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RSS feedsThe world's mobile telephony industry begins its annual 3GSM conference in Cannes today in what seems to be a mood of quiet optimism.
More than 25,000 people attended last year's show, and with the technology sector beginning to pick up again more are expected this year, as the worldwide number of GSM users is about to hit one billion.
This year's event will see some of the biggest players in the mobile phone operating systems market lay out their plans for the coming year, looking to impress after a turbulent 2003.
Symbian is expected to detail new handsets at the show and there will be much speculation as to Nokia's role now it has acquired a controlling interest in the consortium.
Nokia, Motorola, Sendo and Panasonic are all expected to bring out new models, and there could also be an update on the Symbian 90 operating system's increasing focus on enterprise users.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is working on building alliances within the industry. It will be promoting its Service Delivery Platform, which is designed to help network operators create and manage data services.
PalmSource has already announced a split in its output, with OS5 - now called Garnet - being kept for non-connected PDAs and the new OS6, codenamed Cobalt, being released shortly for smartphones and connected devices, part of the company's greater push towards business.
Sun Microsystems will be promoting Java enabling and applications, and Java developers will be at the event in force.
But for the network operators, making money from data will be the key talking point for all.
Vodafone's data-only 3G service has now been launched in the UK. And other operators are looking at boosting business data use, which currently accounts for less than 10 per cent of mobile data traffic.
Tied to this is an increase in the number of billing systems manufacturers touting their systems. As pay-as-you-go mobiles fall out of favour with suppliers, reliable billing is going to be a priority to operators.
Petitioning to governments over rebates on 3G auctions will be another hot topic for debate.
Economy will also be key. Intelligent network tools that improve data flow, systems to boost coverage footprints and intermediate technologies like Edge will all be covered in the conference's many sessions. Interoperability will also be on the minds of operators and handset manufacturers alike.
Crime, too, will be on the agenda, with the GSM Association unveiling a Europe-wide initiative including a central database of phones and more secure international mobile equipment identifier numbers.
The Association will also be sponsoring a new feature to be held at the closing session. Judges will be prowling the show looking for products to nominate 'Best in Show', with the final decision to be made by conference participants in typical 3GSM style: via an SMS vote.
See also:
All Mobile Communications
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