2015 Event Expected to Attract More Than 86,000 Attendees and 1,900 Exhibitors; Mobile World Congress Celebrates Ten Years in Barcelona

London: The GSMA today outlined the first details of the 2015 GSMA Mobile World Congress, including exhibiting and sponsoring companies, confirmed keynote speakers and a range of programmes and initiatives taking place at the annual mobile industry event. The GSMA expects that attendance for Mobile World Congress 2015 will exceed the record of nearly 86,000 attendees set at the 2014 event. Mobile World Congress will be held 2-5 March 2015 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, with events also taking place at Fira Montjuïc.

“Going into its tenth year in Barcelona, Mobile World Congress is set to be even bigger and better than ever,” said Michael O’Hara, Chief Marketing Officer. “We are continually focused on enhancing the attendee experience, providing greater options for exploring the latest mobile technologies and services, for education and learning, and for solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/public-policy/regulatory-environment/mobile-energy-efficiencyting and interacting with industry colleagues from around the globe. We’re looking forward to welcoming the mobile world back to Barcelona in March.”

Leading CEOs to Take the Stage in Barcelona
The four-day conference programme will feature 10 keynote sessions including the signature Mobile World Live keynotes, which will conclude the conference programming on selected days and will be streamed live across the venue and to hundreds of thousands of viewers globally via the Mobile World Live portal. The first executives confirmed to participate in the keynote programme at Mobile World Congress 2015 include:

• Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA
• Raja Teh Maimunah, MD, CEO and COO, Digital and Transactional Banking, Hong Leong Islamic Bank
• Ken Hu, Deputy Chairman and Rotating CEO, Huawei
• Jeanie Han, CEO, LINE Euro-Americas
• Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO, Renault-Nissan Alliance
• Marcelo Claure, CEO, Sprint
• Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO, Telenor Group and Chairman, GSMA
• Charles Scharf, CEO, Visa

In addition to the keynotes, the conference will also include in-depth track sessions on topics such as big data, connecting the underserved, digital societies, emerging devices, enterprise mobility, financial inclusion, the future of networks, HetNets/small cells, the Internet of Things, LTE-Advanced and 5G, mobile commerce, mobile identity, privacy and security, among others. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/learn/conference/conference-overview/.

More Than 1,900 Exhibitors Expected in 2015
Mobile World Congress will again spotlight the leading technologies, products and services that are shaping the future of the mobile industry, from network infrastructure to mobile handsets and devices to software and applications and much more. More than 1,900 companies are expected to participate in the exhibition, including global brands such as Acer, Alcatel-Lucent, Deutsche Telekom, Ford Motor Company, Fujitsu, HTC, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, NEC, Oracle, Qualcomm, Samsung, SAP, SK Telecom, Sony Mobile Communications, Telefónica and Vodafone, among others.

The Mobile World Congress show floor will again include the highly popular GSMA Connected City. Building on the success of 2014, the Connected City will offer a number of exciting, immersive experiences for visitors. This unique space enables 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.

For the 2015 edition, NFC technology will be integrated in a number of services supporting the event in order to further enhance the attendee experience. The NFC Experience activities will be implemented at Fira Gran Via, providing attendees with NFC handsets streamlined entry to Mobile World Congress, instant access to information, technology demonstrations and more.

For a second year, Mobile World Congress will “challenge” attendees to track their activity levels at the show and around Barcelona using connected fitness trackers. Garmin has signed on as the Supporting Sponsor for the Healthband Challenge, which will be open to all Mobile World Congress attendees. Garmin will offer attendees discounts on its vívofit and vívosmart activity trackers for purchase in advance of Mobile World Congress.

For more information on the exhibition, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/see-do/exhibition/.

