There is a Mobile Congress in Barcelona and there is one in Shanghai; and nothing in between. Hoping to put a “special focus on reaching out to the Southeast Asian markets,” India will conduct its own three-day Mobile Congress in New Delhi starting September 27, this year, Indian news agency, PTI, quoted Rajan S Mathews, Director General, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) as saying.
The event will be put together by COAI and Indian Mobile Congress. The Department of Telecom and the Ministry of Electronics and IT in India too has given the go ahead. Meanwhile, the global body — The GSM Association, which organizes the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, too has agreed to associate with the three-day event.
The event will focus on knowledge sharing, exhibition, startups, skill development and “all pillars of Digital India including Make in India.” All Indian mobile operators, Facebook, Huawei, Ericsson, Cisco and other companies are expected to participate in the mobile congress.
“We have asked other Indian business association to come together and be part of it,” Mathews said.
He pointed out that he along with Indian government delegation had held discussions with British and Swedish Trade Ministers for their engagement in Indian Mobile Congress.
As of January, the total number of GSM subscribers in India stood at 815.15 million, according to the monthly data released by COAI. The Indian mobile market is currently going through a price war, triggered by incumbent telecom player, Reliance Jio, offering free calls and free data, forcing other players to revise their pricing too.
Coming back to MWC, over 108,000 attendees from 208 countries participated in the just concluded MWC in Barcelona. Looking at the growth within the country and the sheer number of attendees at MWC, India cannot afford to miss out on the opportunity.