Displaying items by tag: GSMA

Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry’s largest global conference, has been postponed to late June 2021.

The conference usually takes place in late February or early March in Barcelona, Spain but it was canceled in 2020 as it coincided with the very beginning of the widespread COVID-19 outbreak.

It has now been announced that it will actually be held in 2021 but later than usual. MWC Barcelona will be held between June 28^th and July 1^st and MWC Shanghai is slotted in for 23^rd to 25^th February 2021.

The organization behind the event, the GSMA, anticipates that vaccines will be more widely available by then, catering to an estimate of around 85% of the hundred largest companies in the mobile sector.

The GSMA said that it will “have virtual elements to complement the overwhelming demand to convene physically.

MWC Los Angeles remains unchanged as it will take place later in the year. According to the GSMA, the event is scheduled for 26^th to 28^th October 2021.

The governing body that represents the world’s mobile operators is expected to discuss the ongoing issue of Chinese telecommunications vendor Huawei at this month’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The GSMA has proposed to its members that they hold a discussion regarding the possibility of a blanket ban on Huawei from the majority of developed markets within the ICT ecosystem.  A number of leading operators have expressed their disapproval at the tactics being used against Huawei, with many feeling it is a politically motivated campaign being led by the United States.

There is also a general consensus amongst ICT stakeholders and major players that any ban on Huawei will significantly impact the rollout of 5G networks. Vodafone CEO Nick Read has already publicly stated that a ban could delay the commercial deployment of 5G in Europe by up to two years.

It has been reported that the GSMA Director-General Mats Granryd has written to its members about Huawei and has said the current situation involving the Chinese vendor should be part of its agenda on its next board meeting in Barcelona later this month.

The GSMA represents mobile operators globally, and united more than 750 operators with over 350 companies as part of a broader mobile ecosystem, which includes the handset and device manufacturers, equipment providers and internet companies.

Huawei has found itself at the centre of intense scrutiny from the US in recent months, and was just like week charged with a number of indictments related to intellectual property theft and fraud. Huawei has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has accused the US of participating in an ‘immoral political campaign’.

Diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Washington are strained and officials from both countries are set to meet again later this week to resume trade talks.

However, this isn’t the first time the US has went after a high-profile Chinese telecommunications company. Huawei’s domestic rival ZTE was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy after draconian measures were imposed against them by the US Department of Commerce.

Huawei has been banned from any role in the rollout of 5G networks in Australia and New Zealand. The European Union has said it will look at the issues that have been alleged by the US.

More than 30 percent of Europe’s mobile connections will be running on 5G networks by 2025, according to a new GSMA study. The 2017 Europe edition of the GSMA’s Mobile Economy series, forecasts that there will be 214 million 5G connections in Europe by 2025, establishing the region as one of the largest 5G markets in the world by that point. 

The first commercial 5G networks in Europe are due to be switched on by 2020 and are expected to provide 5G network coverage to almost three-quarters of Europe’s population by 2025, according to the report.

“Europe has an opportunity to reestablish itself as a global technology leader as we move toward the 5G era, but this can only happen if policymakers move quickly and boldly to make the necessary regulatory reforms to boost the region’s competitiveness on the global stage and bring innovative services to Europe’s citizens,” said Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.

"A forward-looking regulatory environment designed to encourage long-term investment and innovation in Europe’s digital infrastructure is essential to maintaining a vibrant European mobile ecosystem and delivering the European Commission’s vision for a ‘Gigabit Society’,” Granryd added.

Europe is the most highly penetrated mobile region in the world, according to the GSMA. At the end of 2016, there were 456 million unique mobile subscribers in Europe, equivalent to 84 per cent of the population.

This high penetration rate means that there is little room for subscriber growth over the coming years: unique mobile subscribers in Europe are forecast to reach 469 million by 2020, or 86 per cent of the population – a 0.7 per cent CAGR (2016-2020).

However, slowing subscriber growth is being offset by the rapid migration to 4G networks. 4G accounted for a third of mobile connections in Europe at the end of 2016, and is forecast to account for more than 60 per cent of the total by 2020 as more Europeans take up 4G devices amid a growing demand for data and as 4G network coverage increases.

The number of 4G connections will overtake 3G connections in Europe for the first time this year, according to the report. 4G networks are also set to evolve and grow in popularity well into the 5G era, supporting higher speeds via network upgrades based on MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) and carrier aggregation technologies.

