Wednesday 30 January 2008, 7:00 PM

Nigeria GSM operators Jamboree to GSM Awards in Barcelona

Posted by emmanuel

GSMA is the global trade association representing more than 690 GSM mobile phone operators across 214 territories and countries of the world. This year’s event comes up February in Barcelona,Spain.
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.
GSMA's work is focused on two areas,Emerging services and emerging markets. The GSMA helps its members develop and launch new services, ranging from mobile instant messaging to video sharing to mobile Internet access, which will work across networks and across national boundaries. At the same time, the GSMA is heavily engaged in the industry's push to extend basic voice and text services to more people in emerging markets.
Nigeria had always had a good representation during this fiesta. All operators and National regulator are always well represented in all the editions .At the award last year, MTN Communications Nigeria, won the community service initiative through its Rural Telephony project.
I have strong doubt if Nigeria’s representatives to these yearly event are really taking part or following the trend of attendance and innovation, given the successes that mobile marketing has achieved all over the world. Media organizations are the major innovations champions at the events.
Cnbc, Time and CNN are very visible partners because they had seen the future and they know it is mobile. For most media outfits in Europe and America, mobile is now a significant channel of reaching the masses with most of them offering mobile version of all conventional offerings. Nigerians happen to be the major consumer of those mobile offerings. British Broadcasting corporation reported that Nigerians constitute the highest numbers of wap users accessing its wap platform, worldwide. This is a example of a strong compelling content.
Despite the pressing need and readiness of Nigerians to consume these innovative services, the mobile operators even with 3G cannot see the opportunities in developing the ecosystem with content owners and the media. The annual Mass exodus to GSMA conferences in Barcelona,Spain will serve no purpose if Network operators cannot initiate their own local gatherings here in Nigeria, to develop a sustainable Mobile Value added service ecosystem in Nigeria.

Emmanuel Okoegwale
emmanuel@gomobileng.com

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