GSMA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Template:Short description Template:DMCA

Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.

GSM Association
AbbreviationGSMA
Formation1995; 31 years ago (1995)
TypeIndustry trade body
PurposeRepresenting mobile network operators
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Members1200+ companies
WebsiteLua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:If preview' not found.

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

The GSM Association (GSMA)[a] is the advocacy and lobbying organization for the mobile communications industry, representing more than 750 mobile operators as full members and a further 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem as associate members[1].

Although legally a non-profit trade association[2], the GSMA operates on an commercial scale generating estimated annual revenues of approximately $668 million[3], largely through its flagship event series, the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The MWC event in Barcelona alone contributed over €561 million to the local economy in a recent year, demonstrating the event's massive commercial engine.[4]

This funding is reinvested to support the organization's primary missions, which include:

  • Global Advocacy and Lobbying on behalf of its members, especially concerning radio spectrum allocation and telecom regulatory policy.[5]
  • Technical Standardization for mobile technologies (from GSM to 5G and beyond).
  • Industry Convening through its major global events.[6]

History

File:Gsma mou.jpg
The original GSM MoU document: "A Pan-European 900MHz Digital Cellular Mobile Telecommunications Service" (dated 7 September 1987)
File:GSMA logo.svg
Logo variant with the dots at the top symbolizing clients in a network

The GSMA was formed in 1995 as the GSM MoU Association as a body to support and promote mobile operators using the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) standard for cellular networks. It traces its history back to a memorandum of understanding signed in 1987 by 13 operators in 12 countries that committed to deploying GSM for mobile services.[7][failed verification]

Membership and governance

Full membership of the GSMA is open to licensed mobile operators using a GSM family technology. Approximately 750 such operators around the world are full GSMA members. Associate membership of the GSMA is open to non-operator companies active in the mobile ecosystem. These include handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. There are approximately 400 GSMA member companies in this category.[8]

The GSMA board has 25 representatives from the world's largest operator groups and selected smaller operators, and is elected bi-annually. José María Álvarez-Pallete López, CEO(2016-2025) of Telefónica Group, became GSMA Chairman in January 2022.[9]

The present Director General of the GSMA, Mats Granryd [sv], took office in January 2016.[10][11]

Programmes and advocacy

The GSMA manages industry programmes in collaboration with its members with the aim of achieving scale and interoperability for new mobile technologies. It has three active programmes: 'Future Networks' (promoting standards such as Rich Communication Services and Voice over LTE); 'Identity'; and the 'Internet of Things'.[citation needed]

It also runs industry working groups covering areas such as roaming and interconnection, fraud and security, and intellectual property, as well as various other specialist committees and groups.[12][need quotation to verify]

The GSMA represents the mobile industry to governments and institutions where it advocates policy and regulatory positions on behalf of its members. Its stated goals in this area is to ensure that mobile telecoms "policy and regulatory frameworks are fair, flexible and future-proof"; that radio spectrum is made available for mobile services "in a timely and fair manner"; and to promote the use of mobile services in emerging markets.[13]

As part of its Industry Purpose programme, the GSMA is supporting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.[14][failed verification]

Events

File:MWC 2019 (46487932494).jpg
Exhibition floor at GSMA MWC Barcelona 2019

The GSMA's MWC Barcelona (formerly Mobile World Congress) is the largest annual exhibition and conference dedicated to the mobile industry, attracting more than 109,000 visitors in 2019.[15] The event was first held in 1987.

Since 2006, the event has been hosted in Barcelona and is currently located at the Fira Gran Via venue. In 2019 the event was recognised, for the fourth time, as the Guinness World Record holder for the world's largest carbon-neutral tradeshow.[16]

In addition to MWC Barcelona, the GSMA organises MWC Kigali (formerly MWC Africa),[17] MWC Shanghai,[18] MWC Las Vegas (formerly MWC Los Angeles),[19] 4YFN[20] MWC Doha and the M360 series of regional events,[21] but the brand remains most synonymous with the Barcelona event.

TAC/IMEI database

Page Module:Message box/ambox.css has no content.

The GSMA is the global administrator of Type Allocation Code (TAC), which is used to create the International Mobile Equipment Identity number that can uniquely identify wireless devices.

It allocates official IMEI number ranges to all manufacturers of 3GPP compliant devices and records these ranges and device model information in a database. It offers a device look up and identification service based on this database that allows authorised third-party organisations to identify the manufacturer and model of a mobile device using the IMEI.

Notes

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ GSM is originally an abbreviation for Global System for Mobile Communications, named Groupe Spécial Mobile before that.

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA Member Demographics". GSMA (General Corporate Information). Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Staff writer (2024). "GSM Association (GSMA)". UIA Global Civil Society Database. uia.org. Brussels, Belgium: Union of International Associations. Retrieved 1 February 2025.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA Revenue, Competitors and Alternatives". Growjo. Retrieved 26 November 2025. GSMA's estimated annual revenue is currently $668.4M
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA MWC25 Barcelona contributed €561 million to the Barcelona economy". GSMA Newsroom. 13 June 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Policy Positions - Spectrum - GSMA". GSMA. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sustainability - About Us". GSMA. Retrieved 26 November 2025. As approved by the Board in 2020, the GSMA focuses on three pillars, which leverage the GSMA's core – government/regulatory relationships, technical standards acumen and convening power – to better address the industry's immediate and mid-term opportunities and challenges...
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Happy 20th birthday, GSM". ZDNet. Retrieved 7 September 2007. On 7 September, 1987, representatives from 13 countries sat around a table in Copenhagen and signed the Groupe Spécial Mobile memorandum of understanding. [..] The memorandum of understanding that created all this was merely an agreement, not an organisation – the GSM Association didn't actually exist until 1995.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA membership". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA Board Elects New Chair". GSMA. 31 January 2022.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Director General". GSMA.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA appoints Mats Granryd as new Director General". GSMA. 23 November 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Working groups". GSMA.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA Annual Report 2017".
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."New mobile app launches to drive action on Sustainable Development Goals". United Nations. 18 September 2016.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mobile World Congress boasts record attendance of 109,000 visitors". 28 February 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GSMA Announces New Developments for MWC Barcelona 2020". GSMA. Associated Press. 3 December 2019.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."MWC Kigali 2023". Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."MWC Shanghai 2021". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."MWC Las Vegas". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."4YFN". Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mobile 360". Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  • Lua error in Module:Official_website at line 94: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Authority control/config' not found.

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=GSMA&oldid=7639161"