About the project

Coming Soon: Book and DVD

07/07/2008

We are pleased to announce that the Mobile Planet book and DVD are currently being printed and will be available for purchase in early September.

UK VIP Screening

21/04/2008

On Wednesday 16th April, TelecomTV and the GSMA held an exclusive invitation-only screening of "Mobile Planet" at the prestigious BAFTA Theatre in Central London.

News: Barcelona Screenings

11/02/2008

Mobile Planet premieres at the Mobile World Congress this week. There will be an Invitation-Only screening of highlights on Monday evening, followed by an Open Screening on Tuesday.

News: Documentary, Book and Web Resource

11/02/2008

At its heart, Mobile Planet is a 90-minute documentary film. But the film is not the end of the project; over the course of 2008, extended features will be released each month for viewing via the Internet.

News: The Production Journey

10/02/2008

There are over one million new GSM connections every day, with one billion mobile phones sold last year.

Introducing Mobile Planet

09/02/2008

Twenty years ago, 15 telecoms operators came together in Copenhagen, and signed a document that paved the way for global mobile.

Press release: Global Mobile Communication is 20 Years Old

06/09/2007

Twenty years ago tomorrow, an historic agreement was signed in Copenhagen by 15 telecommunications operators from 13 countries* that led to the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and a mobile communications industry that today serves more than 2.5 billion people across 218 countries and territories.

The Mobile World Documentary

05/09/2007

The origins of global mobile communications today can be traced back to a single agreement signed on September 7th 1987 by Europe's biggest telecommunications operators. It was the catalyst of international cooperation on an unprecedented scale.

Global Mobile Communication is 20 Years Old

GSMA celebrates 20th anniversary of global mobile foundations

06/09/2007, London, UK

Twenty years ago tomorrow, an historic agreement was signed in Copenhagen by 15 telecommunications operators from 13 countries* that led to the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and a mobile communications industry that today serves more than 2.5 billion people across 218 countries and territories.

The 'Memorandum of Understanding' agreement of 7th September 1987 laid the foundation for the first Europe-wide digital cellular system, which soon became the world's first global mobile system as used by more than 700 mobile operators and served by thousands of suppliers today. The agreement also triggered a technology evolution path that continues today with the roll-out of more than 120 mobile broadband networks in 61 countries.

"The 1987 agreement is widely regarded as the foundation of today's global mobile phone industry and the birth of one of the greatest technological achievements of our age," said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA, the global trade association for mobile operators. "The early vision of our industry created international cooperation on an unprecedented scale that has led to a socio-economic revolution benefiting people, businesses and countries throughout the world."

"GSM is the single most important agreement in the history of telecommunications," said Sir Christopher Gent, one of the original signatories of the agreement and former CEO of Vodafone and today Chairman of GlaxoSmithKline plc. "With 2.5 billion users around the world today, it has done more to bridge the digital divide than any other innovation, and is a tremendous example of global cooperation."

Speaking on behalf of the largest mobile operator in the world today with 332 million users, Wang Jianzhou, Chief Executive Officer of China Mobile, said: "The unprecedented economies of scale achieved by GSM has made mobile telephony affordable for ordinary people and helped China Mobile provide coverage across our vast country, achieving major social and economic benefits. Moreover, GSM is a robust and capable platform on which we are building the mobile multimedia services of the future."

Today, the GSM family of technologies makes up 85% of the global mobile services market, which accounts for about 1.6% of global GDP. Each year, mobile users purchase more than one billion new handsets, make more than 7 trillion minutes of calls and send about 2.5 trillion text messages.**

From basic mobile voice services, that have enabled people to connect to others for the first time in their lives, to the evolution of mobile multimedia, including internet access, information and entertainment services, the industry continues to innovate at a breathtaking pace. The arrival of mobile broadband, combined with the convergence of the mobile, entertainment, computing and financial service industries, is today forging new opportunities and services that will see the industry continue to evolve long into the future.

The GSMA, which also celebrates the 20th anniversary of its foundation through the agreement, plans to celebrate this historic landmark with a unique documentary film travelogue, the Mobile World, commissioned to explore the diversity of mobile use and innovation globally. A film crew is currently travelling across 20 countries of the world from South Africa, Kenya and Rwanda to China, Japan, India, South Korea, Europe and the US, to capture on film, the myriad of mobile services that are changing, enhancing and saving lives on a daily basis. The film is produced in partnership with TelecomTV and sponsored by Ericsson.

The Mobile World will be previewed for the first time at the GSMA's forthcoming Mobile Asia Congress (Macau, 11-15 November 2007). More information about the film, including a short trailer, and twenty photographs depicting mobile use around the world can be found at: www.gsmtwenty.com

- ENDS -

Notes to Editors

*The original 'MoU' agreement signed on 7th September 1987 by France, Italy, Germany, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and on the 10th September 1987 by Spain.

**Sources: Wireless Intelligence, GSMA, Gartner and Informa. The minutes of use figure includes inbound voice calls. More statistics are available on a separate fact sheet.

About the GSM Association:

The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's members serve more than 2.5 billion customers - 82% of the world's mobile phone users.

For more information please contact:
For the GSM Association:
Mark Smith or David Pringle
Email: press@gsm.org