Mobile World Congress (MWC), an annual event organised by Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) in Barcelona, is turning to India and China which has lately seen explosive growth in the mobile telephony sector.
GSMA is an association of mobile operators and related companies devoted to supporting the standardising, deployment and promotion of the GSM mobile telephone system.
Previously called the New Shanghai Expo, this year MWC saw a range of companies showcase products that will dominate the future of technology advancements.
There was more focus on deployment and future of 5G networks, Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, smart city innovations and revolutionary payment systems.
The expo served the purpose of connecting players like manufacturers, e-commerce platforms and network operators to build an ecosystem that would shape the digital future of Asia.
Earlier, GSMA released a report claiming that the mobile industry had contributed $1.1 trillion to the Asia Pacific economy in 2014, equivalent to 4.7 percent of the region's GDP and an increase of nearly $200 billion compared to the previous year, with over a quarter of this economic contribution generated directly by mobile operators.
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While major brands and companies focused on back-end network technologies, smaller firms stole the show this year saying that they was looking for either a distributor or an e-commerce platform to come to India.
Interestingly, a lot of wearable tech was on display and water proof or water resistant devices were being highlighted the most.
An Italian startup named ChatSim launched their new SIM card which supports instant messaging applications on operators across the world for a flat fee. ChatSim supports all the popular chat platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat.
(Anirban Ghoshal is in Shanghai at the invitation of Indian smartphone manufacturer Intex Technologies. He can be contacted at anirban.g@ians.in)