[March 05, 2015] |
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GSMA Mobile World Congress 2015 Shatters Previous Records
The GSMA (News - Alert) today reported that more than 93,000* visitors from 200
countries attended the 2015 Mobile World Congress at the Fira Gran Via
and Fira Montjuïc venues in Barcelona, setting another new record for
the mobile industry's premier event. The 2015 Mobile World Congress
featured more than 2,000 exhibiting companies showcasing cutting-edge
products and services across 100,000 net square metres of exhibition and
hospitality space. More than 3,800 international media and industry
analysts attended the event to report on the many significant industry
announcements made at the Congress. Preliminary independent economic
analysis indicates that the 2015 Mobile World Congress will have
contributed more than €436 million and nearly 12,675 part-time jobs to
the local economy.
"As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mobile World
Congress in Barcelona, we are gratified by the record-breaking success
we've seen this year," said John Hoffman, CEO, GSMA Ltd. "It's been a
tremendously exciting show, with many major device launches, discussion
and debate on the future of our industry and demonstrations of the
cutting-edge products and services that customers are enjoying now and
will experience in the future. The industry has advanced significantly
over the past decade and we look forward to the many new developments
that the next ten years will surely hold."
The four-day conference and exhibition attracted executives from the
world's largest and most influential mobile operators, software
companies, equipment providers, internet companies and companies from
industry sectors such as automotive, finance and healthcare, as well as
government delegations from across the globe. Over 52 per cent of this
year's Mobile World Congress attendees hold C-level positions, including
more than 5,000 CEOs and 18 per cent of attendees for the 2015 show were
women.
Leading CEOs Take the Stage at Mobile World Congress
The Mobile World Congress conference programme featured two Mobile World
Live keynotes. On Monday, Facebook (News - Alert) CEO Mark Zuckerberg was joined
onstage by Christian De Faria, CEO of Airtel Africa, Mario Zanotti,
Senior Vice President of Operations at Millicom and Jon Fredrik Baksaas,
President and CEO of Telenor (News - Alert) Group to discuss efforts to extend
connectivity to more people around the world. The Tuesday evening Mobile
World Live keynote featured Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission, in a discussion on the impact of recent
telecommunications regulation in the United States.
CEOs and senior executives from companies including ARM, AT&T, Avegant,
AVG Technologies, BBVA, BSH Home Appliances, Deutsche Telekom, Dialog
Axiata, e-Estonia, Ericsson (News - Alert), Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad, Huawei,
Intel, Klarna, KT Corporation, LINE, MasterCard, Micromax Informatics,
Mozilla Foundation, Nokia, Orange, Peel, Qualcomm, Renault-Nissan
Alliance, SP, TAPTAP Networks, Telefónica, Telenor, Thinfilm, Visa,
VMWare, Vodafone (News - Alert), Wicab and Wikipedia also participated in the keynote
programme.
Record Attendance to GSMA Ministerial Programme
The GSMA's Ministerial Programme again saw record attendance, with 161
delegations representing 136 countries and 25 international
organisations, including 69 Ministers and 76 heads of National
Regulatory Authorities. The Ministerial Programme brings together
governments, regulators and industry leaders to discuss the specific
regulatory issues shaping the development of mobile around the world.
Tata Consultancy Services was the Official Sponsor for the 2015 GSMA
Ministerial Programme.
Experiencing the Internet of Things
A major highlight of the Mobile World Congress was the GSMA Innovation
City. This unique space enabled attendees to experience technology in
context and see how mobile-connected products and services can improve
the daily lives of citizens and businesses across automotive, health,
home, retail and other applications, in both urban and rural settings.
The Innovation City offered a real-world city environment that includes
a café, a theatre, shops, trains, connected cars and a dental spa.
Attendees had the opportunity to experience immersive demonstrations and
interactive exhibits catering to a wide range of interests. The
Innovation City featured exhibits from the GSMA and AT&T, Jasper, KT
Corporation, Oral-B, Sierra Wireless and Vodafone, demonstrating the
very latest in mobile connected products and services.
4 Years From Now at Fira Montjuïc
Now in its second year, 4 Years From Now (4YFN) is an international
programme presented by Mobile World Capital Barcelona and GSMA bringing
together the best mobile start-ups and entrepreneurs with investors,
accelerators, incubators and corporations from the mobile ecosystem.
Over four days, the 4YFN programme hosted inspiring talks, interactive
workshops, cutting-edge exhibition, startup competitions and unique
networking opportunities for more than 8,000 attendees, including 4,000
dedicated 4YFN attendees as well as an additional 4,000 visitors from
Mobile World Congress at Fira Gran Via.
Mobile World Congress: A Carbon Neutral Event
Mobile World Congress was certified carbon neutral in July 2014, under
the PAS 2060 standard, becoming the world's largest conference and
exhibition to achieve this status. In 2015, the GSMA focused on further
reducing the environmental impact of the event, reducing electricity
consumption and waste in printed materials, encouraging the re-use and
recycling of materials at the venue, utilising digital signage and
electronic tools and working with Fira Barcelona, exhibitors and local
partners to minimise the carbon footprint. Following Mobile World
Congress, the GSMA will pursue re-certification, calculating the event's
total carbon footprint and offsetting any outstanding emissions.
Mobile World Congress 2016
The 2016 Mobile World Congress will be held 22-25 February 2016 at Fira
Gran Via.
"On behalf of the GSMA, I'd like to thank the city of Barcelona, the
city of Hospitalet, the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Fira de Barcelona
and all of our Barcelona partners, for their continued strong support
over the past ten years. We look forward to returning next year and
building on our success together," concluded Hoffman.
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 encompasses programmes and activities that 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, visit www.mobileworldcapital.com.
For more information on the 2015 Mobile World Congress, please visit www.mobileworldcongress.com.
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.
-ENDS-
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting
nearly 800 operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile
ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies,
equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in
adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading
events such as Mobile World Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai and
the Mobile 360 Series conferences.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com.
Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.
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