Mobile revenue growth in Europe is showing signs of stabilizing, following a prolonged period of negative or flat growth. European mobile operator revenue reached EUR143 billion in 2016 and is expected to increase slightly to EUR146 billion by the end of 2020. The report attributes the steadying performance to rising data demand, improved macroeconomic conditions and an easing of regulatory pressures.

Last year, mobile technologies and services generated EUR540 billion in economic value across Europe, a contribution equivalent to 3.4 per cent of Europe’s GDP.

By 2020, the report says, this figure is expected to increase to around EUR670 billion (3.9 per cent of GDP), as the region experiences strong growth in productivity brought about by continued adoption of machine-to-machine technology and the increased digitization of industry and services.

Europe’s mobile ecosystem supported 2.6 million jobs, directly and indirectly, in 2016. The sector also makes an important contribution to the funding of the public sector, with EUR100 billion raised in 2016, mainly in the form of general taxation, including VAT, corporate taxes and employment taxes.

To support the mobile industry’s increasing contribution to Europe’s growth and innovation, the report highlights the need for new thinking around telecoms sector regulation. It calls for a review of the European Commission’s Digital Single Market, launched two years ago, particularly with regards to new proposals such as the European Electronic Communications Code and ePrivacy Regulation.

“Europe needs a holistic policy and regulatory framework that reinforces its position as a preferred location for investment and innovation,” added Granryd. “We are calling for fresh dialogue between government and industry to assess how the Digital Single Market has performed to date, what needs to change and where regulation can promote the long-term development of Europe’s digital vision.”

Ecuador’s Telecommunications Regulation and Control Agency (ARCOTEL) and the GSMA have launched the “We Care Ecuador” campaign to set up local actions by telcos that will help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Operators Claro, CNT EP and Telefónica Movistar have banded together on a coordinated awareness campaign via social networks, digital media and websites to help create a culture of prevention in vulnerable areas and reinforce good practices during emergencies.

The GSMA and ARCOTEL will also work together to step up the fight against handset theft. They will support the ARCOTEL initiative Tu Celular Legal exchanging regional good practices and the global experience of the GSMA IMEI database, a global central database containing basic information on the serial number (IMEI) ranges of millions of mobile devices (e.g. mobile phones, laptop data cards, etc.) in use across the globe.

“As a mobile ecosystem, we’re focusing on supporting communities during crisis or natural disasters and tackling the daily scourge of mobile phone theft, continually aiming to help reach the SDGs by fully leveraging mobile technology,” said Sebastián Cabello, Head of GSMA Latin America.

The mobile industry in Ecuador will jointly work with authorities to improve the disaster preparedness and response, according to the GSMA. During the earthquake in April 2016, the country’s mobile operators mobilized technicians and vehicles to provide satellite phones, water, phone chargers and internet service to affected areas.

They also installed temporary base stations, provided power generators and offered discounts and free calls and texting, among other actions to facilitate communications access to users in affected areas. Ecuador’s Secretary of Risk Management said that by 22 April 2016 (six days after the earthquake), 84 percent of telecommunications had been reestablished in Manabí, and in Esmeraldas and Guayas, they were fully restored.

“Joining “We Care Ecuador” reaffirms our willingness to collaborate and encourage a culture of preparedness and response for situations that can put lives at risk,” said Victor García, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Claro. “The mobile industry contribution to improving people’s quality of life is even more evident in actions that help to improve public safety, both in times of natural disaster and in working with the authorities to tackle handset theft.

José Manuel Casas, CEO of Telefónica Ecuador, said: “I reiterate my gratitude and my pride in the work of everyone at Telefónica and the pledge to the country. In record time we set up vital telecommunications services, sent out vehicles that covered the worst hit areas, provided free calls and built seven Proniño centers to teach, entertain and support children affected by the tragedy. This shows what we’re capable of. If we’re united and focused, we’ll achieve our objectives, fully in line with the SDGs.”

Underscoring the mobile industry commitment to the SDGs, the GSMA “We Care” campaign is an initiative of the region’s leading mobile operators to ensure all their users can enjoy the life-changing benefits of mobile technology in a safe and secure environment.

To achieve this, operators have joined forces as an industry and taken on a series of commitments in every country in the region where mobile phones and networks can provide solutions to social problems.

