GSMA Chairman and Telecom Italia Group Chairman and CEO Franco Bernabe Convenes Gathering of World's Top Mobile Operators at TI Future Centre
Bernabe Announces Milestone in Mobile Broadband - 500 Million HSPA Connections by the End of June, Expected to Reach 1 Billion by the End of 2012
VENICE, Italy, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- The GSMA held its most recent Board meeting this week at Telecom Italia's Future Centre in Venice. The world's leading mobile operators converged in the Italian city to explore the key issues and challenges facing the mobile industry today, as well as the opportunities which will spur innovation and growth across the ecosystem.
"We are focused on driving activities where collective action can deliver significant benefits to the mobile industry's customers, far above those that individual operators could achieve through their own pursuits," commented Franco Bernabe, GSMA Chairman and Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Group. "Together, we are working to prioritise the customer experience, interoperability, quality of service and security which have been the hallmarks of the mobile industry since its inception, and which continue to be the foundation of our respective businesses."
The Board sets the strategic direction of the GSMA, ensuring its work is fully aligned with the needs of mobile operators and their customers across the world. Comprised of Group CEOs, CEOs and C-level representatives from the 25 of the world's leading mobile operator groups, as well as the CEO of the GSMA, the Board prioritises and oversees the GSMA's strategic, commercial, public policy and technical initiatives. In this way, the Board ensures that everything the organisation does is anchored by an overriding objective to increase the value the mobile industry contributes to societies and economies worldwide.
At the meeting, the second of Mr. Bernabe's term as GSMA Chairman, the Board reviewed the progress of the GSMA's strategic initiatives, which focus on the areas of Mobile Broadband and Spectrum; Embedded Mobile; Mobile NFC; Mobile Advertising; and Rich Communications Ecosystem. The GSMA's Strategy Committee (SC), Executive Management Committee (EMC) and Public Policy Committee (PPC) also met to discuss critical issues in the technological and regulatory realms.
"We are making very strong progress across these strategic initiatives," continued Mr. Bernabe. "For instance, the world's operators are making significant investment in Mobile Broadband, and particularly LTE, to create a truly 'connected life'. In fact, this month we are reaching an important milestone in the development of the Mobile Broadband market - we will hit 500 million HSPA connections and as we are adding 19 million new connections each month, we expect to reach 1 billion by the end of 2012."
About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning 219 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 Congress.
For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at http://www.gsmworld.com.
