Mobile Industry Can Play a Big Role in Economic Revival, Say Industry Leaders
The GSMA Leadership Summit was an event on which most mobile industry watchers would have kept a keen eye. The summit which is “a by invitation only” event is attended by only the top most executives and decision makers of the industry. The event plays a key role as a facilitator for industry leaders to coordinate and channel their efforts for the industry’s benefit as well as defining the role the industry can play in the economy as a whole.
In line with expectations, most discussions revolved around the macroeconomic troubles the world is facing and how the mobile industry can not only cope with it in an effective manner, but also how it can play a part in getting the economy back on track.
Some of the views expressed may sound ambitious, but there is certainly an element of truth in the assertion made by Rob Conway, GSMA chief executive, that given the right kind of support in terms of an investment platform and spectrum release, mobile broadband industry can act as positive influence on the struggling economy.
It must be noted that spectrum release is a major issue for the mobile industry right now. There is hardly any coordination among different countries regarding spectrum allocation to the mobile industry, which means that manufacturers cannot sell the same device configuration in different markets. The costs of reconfiguring a device for different markets are quite high, and have been hurting the industry for a while now.
