The GSM Association, the global trade association for mobile operators, has announced a shortlist of 25 nominees for its inaugural Asia Mobile Awards 2007, plus eight finalists in the Asia Mobile Innovation Awards that will be contested and presented at the forthcoming Mobile Asia Congress in Macau (November 12-15 2007). Judged by independent analysts, journalists and industry experts, the winners of the Asia Mobile Awards will be presented on the evening of 13th November 2007 during the GSMA’s Mobile Asia Congress Gala Party at the Venetian Hotel.

Recognising best in class mobile services for consumers such as entertainment, gaming, music, video, advertising and social networking plus enterprise services, handsets, technologies, innovation and marketing, the Global Mobile Awards will be presented at the mobile industry’s biggest annual event, the Mobile World Congress. “These Global Mobile Awards 2008 awards celebrate the very best achievements in an industry that continues to push back the boundaries on a daily basis,” said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA. “The categories for next year have been specially designed to recognise the wealth of innovation and ingenuity from all corners of our eco-system that contribute to the continued growth and diversity of mobile communications.”

The GSMA, the global trade association for mobile operators, is to lead a programme to connect refugee camps in northern Uganda to mobile networks to support family reunification, education, healthcare, economic activity and other needs. Through its Development Fund, the GSMA, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), will work with mobile operators and equipment suppliers to use the cost-effectiveness of GSM mobile networks and devices to provide refugees with affordable and sustainable access to a wide range of services from voice calls to Internet access to electronic learning programmes.

An unprecedented gathering of leading operator CEOs will debate the future of the mobile industry at the GSMA’s Mobile Asia Congress at the new Venetian Macau Resort on November 12-15. The chief executives of China Mobile, the world’s largest operator, NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest operator, MTS, Russia’s largest operator, the Chairman and Group Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, India’s largest operator, and the CEO of Mobilink, Pakistan’s largest operator, the Chairman of Smart, the Philippines’ largest operator, Grameenphone, Bangladesh’s largest operator, and Telstra, Australia’s largest operator, will be among the keynote speakers.

Twenty years ago tomorrow, an historic agreement was signed in Copenhagen by 15 telecommunications operators that led to the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications, and a mobile communications industry that today serves more than 2.5 billion people across 218 countries and territories. The ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ agreement of 7th September 1987 laid the foundation for the first Europe-wide digital cellular system, which soon became the world’s first global mobile system as used by more than 700 mobile operators and served by thousands of suppliers today. The agreement also triggered a technology evolution path that continues today with the roll-out of more than 120 mobile broadband networks in 61 countries.

The GSM Association has launched an ongoing programme to help the thousands of small and medium-sized companies developing innovative mobile products and services reach mobile operators and bring their innovations to end-users. The Mobile Innovation Programme is also designed to stimulate and showcase innovation around mobile services and better align innovators with the needs of the mobile industry and its customers.

The GSM Association launched the Asia Mobile Awards 2007, a new awards programme for companies across the mobile value chain that serve users in the Asia region with compelling mobile content, products and services. Categories include Mobile Entertainment, Mobile Advertising, Social Networking, and also Mobile Broadband Device. The Asia Mobile Awards are now open for entry and will close on Friday 28th September 2007. Presentation of the Asia Mobile Awards will form the climax of a special gala dinner at the Macau Tower Entertainment & Convention Centre, on Tuesday 13th November 2007, as part of the GSMA’s Mobile Asia Congress (12-15 November 2007).

The GSMA is rebranding the 3GSM World Congress and its sister event in Asia to reflect their role encouraging the development of compelling new mobile services for end-users. Set to take place in Macau in November, the 3GSM World Congress Asia will now be called the Mobile Asia Congress and the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona has been rebranded as the Mobile World Congress. “Both the GSMA and the Congresses are focused on helping operators use the potent platform provided by today’s highly-capable and extensive mobile networks to better serve the many needs and desires of this industry’s almost 3 billion customers,” said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA, which owns both the Barcelona and Macau events.

The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for mobile operators, is to collaborate with Microsoft Corporation on a global research programme to determine consumer user trends and the mass market potential of notebook PCs with embedded mobile broadband - enabling access to the Internet anywhere with mobile coverage. Today the market for mobile broadband is rapidly growing among notebook buyers who need mobile high speed data connectivity. International business travellers, road warriors, field information workers and other PC buyers find it essential.

The GSM Association (GSMA) has published the first in a series of ‘Technical Guidelines’ white papers on mobile NFC (Near Field Communication) services, providing the consolidated views of mobile operators as input to support the standardisation of NFC technology. More than twenty mobile operators, including many of the largest in the world, have been working together in the GSMA’s initiative to develop a common vision for Mobile NFC services. The initiative aims to support the development of a stable and efficient NFC ecosystem and promote interoperability, leading to standardisation on a global scale. The mobile operators involved in the NFC initiative serve more than 800 million users.