16 different operator companies and 140 delegates from 22 different countries attended over the two days to debate, discuss and network with the leading players in the SIM value chain in the region*.
Michel Canitrot, Chairman of the Board of SIMalliance said, “At SIMposium – the first in a series of regional SIMposium conferences, we heard noting but optimism despite the challenging economic conditions - from industry experts from across the SIM ecosystems, from the GSMa, and ETSI to mobile operators, application developers and SIM manufactures. The SIM market is booming. It is at the centre of some of the most exciting developments within the mobile sector ; from payments to identity & transport. The event itself was a phenomenal networking event, and as the SIM ecosystem expands, we expect our 2009 conferences to be even more popular, even more relevant and even more influential on the mobile communication roadmap over the next 18 months. »
Klaus Vedder, Chairman ETSI SCP: "If you were to stack all the SIM cards delivered in 2007 on top of on another, you would create a tower over 1976 km high! This, perhaps better than anything else, exemplifies the central role of the SIM in delivering effective communications and new mass-market value added services to consumers across the globe. But it doesn’t stop here, and, as we’ve been discussing at SIMposium Asia, .technology is evolving with new specifications, protocols and, of course, developments in the contactless SIM space. »
Sergio Cozzolino, Chairman GSMA ScaG : "With our remit to deliver new business opportunities to our members, the GSMA has been pushing the rapid development of an interoperable mobile contactless eco-system based on NFC technology for some time. Today, the standards for the SIM based approach are fully available and over 40 field trials have been successfully carried out. The acceptance of a global business model and availability of compatible handsets are all that stand in the way of an NFC payments explosion and it is to a broader community of ecosystem players that we must now look. And we shall be doing so at SIMposium 2009 next April.”
“We were very proud to host leading operators from across the region at the event including China Mobile, Starhub, AIS, PCCW, SK Telecom, SingTel, PT Indosat, Far Eas Tone, DIGI Telecommunications and Celcom”, said Carolyn Dawson, Events Director at Informa. “SIMposium Asia offered the perfect platform for leaders in the region to set the agenda for the future development of the SIM card industry in Asia”.
The event was also co-located with Informa’s Mobile Device Management event.
* Breakdown of Attendees:
Operators 25%
General Vendors 18%
SIM/Smart Card Manufacturers 39%
Test Equipment Manufacturers 9%
Handset & Network Manufacturers 9%
C-Level & VP 30%
Business Development 17%
Sales & Marketing 33%
Technical & R&D 19%
Press/Analysts 1%
Asia 61%
Europe 32%
USA 3%
Africa 2%
Australasia 2%
For further details on ordering the proceedings from SIMposium 2008 Asia, please contact Carolyn.dawson[at]informa.com, +44 (0) 20 7017 4246.