Six cities vie for Mobile World congress 2013

Six cities are currently vying for the hosting right of the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA)-organised Mobile World Congress (MWC) from 2013 for five years.

Chief executive officer, GSMA Ltd, Mr. John Hoffman, affirmed this, last weekend, saying that line up for the Mobile World hosting right include Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cologne, Milan, Munich and Paris.

He said that these cities have are contesting to become the home of Mobile World Congress for the five-year period from 2013 through 2017.

The GSMA, he said, is expected to identify a short list of finalist cities in January 2011 and to complete the evaluation process by announcing the city that won the bid in mid-2011.

“The mobile industry continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace and the GSMA is also advancing its business to meet the changing requirements of constituents across the global communications industry,” he said.

Hoffman also said that Mobile World Congress has grown significantly since inception in 23 years ago, stressing, “We look forward to shaping the future of the event with one of these outstanding candidate cities.”

The Mobile World Congress is widely considered the industry’s ‘must-attend’ event and is expected to draw more than 50,000 visitors at the 2011 Mobile World Congress, which will be held in Barcelona 14-17 February, 2011.

The four-day conference and exhibition, Hoffman noted attracts executives from the world’s largest and most influential companies across the mobile industry and adjacent sectors, as well as government delegations.

He recalled that Mobile World Congress has been held in Barcelona since 2006 and the city will continue to host the event through, at least, till 2012, when a new city is expected to take over the hosting right after scaling the conditions of GSMA.

“The GSMA is committed to holding the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona through 2012. In partnership with the city of Barcelona, the region of Catalonia, the Fira de Barcelona and all our city partners, we have experienced tremendous success and our association with Barcelona has been extremely positive for the GSMA, for our exhibitors, for our attendees and for the wireless industry,” he said.

ITRealms Online notes that GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, across 219 countries, and uniting about 800 world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations.

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