2015 GSMA Ministerial Programme at Mobile World Congress
An integral part of Mobile World Congress is the GSMA Ministerial Programme, which brings together governments, regulators and industry leaders to debate the issues shaping the development of mobile around the world. Sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services, this year’s programme will explore how regulatory policy can stimulate innovation as the world moves towards a fully connected society. The programme will address topics such as machine-to-machine technologies, the future of Internet governance and emerging strategies for connecting the unconnected, among others, and region-specific sessions will be held for Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. For more information, visit www.ministerialprogramme.com.

Partner Programmes at Mobile World Congress
Mobile World Congress continues to expand the range of partner programmes designed to target specific attendee interests and requirements, including Partner Events, App Planet, the Forum Series and Power Hour sessions:

• Partner Events – The Theatre District in Hall 8 will feature many exciting partner events across the four days of Mobile World Congress, providing companies a platform to discuss key market trends and highlight product developments and initiatives. CA Technologies, Dolby, GTI, Huawei, IBM, McCann Worldgroup and Taiwan Trade Center Barcelona will be among the Event Partners holding solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/public-policy/regulatory-environment/mobile-energy-efficiencytings at Fira Gran Via. Additionally, this year’s programme also includes a series of vertical industry-focused sessions on areas such as health, mobile advertising and marketing, and media, with events from the European Connected Health Alliance, Mobile Media Summit and NAB Show.
• App Planet – Now in its sixth year, App Planet connects the developer community and the broader mobile ecosystem, with exhibition, app developer conferences (ADCs), product and service demonstrations and workshops from some of the largest and most influential mobile industry companies. The Generalitat de Catalunya is the Official App Planet Sponsor and the first App Planet Supporting Sponsors include Gionee Communication Equipment and Samsung.
• Forum Series – The partner-sponsored Forum Series is back for 2015, bringing together key industry players to discuss and debate a range of topics in focused sessions. Forums currently scheduled for 2015 include the LTE and Backhaul Forum and the Mobile Security Forum. Forum Partners include Juniper Networks and ZTE for the LTE and Backhaul Forum and AVG for the Mobile Security Forum.
• Power Hour – The Theatre District will again host the Power Hour sessions, featuring one-hour standalone presentations from industry leaders on the topic of their choosing. The first confirmed Power Hour Presenter is Laird Technologies.

Focus on Entrepreneurship – Four Years From Now
Back for a second year, Four Years From Now (4YFN) will take place 2-4 March at Fira Montjuïc. This international programme, organised by Mobile World Capital Barcelona and the GSMA, will bring together leading mobile start-ups and entrepreneurs with investors, accelerators, incubators and large corporations from both the digital and non-digital worlds. The programme, which will be led by globally recognised experts in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation, is comprised of conferences, workshops, interactive discussions, one-to-one investor solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/public-policy/regulatory-environment/mobile-energy-efficiencytings and start-up competitions.

For more information on Partner Programmes at Mobile World Congress, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/learn/partner-programmes/.

Mobile World Congress: A Carbon Neutral Event
Mobile World Congress is the world’s largest tradeshow certified to have a zero carbon footprint, having been certified as carbon neutral through the internationally recognised PAS 2060 standard. To achieve carbon neutrality, the GSMA undertook activities to reduce the carbon footprint of Mobile World Congress and purchased carbon credits to offset any remaining emissions. In 2015, the GSMA is focused on further reducing the environmental impact and carbon footprint of the event, offsetting any outstanding emissions as necessary. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/about/about-mwc/carbon-neutral-initiatives/.

Get Involved at Mobile World Congress 2015
For more information on the 2015 Mobile World Congress including how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com. Follow developments and updates on Mobile World Congress on Twitter @GSMA using #MWC15, on our LinkedIn company page http://gsma.at/GSMALinkedIn or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gsma.

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.

-ENDS-

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries and territories, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

Media Contacts:
For the GSMA
Charlie Meredith-Hardy
+44 7917 298428
[email protected]

Christian Martinell
+34 607 150 276
[email protected]

GSMA Press Office
[email protected]