LONDON, January 21 /PRNewswire/ --

- Shortlist for the Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition - EMEA 
Tournament also revealed

The GSMA today announced the finalists for the 14th Annual Global Mobile
Awards, as well as the competitors for the EMEA leg of the annual Mobile
Innovation Global Award Competition. The overall winners will be announced
and recognised during the GSMA's annual gala dinner at the spectacular
National Palace in Barcelona on the evening of Tuesday 17th February. The
ceremony is one of the highlights of the GSMA Mobile World Congress, the
world's leading event for the mobile communications industry, which will be
held 16-19 February in Barcelona.

"Our congratulations go to all the nominees in this year's Global Mobile
Awards and Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition," said Rob Conway, CEO
and Member of the Board of the GSMA. "Mobile communications continue to drive
social, economic and technological developments, and this becomes even more
critical in the uncertain economic environment we're living in. To have been
shortlisted from the impressive, high-quality field of more than 450
companies that entered is a tremendous achievement, and we look forward to
celebrating the innovation and ingenuity of our winners at the Global Mobile
Awards evening next month."

The awards ceremony will be hosted by the rising star of British comedy,
Michael McIntyre, and the evening will feature exclusive performances and
special guest appearances from leaders in the mobile and entertainment
industries.

For the Global Mobile Awards, the GSMA's judging panels reviewed more
than 450 submissions to select 80 finalists across 16 categories. Categories
range from 'Best Mobile Handset' to a host of mobile entertainment awards for
games, music and video, advertising and social networking services. New
categories this year also include 'Best Mobile Money Service' and the 'Green
Mobile Awards'.

The EMEA leg and final stage of the GSMA's 2009 Mobile Innovation Global
Award Competition will also take place at the Mobile World Congress, where 15
nominees will compete in five categories ranging from 'Most Innovative True
Mobile Start Up' to 'Most Innovative Consumer Application or Service'. The
finalists will pitch their presentations to a panel of senior executives from
mobile operators, industry suppliers and venture capitalists. The two winners
from the EMEA leg will then compete against finalists from the Americas, Asia
and Virtual tournaments for the title of '2009 GSMA Mobile Innovation Global
Award Champion'. The winner will also be announced at the Global Mobile
Awards dinner on Tuesday 17th February.

The Platinum sponsor of the Global Mobile Awards is Qualcomm, and
category sponsors include: A.T. Kearney (Green Mobile category), Purple labs
(Best Mobile Handset category), Movius (Marketing & Promotion category), HiT
(Mobile Entertainment category), and the Government of Catalunya (Mobile
Innovation category & host sponsor).

View the 2009 Global Mobile Awards nominations at:
http://www.globalmobileawards.com/nominees.shtml. For full details of the
Global Mobile Awards and to book your place, please visit:
http://www.globalmobileawards.com.

For more information on the Mobile Innovation Marketplace and to view the
2009 Mobile Innovation Global Award Competition EMEA nominations, please
visit: http://www.mobileinnovation.org.

For full details of the 2009 Mobile World Congress, please visit:
http://www.mobileworldcongress.com.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications
industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites more than 750 of the
world's mobile operators, as well as 200 companies in the broader mobile
ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers,
Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA is
focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its
membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile
communications industry.

For more information, please visit http://www.gsmworld.com