Telecom Italia Hosts GSMA Board Meeting in Venice

By Gsma, PRNE
Sunday, June 5, 2011

VENICE, Italy, June 6, 2011 -

- GSMA Chairman and Telecom Italia Group Chairman and CEO Franco Bernabe
Convenes Gathering of World's Top Mobile Operators at TI Future Centre

- Bernabe Announces Milestone in Mobile Broadband - 500 Million HSPA
Connections by the End of June, Expected to Reach 1 Billion by the End of
2012

The GSMA held its most recent Board meeting this week at Telecom Italia's
Future Centre in Venice. The world's leading mobile operators converged in
the Italian city to explore the key issues and challenges facing the mobile
industry today, as well as the opportunities which will spur innovation and
growth across the ecosystem.

"We are focused on driving activities where collective action can deliver
significant benefits to the mobile industry's customers, far above those that
individual operators could achieve through their own pursuits," commented
Franco Bernabe, GSMA Chairman and Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia Group.
"Together, we are working to prioritise the customer experience,
interoperability, quality of service and security which have been the
hallmarks of the mobile industry since its inception, and which continue to
be the foundation of our respective businesses."

The Board sets the strategic direction of the GSMA, ensuring its work is
fully aligned with the needs of mobile operators and their customers across
the world. Comprised of Group CEOs, CEOs and C-level representatives from the
25 of the world's leading mobile operator groups, as well as the CEO of the
GSMA, the Board prioritises and oversees the GSMA's strategic, commercial,
public policy and technical initiatives. In this way, the Board ensures that
everything the organisation does is anchored by an overriding objective to
increase the value the mobile industry contributes to societies and economies
worldwide.

At the meeting, the second of Mr. Bernabe's term as GSMA Chairman, the
Board reviewed the progress of the GSMA's strategic initiatives, which focus
on the areas of Mobile Broadband and Spectrum; Embedded Mobile; Mobile NFC;
Mobile Advertising; and Rich Communications Ecosystem. The GSMA's Strategy
Committee (SC), Executive Management Committee (EMC) and Public Policy
Committee (PPC) also met to discuss critical issues in the technological and
regulatory realms.

"We are making very strong progress across these strategic initiatives,"
continued Mr. Bernabe. "For instance, the world's operators are making
significant investment in Mobile Broadband, and particularly LTE, to create a
truly 'connected life'. In fact, this month we are reaching an important
milestone in the development of the Mobile Broadband market - we will hit 500
million HSPA connections and as we are adding 19 million new connections each
month, we expect to reach 1 billion by the end of 2012."

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning
219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as
well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including
handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies,
and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces
industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia
Congress.

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the online portal
for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com or
the GSMA corporate website at www.gsmworld.com.

Ben Evetts: +44-7879-614941, bevetts at webershandwick.com or press at gsm.org

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