LONDON, February 11 /PRNewswire/ --

- Sustained Innovation Expected to Generate Six Billion by 2013

- Mobile Broadband users near 100 million

The GSMA today announced that the mobile world has celebrated its four
billionth connection, according to Wireless Intelligence, the GSMA's market
intelligence unit. This milestone underscores the continued strong growth of
the mobile industry and puts the global market on the path to reach a
staggering six billion connections by 2013.

The growth is driven by two primary sources: the integration of mobile
into previously unconnected devices and subscriber additions in emerging
markets. At Mobile World Congress, the world's leading mobile communications
industry event, taking place from 16th - 19th February in Barcelona, the
industry will be exploring ways of sustaining this growth.

"As we enter 2009, the world is in the midst of a broad economic
slowdown, one that is impacting every facet of business, every link in the
communications value chain. To address the significant challenges facing the
global economy, the GSMA and its membership are focused on leveraging
mobility to create new opportunities and to drive productivity and
prosperity," said Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer of the GSMA. "GSMA
industry initiatives in the areas of Mobile Broadband, Mobile Lifestyle and
Mobile Planet will help drive this innovation and growth despite the
challenges of the global economic downturn."

Mobile Broadband

The GSMA's Mobile Broadband initiatives focus on the development of a
ubiquitous Mobile Broadband infrastructure and the proliferation of
Internet-connected mobile devices. With the world's mobile connections
now numbering four billion -- nearly 100 million of which are Mobile
Broadband -- and with 1.1 billion fixed broadband lines reaching only one
sixth of the world's population, the opportunities are vast.

At Mobile World Congress on Wednesday 18th February C-level executives
from China Unicom, Google, Nokia Siemens Networks, Qualcomm, Skype, Telstra
and Verizon Communications will unite at the "Mobile Broadband" and "Mobile
Internet" sessions to explore Mobile Broadband uptake, how consumers are
adapting, and how Internet services become even more compelling when married
with always available Mobile Broadband. In addition, at the Mobile Broadband
Showcase (Hall 2 - 2C37) the GSMA will be highlighting a number of Mobile
Broadband implementations, including an HSPA+ demonstration, connecting a
notebook with a device at peak rates of up to 21 Mbps, and more than 50 HSPA
devices including netbooks, smartphones, USB modems, datacards and wireless
routers.

Mobile Lifestyle

The GSMA's Mobile Lifestyle initiatives concentrate on the cross-industry
creation of innovative services that combine web attributes with mobility to
make services, such as banking or entertainment, far more compelling.

Chris DeWolfe, CEO and Co-founder of MySpace will be sharing his
perspective on the role of the mobile industry in entertainment at the Mobile
Backstage conference on Thursday 19th February at Mobile World Congress. The
conference, which features both Kevin Spacey and will.i.am, will also tackle
the technical challenges of delivering mobile services and commercial
elements influencing mobile industry and entertainment partner collaboration.

Mobile Planet

The GSMA's Mobile Planet initiatives leverage mobility to help improve
the lives of individuals across the developing world in a socially
responsible manner. With countries like India adding 10 million new mobile
connections per month, and many users accessing the Internet, email and
banking exclusively via mobile devices, the developing world is central to
mobile industry growth.

As grid electricity is inaccessible to many emerging market areas, Mobile
World Congress will be exploring the use of renewable energy. The GSMA's
Development Fund, that facilitates the delivery of mobile offerings to people
living on less than US$2 per day, will be presenting the Green Power Pavilion
where leading green technology providers will meet with operators. The "Green
Power for Mobile" seminar on Wednesday 18th February will explore the role of
renewable energy in expanding off-grid network coverage and reducing OPEX.

"Mobile phones have evolved to become broadband-enabled multi-media
devices that connect mass markets in mature and emerging markets alike.
Mobile World Congress will showcase how the industry will continue to push
the boundaries into the mobile future," said O'Hara.

For more information on 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/