The first quarter of the year is an important time for the mobile phone industry. It's the time for manufactures to open up about the strategies that will be applied to launch new products into the market. It is going to be an important year for manufacturers. The manufacturer's automatic gain of market share no longer depends on the mobile phone or technology; after all, this technology is widely accessible by now. It are in fact the services and support, through which the consumer arranges, maintains and searches for his contacts within his personal social network, that will determine, or at least become increasingly vital, how successful the manufacturer will be.

The GSMA, which represents the interests of the mobile communications industry, announce that the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010 will be held 15-18 February, 2010 at the Fira de Barcelona at Montjuic in Barcelona, Spain. Under the theme of “Vision in Action”, the upcoming MWC 2010 will feature a world-class thought leadership conference, including visionary keynotes and insightful panel discussions; an exhibition with more than 1,300 companies showcasing cutting-edge products and technologies; an awards ceremony highlighting the most innovative mobile solutions and initiatives from around the globe; and a venue that facilitates mobile industry networking and business development opportunities.

The chief executives of MTS of Russia, SK Telecom of Korea, Telstra of Australia, Telecom Italia and Zain, which operates in 22 countries, have all joined the board of the GSM Association, the global trade association for the mobile industry. Leonid A. Melamed of MTS, Shin-Bae Kim of SK Telecom, Solomon Trujillo of Telstra, Franco Bernabè of Telecom Italia and Dr Saad Al-Barrak of Zain join other high-level representatives of the world's leading mobile operators on the GSMA's 27-strong board.

The GSM Association (GSMA) announced that film actor, director and Sundance Institute Founder & President, Robert Redford will headline at Mobile Backstage, a special one day Mobile Entertainment conference on Wednesday 13th February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the world’s largest communications industry event. Known as the primary force for 25 years in the nurturing of new cinematic voices and the emergence of independent film as a force in the entertainment industry, Redford and Sundance continue a tradition of exploration and promotion of content delivery on new platforms.