their capabilities to connect people and businesses in increasingly more sophisticated ways, they will face a number of challenges. Operators will need to build on their brands in order to differentiate themselves from existing ICT infrastructure providers; they will need to demonstrate their ability to deliver as new implementations have large financial and brand risks attached; and they will have to demonstrate the value that they bring to the eHealth industry and end consumers in integrating the solutions both inside and outside of hospitals and clinic settings.

As the mHealth industry continues to develop, there has been no comprehensive cataloguing of global mHealth service deployment. To address this, over the last nine months, the GSMA has tracked and analysed mHealth products and services, and has created the GSMA mHealth Tracker. The mHealth Tracker, which is available online at Mobile Health Live, provides data on more than 600 mHealth products and services. The following filters for the data are available: clinical need, service type, country, launch dates, organisation deploying the service. In future, the GSMA will track mHealth services on their business models, technology types and evidence being generated.

- ENDS –

Notes to Editors:
The report is part of the GSMA’s Pan-African Health Initiative to drive collaboration efforts between mobile operators and the public/private sector to increase access to underserved communities. It follows on from the research completed by the GSMA on how the connectivity between individuals and healthcare practitioners can be improved by providing the means and incentive for healthcare to occur over the mobile channel. For more information on the GSMA’s mHealth programme and to view the report, please visit http://www.gsma.com/mhealthresources.

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

For further information, please contact:
Abigail Faylor: +44 (0)2070 670 851
afaylor@webershandwick.com or press@gsm.org

Release of Harmonised Spectrum Would Generate an Additional US$100 Billion in GDP from 2013 – 2025 and Help Create Over 400,000 New Jobs in the Kingdom.

The GSMA today announced that greater allocation of spectrum for Mobile Broadband is vital for the economic and social development the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). New findings from a report by Analysys Mason, commissioned by the GSMA, reveal that if the Saudi government were to release internationally harmonised spectrum in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, the Kingdom would stand to benefit substantially. Improvements enabled by the release of spectrum include:

• A total GDP gain of SAR358 billion1 (US$95.5 billion) in net present value terms over the period 2013 to 2025;
• Direct and indirect creation of jobs for 424,000 people by 2020; and
• Broadband coverage to KSA’s large rural areas, providing education and information benefits to the poorer areas of the Kingdom.

The report also found that any delay in the release of this harmonised spectrum beyond 2013 would have a significant impact on these benefits. For example, a five-year delay in the release of harmonised spectrum would reduce the total GDP gain over 2013 – 2025 to just SAR96 billion (US$26 billion) and reduce the number of jobs created to 75,000.

“The current spectrum allocation for LTE in KSA, in the 2.3GHz and 2.6GHz bands, follows a completely non-harmonised arrangement, and as a result, will not deliver the benefits made possible by allocating harmonised spectrum in the 800 MHz and the 2.6 GHz bands,” said Peter Lyons, Director of Spectrum Policy, Africa and Middle East, GSMA. “The continuation of the current arrangement will have a detrimental impact on coverage across rural areas, in-building penetration and high-capacity connectivity for KSA’s largest cities.”

International spectrum harmonisation is critical in ensuring that new devices, such as tablets, smartphones and ultrabooks, will be able to work in KSA. Failure to harmonise spectrum with the international community will result in the Kingdom being forced to use higher-cost and poorly-performing devices for LTE. In addition, people from neighbouring Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries would not be able to roam with their devices in the Kingdom.

In order to achieve these benefits for society, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should release internationally harmonised band plans of 140 MHz of spectrum at 2.6 GHz and at least 60 MHz of digital dividend spectrum at 800 MHz.

“As a key market in the region, we encourage the Saudi government to make the necessary spectrum available to support the growth of LTE services,” Lyons continued. “The benefits of widespread next-generation Mobile Broadband connectivity can help the Kingdom diversify its strengths and transition, over time, to a knowledge-based economy. This will create a solid foundation for continued growth, prosperity and security.”

To view the report please visit: www.gsma.com/spectrum/the-socio-economic-benefit-of-allocating-harmonised-spectrum-in-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia.

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Notes to editors

1 In terms of net present value (NPV) using a discount rate of 5%.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com.

Media Contact:

press@gsm.org
Abigail Faylor (UK)
P: +44 (0)20 7067 0851
M: +44 (0)7702 332 350
E: afaylor@webershandwick.com

The GSMA today announced that executives from ARM, Best Buy, China Mobile, Citigroup, ISIS, Juniper Networks, Sprint and VimpelCom will be speaking in the keynote programme at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, which will be held 27th February – 1st March 2012 at the Fira de Barcelona Montjuic in Barcelona. The GSMA also provided updates on other elements of Mobile World Congress, including App Planet, the GSMA Forum Series and the mPowered Brands programme.