MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS : A Congress of Their Own

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

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

Star Attractions

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

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

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

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

Taking on New Initiatives

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

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

The Indian Touch

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

Award Gallery

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sandeep Budki

sandeepb@cybermedia.co.in