3GSM World Congress is no more

News

Stuart O'Brien Jun 13 2007, 9:15am

The GSM Association has re-branded its flagship trade show as Mobile World Congress, starting with the February 2008 event.

The revamp will also see 3GSM World Congress Asia change its name to Mobile Asia Congress.

The GSMA says the decision was motivated by a desire to bring in more delegates from the wider IT, entertainment and financial services sectors as the mobile industry approaches the 3 billion customer mark.

The wording of the press release would also indicate a more inclusive approach to CDMA technologies, with that 3 billion figure inclusive of technologies like CDMA 2000.

The GSMA has also announced that GSMC, its subsidiary that runs the Congresses, has appointed John Hoffman as its new CEO.

Meanwhile, Bill Gadja, the GSMA’s chief marketing officer, has taken on the newly created role of chief commercial officer. Gadja was responsible for forming partnerships with Sundance Institute and the Bollywood film industry at for this year's 3GSM World Congress and will now lead the development of media and entertainment programmes within the GSMA.

The Mobile World Congress 2008 will take place at the Fira de Barcelona, Spain, between 11th and 14th February 2008. For more information visit www.mobileworldcongress.com