The initiative has been launched in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru and the Dominican Republic, and will continue to expand across the region.

China Mobile and NTT DOCOMO announced that they have jointly developed the world's first multi-vendor embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM) system within their commercial environments based on the GSMA's Remote Provisioning Architecture for Embedded UICC3.1 (GSMAv3.1) standard.

The system enables interoperability between the two carriers' eSIM systems, which adopt different vendors' subscription management platforms. Previously, for different carriers to reprogram the same eSIM, they had to adopt an eSIM system of one vendor. The new multi-vendor eSIM system incorporates subscription management platforms of two different vendors - one by G+D Mobile Security that DOCOMO has adopted and the other by GEMALTO, which China Mobile has adopted.

China Mobile and DOCOMO have been jointly developing IoT technologies and related business based on the Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement (SCFA). The new multi-vendor eSIM system is one of the results of this agreement.

Going forward, China Mobile and DOCOMO will continue developing services to enable corporate customers' products exported from Japan to China, such as automobiles, industrial equipment and agricultural machines, to smoothly switch from a Japanese carrier to Chinese carrier without replacing their SIMs.

China Unicom has identified IoT as its key focus area in order to drive future revenue growth. However, despite China Unicom enjoying growth in mobile traffic, the organization expects to see mobile traffic growth decline significantly in the next number of years and will focus on IoT applications.

At MWC in Shanghai, Asia’s premier ICT industry and exhibition – China Unicom expressed its intentions to accelerate its NB-IoT rollout as parts of its strategic plan to expand its range of IoT services. Shanghai Unicom is a subsidiary of China Unicom and the firm’s General Manager Shen Hongbo stated that he doesn’t expect to see the company generate income from mobile traffic – instead suggesting that future revenue streams will be driven by IoT.

Shen said: “We’re seeing a bottleneck in subscriber growth in Shanghai, and we don’t see a lot more income being generated from traffic. More revenue will be generated from IoT converged businesses as well as content-related operations. We will have to rely on IoT to grow our business.”

In addition to this, Shanghai Unicom’s GM claimed that the IoT sector will be driven low-power, low-speed data collection applications like smart metering. Unicom has estimated that China’s low-power segment is at 3 billion connections – whilst the high-speed segment will be less than 200 million. Shen added: “So we’re first looking at the low-power, extended coverage market. This will be our priority.”

In 2016, China Unicom selected NB-IoT because it felt it was a more mature technology and decided to deploy LPWA technology. Analysts have claimed that China Unicom’s decision to do so was conservative suggesting it was ‘safe to go with the flow’ especially with many operators opting for NB-IoT running on 900MHz band.

China Unicom’s NB-IoT network covering all of Shanghai went live at the beginning of May, and has thus far been hailed a success. It was also disclosed that in addition to Shanghai, China Unicom has launched NB-IoT in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Fuzhou with applications including smart parking, smart fire sensors and smart meter services.

The world’s mobile industry has signed up its 5 billionth unique mobile subscriber, according to real-time data from GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA. The 5 billion milestone means that more than two-thirds of the global population is now connected to a mobile service. It has taken four years to add the latest 1 billion subscribers.

“Reaching the 5 billion subscriber milestone is a tremendous achievement for an industry that is only a few decades old, and reflects the many billions of dollars that mobile operators have invested in networks, services and spectrum over many years,” commented Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA.

“Today mobile is a truly global platform, delivering connectivity and, perhaps more importantly, social and economic opportunities to citizens in all corners of the world. This massive reach allows the mobile industry to be a key player in delivering global initiatives such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” Granryd added.

More than half (55 percent) of mobile subscribers are based in the Asia Pacific region, which is home to the world’s two largest mobile markets: China and India. China accounts for more than a billion of the world’s subscribers, while India accounts for 730 million.

The most highly penetrated region in the world is Europe, where 86 percent of citizens are subscribed to a mobile service. Sub-Saharan Africa is the least penetrated region at 44 percent.

It is forecasted that the number of unique mobile subscribers worldwide will increase to 5.7 billion by the end of the decade. By that point, almost three-quarters of the world’s population will subscribe to a mobile service. India is expected to account for the largest share of growth over this period, responsible for around 30 percent of new unique subscribers by 2020.

