MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS PREVIEW - Getting together
The GSMA's Mobile World Congress 2008 runs on 11th to 14th February in Barcelona, aiming to -
once again - prove its value as the leading event in the mobile industry
The growing convergence of media, communications, entertainment and information being very much on the minds of all those involved in the currently separate industries (though in the words of Keith Willetts, TM Forum Chairman, each in the process of eyeing up the other's lunch), the GSMA's Mobile World Congress is clearly intending to hit all the right buttons, with all the right buzz words.
Noting that mobile is now about much more than simple voice calls, but is a social and economic phenomenon, providing new channels and opportunities for information, entertainment and the Internet generation, GSMA has declared the four major themes of the conference to be ubiquitous networks, the over-the-top service challenge, mobile's social and economic value, and the mobile digital content revolution, and thus clearly aims to ensure that Mobile World Congress 2008, safeguards its reputation as the largest and most significant global mobile event. The organisers further declare: "The structure of the upcoming Mobile World Congress is being developed to reflect the ongoing changes in the mobile value chain. This programme identifies the risks that will be taken and highlights the rewards that can be reaped in brining these changes to all geographic markets and mobile services."
Under this umbrella, the event will tackle a variety of the issues currently dominating telco thinking and concerns. The convergence of fixed and mobile communications, for instance, may well have a certain natural evolution, but is it inevitable, real or even desirable? The MWC session will look to unearth what FMC means for leading operators and define the role it will play in their business development.
While the ‘Society on the Move' session will explore the way in which mobile has integrated into modern culture, recognising the growing importance of mobile across society, the commercial aspects of the market are very much to the fore. So, within the Mobile Entertainment Summit, for example, one session will address the proposition that some believe that mobile advertising is essential to unlock the potential of mobile entertainment, and that advertisers will jump at the chance to spend billions in the mobile arena, while others believe that users will simply turn off. The session aims to put the opportunity into context and uncover what it will take to deliver the mobile advertising promise. Under the same Summit, the conference will also address the view that the youth demographic is the darling of the mobile world. Quick to take up new services and open to new technologies, the youthful user is every operator's target - but is this reputation justified?
On the technology front, the conference will look at such areas as HSPA, under the title ‘The story continues with HSUPA and HSPA Evolved', noting that while HSDPA is already proving a huge commercial success on a global basis, what is the evolutionary path for this mobile broadband technology? The session will aim to provide operator insight into deploying HSUPA and the move to HSPA Evolved. Staying in the technology arena, ‘LTE - defining the future' recognises that while standards are quietly being finalised, speculation and rumour pervade. The session will provide insight into the reality of LTE and its prospect against alternative future mobile broadband technologies.
Noting that mobile penetration has reached over 100 per cent in 38 countries to date, and many more are high in the 90s, the focus of the keynote session on building ubiquitous networks centres on the recognition that while there may be a mobile phone in everyone's pocket, mobile isn't everywhere and the challenge is to take high speed, high capacity mobile services everywhere. It will examine the development and rollout of ever-more capable networks and their convergence with fixed, to deliver ubiquitous services.
And while MWC recognises that the mobile industry is unrivalled in its technical excellence (well, up to a point Lord Copper), it all too often forgets that the success of its achievements rest on the experience the user gets when he first switches on. The ‘It's the user experience stupid!' session highlights the importance of putting the user first and the developments that can set consumer imagination racing.
The highly topical subjects of VoIP and Mobile TV must also, of course, have a slot at the conference. In the case of the former, the ‘VoIP - coming ready or not!' session works on the basis that VoIP has the promise to revolutionise the cost base of voice communications, but will it, and how will VoIP impact the business of mobile operators? In the case of Mobile TV, it is noted that the application has had a stuttering start, but that, as it finally begins to reach commercial deployment, the race to find the killer business model is replacing the technology debate. The ‘Mobile TV - taking it to the masses' session looks at the realities of rollout and the business impact of technology decisions.
The above, of course, is a mere snapshot of all that Mobile World Congress 2008 aims to be. The event also offers both visual and hands-on back up to theories and discussions in the shape of the many products and services on display at the concurrent exhibition. And, most importantly, it is the king and queen of networking opportunities - of the business and social kind, of course.
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