As I write this blog, our industry has just celebrated a major milestone. Last week, we signed on our 5 billionth subscriber. 5 billion mobile subscribers \u2013 that is pretty incredible, especially when you consider that we hit the 1 billion subscriber mark just over a decade ago, in 2003. We are reaching into all corners of the world, helping to improve people\u2019s lives through a range of services, such as health, education, agriculture and others, and providing access to economic and social opportunities that may otherwise be out of their reach.<\/p>\n
This 5 billionth subscriber milestone means that two-thirds of the global population is now connected to a mobile service \u2013 a tremendous achievement for the industry \u2013 and a critical element in delivering initiatives such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The mobile industry is firmly committed to supporting the SDGs and operators are already delivering innovative solutions and strategies to address today\u2019s biggest global challenges, from machine-to-machine technology that monitors utility usage to save energy and combat solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/external-affairs\/climate-action\/ change, to providing agricultural information for farmers to improve their crops, and many, many more.<\/p>\n
But alongside success, we must be mindful of the challenges ahead. With the rapid evolution of technology, societies must keep pace and adapt. We need to ensure there is sufficient capacity and spectrum to continue to deliver a connected global society, and we need to create an environment to foster innovation and investment. This means continuing to engage in discussion with regulators, governments and industry organisations to enable the broadband that connects nearly everything in our lives. And we will undoubtedly continue these discussions at the upcoming Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2017<\/p>\n
It\u2019s little more than a week until the beginning of the show and we\u2019re looking forward to hosting our biggest Asia event ever. Mobile World Congress Shanghai will showcase the impact of mobile in all areas of our lives, such as sports, home and fitness, entertainment, learning and beyond. It\u2019s going to be a real opportunity to see mobile technology come to life with the latest devices, gadgets and experiences at the show \u2013 there\u2019ll be a drone racing competition, AR, VR and mobile gaming, and much more.<\/p>\n
The show has been expanded to four days and now spans seven halls at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre. Of course, a highlight will again be the GSMA Innovation City in Hall W3 \u2013 while you\u2019re there, make sure to check out all the amazing technologies being shown by the GSMA and Innovation City partners.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re not yet a member of the GSMA, swing by the GSMA pavilion to learn more about the benefits of membership \u2013 we\u2019d love to solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/regulatory-environment\/mobile-energy-efficiencyt you.<\/p>\n
You also won\u2019t want to miss the conference programme that we\u2019ve put together for you \u2013 it incorporates keynote sessions with\u00a0leaders from organisations such as Bharti Enterprises, China Mobile, China Unicom, KDDI, the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, Qualcomm and Yingtan City, among others. Across three days, we\u2019ll also offer 12 focused summits that will explore the latest industry trends, from connected cars to network evolution to augmented reality\/virtual reality and more.\u00a0With over 90 C-level speakers and equivalents, there should be some fascinating conversations over the course of the event \u2013 make sure you\u2019re a part of the dialogue<\/p>\n
I hope to solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/regulatory-environment\/mobile-energy-efficiencyt many of you in Shanghai \u2013 we are looking forward to a fantastic week, celebrating the innovation, the opportunities and the excitement that are the hallmarks of the Asia mobile industry!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As I write this blog, our industry has just celebrated a major milestone. Last week, we signed on our 5 billionth subscriber. 5 billion mobile subscribers \u2013 that is pretty incredible, especially when you consider that we hit the 1 billion subscriber mark just over a decade ago, in 2003. We are reaching into all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1073],"tags":[],"algolia_discover_type":[6627],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n