THE 2003 GSM WORLD CONGRESS

17-21 February, Cannes, France

   Cannes, a wonderful Mediterranean resort in the south of France, famous for its film festivals, has hosted the 8th GSM World Congress - a benchmark event in the GSM industry.

Interest in the forum was as lively as ever. It was the focus of everyone's attention and various events and activities were dedicated to in Cannes and the surrounding areas. The number of delegates to the Congress was considerably higher than last year, reaching 36,000. This robust interest and participation demonstrate the important role mobile technologies have assumed in our daily lives and the vigorous efforts that are underway to further advance them. Different shows, workshops, conferences and other forums organized annually by the companies reflect the remarkably fast development of the GSM systems.

   In addition to various exhibitions, seminars and other events, the prestigious GSM Association awards ceremony was traditionally one of the landmarks of the Congress.

On February 18th the winners were announced, and the following awards went to:

Technology innovation

Best mobile phone/terminal or other
portable equipment -
Sharp Corporation, UK for Sharp GX10 phone.

Best network solution product or infrastructure -
Telos Technology & Globecomm Systems Inc., Canada for Telos package switch technology.

Service and service package

Best wireless corporate service package -
Commtag, UK for Duality™ Always-on Mail.

Best wireless service package
for the consumer market -
Vodafone Group, Germany
for the Vodafone Live!

Development of the best wireless
service package -
3G LAB, UK.

Marketing and promotion

Best TV and Radio advertising -
Vodafone Group, Germany for the
Vodafone Live!

Best marketing campaign -
Entel PCS, Chile for the XAT campaign.
 

Wireless technologies in the service of public

Best wireless technologies
providing “reachability” -
XIAM, Ireland for the XIAM Information Router/West Midlands Police technology, aiming at receiving information from people in critical situations (with restricted freedom of movement) and providing a quick response.

Best wireless technologies
in emergencies and accidents -
MTN Networks, Sri-Lanka, for the project SMS Blood Appeal, Matching and Donor Management Application, allowing users to undergo registration via SMS as blood donors and to be summoned when urgently needed.

The GSM Association Chairman's Award

   Of special importance is the prestigious award of the GSM Association Chairman given to the company or individual who has made a special input into the development and success of the big family of GSM systems. At the 2003 ceremony this important award was given to Sir Christopher Gent, President of Vodafone Group Plc, for his contribution to the development and accomplishments of the GSM industry over the last two decades. He started as the Managing Director of Vodafone Limited in January 1985, when mobile systems were making their first steps. Since 1997 Sir Christopher Gent has been the president of Vodafone Group Plc. The fact that the company emerged as the winner in two nominations at this year's GSM Association award ceremony bears witness to the successful work of the company with one of the biggest telecommunications networks worldwide. .
 
   The exhibition held at the Cannes film-festival hall is one of the most interesting events of the GSM World Congress. The stands of about 600 companies acquaint visitors with the latest technological innovations whose implementation will further advance the development of the world's mobile industry.
 
   We would like to offer our readers a brief description of some of those novelties.
 
   MOTOROLA presented many new products for the consumer market, including the new technological solution for the GSM network and the VIAMOTO package developed together with the global positioning system (GPS) for a software-based information service, attached to the location of a mobile terminal. The system successfully passed the trial with real customers using Motorola phones with GPS modules. The package includes the following services:
   GOVIAMOTO - a revolutionary step in navigation systems, where the software allows practical transformation of a mobile handset or any other wireless equipment into a direction-prompting “navigator” in the on-line mode. This allows the user to reach easily his or her desired destination. It also has a function which allows the route (streets, lanes and other landmarks) to be provided in voice as well as by textual messages.
   FINDVIAMOTO - mobile equipment transformed into a local information guide (according to the locality of a subscriber), like other informational media such as newspapers, phonebooks, information bureaus, etc. FINDVIAMOTO information system is being updated in the on-line mode, based on the locality of a user. The information received is current, precise and specially prepared for a particular user.
   GETVIAMOTO - the “personal assistant” in a mobile handset, which determines the location of a user and the direction in which he or she is traveling. According to the database of GOVIAMOTO and FINDVIAMOTO, it gives the user any requested information for the duration of his or her journey.
 
   MOTOROLA has also presented modernized equipments for the systems of the new generation GSM network base stations, where emphasis is on decreasing equipment size and doubling its capacity. It is noteworthy that the development of modern base stations envisages their compliance with the 3G technologies and their implementation in the existing GSM networks in order to achieve a painless shift to the 3G technologies.
 
   The SGH-V200, a mobile handset presented by SAMSUNG, generated lively interest among the visitors. The handset has a built-in camera (CDD, 352*288 pic.) with the ability to rotate the lens by 180º. The terminal has a MMS and an 8th class GPRS (4 receiving and 1 transmitting channels). The display, made with TFD technology, has a 65 536 color-scale and the ability fully and simultaneously to show a 160-symbol text. The launch of the mobile terminal on the European market is planned in the near future.
 
    Panasonic GD87 is equipped with a mobile camera, which can make a digital change of an image size, store the photos in a Wallpaper format, attach them to the number in the phonebook and display the photos when those numbers are dialed. The TFT (Thin Film Transistor) 65 536 colour-scale display, the WAP 2.0 browser, games and photo-messages in full color-scale, the MMS and the 8th class GPRS (4 receiving and 1 transmitting channels) are just a few of the benefits of the Panasonic GD 87 cellular handset.

Archil Kavtaradze
Technical Director of MagtiCom