GSMA Introduces The NFC Experience For Mobile World Congress

- GSMA to Showcase an Integrated Range of Mobile NFC Services Throughout Fira Gran Via and the City of Barcelona

BARCELONA, Spain, Jan. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA today announced the NFC Experience at Mobile World Congress, an interactive experience through which exhibitors, vendors, and attendees use mobile Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to exchange information and conduct transactions. The GSMA also announced several new keynote speakers for the Mobile World Congress conference programme, as well as new sponsors participating across key programmes at the event. Mobile World Congress will take place 25-28 February at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

"We're excited to launch the NFC Experience for Mobile World Congress, as it provides attendees to the event the opportunity to experience first-hand the power of NFC technology both throughout the Mobile World Congress venue, as well as in the city of Barcelona," said Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. "We hope that all attendees will take advantage of the many benefits of NFC, from venue access to retail transactions to transport, among others."

New for Mobile World Congress 2013 - NFC Experience
As part of the new NFC Experience at Mobile World Congress, the GSMA will showcase an integrated range of mobile NFC services. Attendees with NFC-enabled handsets will be able to take advantage of NFC technology at locations throughout the Fira Gran Via and in the city. NFC touch points will be abundant throughout Congress, rewarding those who 'tap' with instant access to information such as downloads on the conference sessions and keynotes, as well as information on restaurants and tourist attractions around Barcelona itself. The NFC Experience features:

• NFC Centre – A dedicated zone in the heart of Congress Square will be one of the key locations to visit and see NFC-enabled handsets and their capabilities as well as gaining information on the NFC ecosystem, NFC smart posters, NFC partner pods and a dedicated NFC support function;
• NFC Interactive Zones - More than a dozen NFC Interactive Zones will be located along the walkways, entrances and exhibition halls of Fira Gran Via. Comprising a series of linked smart posters, attendees can use their NFC-enabled handsets to access exhibitor directories, venue information, nearby conveniences and many other useful services offered during Mobile World Congress;
• Barcelona City NFC Locations - Strategic NFC touch points will be available at the airport, key hotels, selected restaurants and central tourist locations and attendees can take a taxi and pay for goods in select shops with NFC; and
• Virtual NFC Badge – During registration, attendees with NFC-enabled handsets (Android 4 and above or Windows Phone 8 operating system) can opt into the NFC Experience and get full show entry with it and their physical badge, but without the need to repeatedly present a physical photo ID to gain access to the venue. 

New Mobile World Congress Keynotes

CEOs and senior executives from companies across the mobile ecosystem and around the globe joined the keynote programme at Mobile World Congress, including:

• Xi Guohua, Chairman, China Mobile
• Dennis Crowley, Founder and CEO, Foursquare
• Marc Dillon, CEO, Jolla Mobile
• Cesar Alierta, Executive Chairman and CEO, Telefonica
• Paul Gunning, CEO, Tribal DDB Worldwide and Global Chief Digital Officer, DDB

These executives join previously announced Mobile World Congress keynote speakers:

• Randall Stephenson, Chairman, President and CEO, AT&T
• Axel Dauchez, CEO, Deezer
• Rene Obermann, CEO, Deutsche Telekom
• Drew Houston, Founder and CEO, Dropbox
• Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson
• Stephen Girsky, Vice Chairman, General Motors
• Franco Bernabe, Chairman, GSMA and Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia Group
• Kevin Johnson, CEO, Juniper Networks
• Suk-Chae Lee, Chairman and CEO, KT Corp.
• Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla
• Susan Whiting, Vice Chair, Nielsen
• Stephen Elop, President and CEO, Nokia
• Kaoru Kato, President and CEO, NTT DOCOMO
• Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Qtel Group
• Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO, Qualcomm  
• Talmon Marco, Founder and CEO, Viber Media
• Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group

For more information on the Mobile World Congress keynotes, as well as the full conference programme, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/conference.

New Supporting Sponsors for App Planet, mPowered Brands
The GSMA announced new Supporting Sponsors for its App Planet and mPowered Brands Programmes. On Tuesday, 26th February, GSMA OneAPI will be holding an app developer conference as part of App Planet, which brings together mobile industry leaders and the application development community to participate in programmes focusing on the explosive growth in the mobile apps market, as well as exhibition, product and service demonstrations, networking and workshops. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/app-planet-overview/.

In the mPowered Brands Programme, Rubicon will be hosting a mPowered Brands Theatre session on Monday, 25th February, and McCann WorldGroup will host a mPowered Brands session on Wednesday, 27th February. Also in mPowered Brands, Telefonica is a Supporting Sponsor of the mPowered Brands Open Forum session on Monday, 25th February which will present the results of a consumer research study being undertaken by the GSMA and Leger Marketing. For more information on mPowered Brands, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/mpoweredbrands-overview.

The Mobile World Congress is the cornerstone of the Mobile World Capital, which will be hosted in Barcelona from 2013 to 2018. The Mobile World Capital also includes the Mobile World Centre, the Mobile World Festival and the Mobile World Hub, programmes and activities that will span the entire year and will benefit not only the citizens of Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain, but also the worldwide mobile industry. For more information on the Mobile World Capital, visit www.mobileworldcapital.com. 

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com