“Subscriber growth opportunities over the coming years will be focused on connecting mainly rural, low-income populations; operators are developing a range of sustainable solutions to deliver affordable connectivity to underserved communities,” said Granryd.

“Meanwhile, in mature markets where subscriber growth is slowing, operators are evolving their business models to capture increasing value within the expanding mobile ecosystem, and providing the platform for a new digital world as we enter the 5G era,” Granryd added.

Huawei's NFV solution was awarded Best Technology Enabler at MWC 2017. This award points to the recognition within the industry of Huawei's leading capabilities and outstanding performance in NFV architecture, technology, commercial application, and the evolution toward Cloud Native. Organized by the GSMA, Mobile World Congress is the world's most influential event in the mobile communications sector, and the GSMA Global Mobile Awards are considered the highest honor within the industry.

Huawei hit the ground running by developing NFV solutions using the Cloud Native concept. Moving beyond basic virtualization, Cloud Native enables telecom networks to become fully distributed and automated, giving them greater elasticity, robustness, and agility. This helps operators enhance network efficient and deliver inspired user experiences, and enable agile innovation in services for better digital transformation.

Elastic: The Cloud Native network has a distributed architecture, so resources can be dynamically deployed wherever they are needed to support applications. It is a "sensing" network that recognizes the services deployed, and an elastic network that can adapt to support those services. There are two types of elasticity: capacity elasticity and topology elasticity. Capacity elasticity means that all network resources are pooled. Network software can orchestrate any part of the fabric across multiple data centers, and capacity is no longer the bottleneck. Topology elasticity means the ability to deploy resources to any required geographical location, enabled by control/user plane separation and service orchestration.

Robust: An intelligent network builds in robustness at the network and service levels. The network is decentralized, with stateless elements, N-way redundancy, and inter-DC service provisioning. Active fault injection, monitoring, and self-healing processes are combined with big data analysis and management of services, enabling fault prediction and automated controls. Ultimately, an intelligent network delivers carrier-class service reliability even over unreliable infrastructure.

Agile: Agility means service orchestration + programmability + ISSU (in service software upgrade). Flexible service assembly, service autonomy, and distributed deployment are achieved by decomposing network functions into microservices, and applying a service governance framework, data model, and a programmable user interface. Services and new functions can be delivered as needed, so the network can instantly respond to the needs of very different services required by different industries.

Using key Cloud Native technologies, Huawei has already rolled out its Cloud Native VNF solution, which has been widely adopted on core networks. Huawei remarked at MWC 2017 that the company will continue to optimize solutions revolving around service needs, and through such efforts will help to build 5G and better connected agile networks.

As of January 2017, Huawei had won over 170 contracts for cloud core networks. In addition, Huawei is a strategic partner and co-innovator with Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, and other global leading operators on their Cloud Native strategies.

At MWC 2017, Huawei presented a Cloud Native demonstration developed with Vodafone. Looking to the future, Huawei will continue to help operators build more open, more innovative, more sustainable ecosystems around their Cloud Native networks, with the aim of creating more new services and more value.

According to the GSMA, the association of mobile operators, the number of mobile phone users will surpass five billion in the middle of 2017. The GSMA said in a release that with populations in Asia - most notably India - increasing, the number, which stood at 4.8 billion a year ago, is expected to increase to 5.7 billion, or three quarters of the world's population, by 2020.

In its report 'Mobile Economy', the GMSA expects that Asia will account for around half of the total growth, with India alone contributing some 310 million new subscriptions in the coming three years. The report also indicates a trend towards mobile broadband networks and smartphones, which highlights the industry's growing contribution to economic activity and social development.

“Mobile is a global platform that today supports two-thirds of the world's population, delivering the connectivity and infrastructure that is powering new digital economies and addressing socio-economic challenges,” said Mats Granryd, GSMA director-general.

“Our latest Mobile Economy report reveals how the near ubiquity of smartphones and high-speed connectivity is enabling innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and driving the digital transformation," added Granryd, citing trillion-dollar investment in global networks since 2010.

The large investment saw the telecommunications industry account for a 4.4 percent share of the world GDP worth $3.3 trillion dollars in 2016, according to the report, rising to a 4.9 percent share by 2020, for economic value equivalent to $4.2 trillion. The report also says the mobile ecosystem in 2016 employed 28.5 million people directly or indirectly, a figure it says would rise to 30.8 million by 2020.

