GSMA To Unveil The Connected City At Mobile World Congress 2013

-- Experience the City of the Future Powered by Mobile Connectivity

LONDON, Feb. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- At Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, the GSMA will unveil the Connected City, allowing attendees to experience first-hand the city of the future where everyone and everything can benefit from intelligent wireless connections.

Opening on 25 February, the Connected City will feature a complete urban environment, including a town hall, department store, apartment, electrical store, hotel, cafe and lounge, office, a car showroom and a street. Each area will be filled with new products and experiences showing how a more connected future – powered by mobile – will improve people's daily lives across automotive, education, health, homes, retail and more.

Launched with AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, KT, Telenor Connexion and Vodafone, the Connected City expands on the highly popular Connected House concept of previous years. Mobile World Congress attendees will experience how mobile is transforming the way we live, through demonstrations of products such as the connected bike that monitors performance in relation to its environment, remote health monitoring that can link people to healthcare professionals from their own homes, intelligent logistics services that provide more efficient ways of transporting people and goods, smart technology that makes mobile the 'brains' of your home, and in-car services that change the way we consume information on the move.

Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA said: "The Connected City demonstrates how mobile is already enhancing businesses and societies around the world. The progress of connected devices and machine-to-machine communications will be hot topics at Mobile World Congress 2013 and the city will inspire all of us, across many industries, to recognise the potential of pervasive mobile connectivity to impact our lives. The possibilities of a truly connected world are limited only by our imagination."

By 2020, there will be 25 billion[1] connected devices, and at least half will be connected by mobile technology. At the Connected City, visitors can explore how this growth will impact vertical industries and the significance of fostering strategic partnerships to take advantage of this growing market.

The Connected City will also feature technology provided by companies including Accenture, AirPlug, AQ, CUDO, DASAN Networks, Digi, Enswers, Ericsson, FRTek, GES, Hansol Inticube, IBM, Intel, MODACOM, Qualcomm, Samsung, SAP, Teletron and Volvo.

Connected services on show at the Connected City include:

AT&T

• The Connected Home – experience how AT&T Digital Life can help people manage their energy consumption and home security.

Deutsche Telekom

• Smarter Cities for the Future – see how Deutsche Telekom and IBM are using mobile technology to optimise urban services such as public transport, energy, security and water management.
• Connected Port Solutions – view an intelligent harbour solution that optimises both road and sea traffic control, as well as logistics and terminal operations to make port processes more efficient, together with SAP.

GSMA

• Aston Martin One-77 – sensors embedded into the cranks and frame of this connected road bike allow it to communicate with its on-board computer and display more than 100 channels of information such as speed, atmospheric pressure and cadence as well as calculated inputs such as rate of climb and rider power.
• Cooltra Connected Electric Scooter –embedded mobile technology lets customers know in real time where and when Cooltra connected scooters are available in and around Barcelona and other major Spanish cities. 

KT

• Smart Home & Town – enjoy your connected life with the technologies that will make our lives better, including an edutainment robot, automatic content recognition, smart home phone, controlled motorcycle, eco food bin and cloud CCTV.
• Smart Apps in Your Hands – live smarter with intelligent and unique applications including mobile K-pop music, integrated mobile payment and self-created M-learning.
• Seamless All-IP Networks – experience the advanced All-IP Network through LTE, VoLTE, hotspot roaming and reliable and seamless technologies.

Telenor Connexion

• The Evolution of a Connected Service - learn how taking an end-to-end and holistic approach to deploying connected services will help customers identify critical requirements for their solutions. To demonstrate this Telenor Connexion will be showcasing its innovative connected services in collaboration with Volvo Cars.

Vodafone

Together with its partners Accenture, Digi, Intel and SAP, Vodafone M2M will demonstrate some of its key products and solutions:

• Smart Home – see how M2M technology can provide premium security services, enable remote health monitoring and even open and close doors remotely.
• Smart City – experience how Vodafone's Energy Data Management (EDM) solution, solar energy production monitoring, remotely controlled street lighting and digital signage are enabling the smart city. Vodafone's Connected Cabinet solution demonstrates retail display cabinets that report on location, operational status and stock levels in real time.
• Smart Mobility – understand how M2M is transforming the automotive and transportation industries, be it through real-time information systems for public transport, enhanced driver experience with telematics solutions or through usage-based insurance services with Vodafone Vehicle Connect.

Media and analysts are invited to attend an exclusive VIP networking session at the Connected City, which is located in Hall 3 at stands 3B2 and 3C2, from 4.00pm to 6.00pm CET on Tuesday 26 February. To RSVP, and to arrange your visit to the Connected City and schedule interviews, please contact: connectedexperiences@webershandwick.com.

Notes to editors
[1] GSMA and Machina Research, October 2011

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.