According to the report, the telecoms sector would contribute $500 billion in tax receipts by 2020, up from $450 billion last year, not including revenue from spectrum auctions in the US, etc, worth almost $19 billion in 2016. In addition, mobile operators are forecast to invest an additional $700 billion by 2020 when 5G technology is set to bring vastly faster data connections.

On the other hand, 4G still holds great value, according to the report. 4G has been steadily becoming the norm, rising from current market penetration of 21 percent to approximately 41 percent by 2020. GSMA says 2016 saw 580 4G networks launched in 188 countries covering 60 percent of the world population. The report adds that 55 percent of overall connections were now running on mobile broadband (3G/4G) networks, which are forecast to account for almost three-quarters of connections by 2020.

If we want to describe the role of mobile in today’s world, the list is never-ending. Mobile is the force behind every emerging innovation; it is revolutionary, ever-adapting and dynamic. Mobile has definitely become fundamental to our everyday lives.

At this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world’s biggest and best mobile industry event, a massive exhibition, an award-winning conference, outstanding networking opportunities, partner programs and the Glomo Awards will all take place.

Organized by the GSMA, MWC will take place in the Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Spain, at two venues: Fira Gran Via and Fira Montjuïc from Monday, 27 February to Thursday, 2 March.

“We have a great event lined up for February. I’m particularly excited about the conference, where we’ll see several keynote speakers make their Mobile World Congress debut,” said Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer, GSMA. “Across the entire event, attendees will have the opportunity to explore and experience the cutting-edge technologies, products and services that have become so fundamental to our everyday lives.”

The confirmed keynote speakers for the four-day conference program, representing companies across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industry sectors, include: Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman, Bharti Enterprises and chairman-elect, GSMA; Takashi Niino, president and CEO, NEC Corporation; Reed Hastings, founder and CEO, Netflix; Bob Moritz, global chairman, PwC; Allison Kirkby, president and Group CEO, Tele2; John Martin, chairman and CEO, Turner; Jeff Lawson, founder, CEO and chairman, Twilio; Patrick Gelsinger, CEO, VMware

As for the major exhibition highlights, Innovation City will feature more innovative mobile products and services than ever before, allowing visitors to explore and connect with the latest innovation in areas such as 5G, the internet of things, security and identity. Huawei and UNLIMIT powered by Reliance are the newest organizations participating in the Innovation City, joining previously confirmed companies AT&T, Cisco Jasper, KT Corporation and Sierra Wireless in a unique experiential exhibition space.

Furthermore, new for the 2017 edition of Mobile World Congress, NEXTech will showcase forward-thinking companies and disruptive technologies, from virtual reality/augmented reality and robotics, to cognitive computing, artificial intelligence and more. The hall features several pavilions and zones including the NEXTech Pavilion (incorporating VR/AR, robotics and AI), the IoT Pavilion and the Drone Zone. The NEXTech Lab will also form part of the pavilion, with an open theatre offering content-led presentations by industry experts leading in these cutting-edge technologies.

Building on the success of the Graphene Pavilion in 2016, the Graphene Flagship, a consortium of over 150 academic and industrial research groups in 23 countries, will return to Mobile World Congress with the Graphene Experience Zone. Additionally, on Thursday, March 2, the Graphene Flagship will present a full-day conference on graphene and its impact on the mobile industry, featuring a keynote speech by Nobel Laureate Konstantin Novoselov focusing on “From Datacom to IoT, Enabled by Graphene”.

As for the Women4Tech (W4T) Summit, which will include presentations from leaders in mobile and related industries, it will be held on Thursday, March 2 and is sponsored by Accenture.

Additional companies participating at Mobile World Congress, includes Baidu, BT Group, China Mobile, GoPro, MasterCard, Netflix, NTT DOCOMO, Ooredoo, PayPal, SEAT, SK Telecom, Tencent, Twitter and Verizon. These companies join previously announced exhibitors including AOL, Cisco Systems, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Ford, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HTC, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, LG, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, NEC, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Oracle, Orange, Philips Lighting, Qualcomm Incorporated, Samsung Electronics, SAP, Sony Mobile, Telefónica, Vodafone, Volkswagen and ZTE, among others.

The Mobile World Congress is the cornerstone of the Mobile World Capital that encompasses programs 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.