The Mobile World Congress began yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, with a view to bring together the services of the telecommunication sector.
The event, a collaboration among operators, handset providers, system providers and different service providers, will be the key factor for development in the coming days, which the industry people should put their efforts together for, said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, chairman of GSMA, in the opening session of this year's GSMA Mobile Congress 2014.
“Billions of people are using the internet and the number is increasing exponentially. At this point, we need to join hands to create an eco-system to harmonise the service and communication sector,” said Baksas, who is also the president of Telenor, the majority shareholder of Bangladesh's leading mobile operator Grameenphone.

The GSMA is a world-class thought-leadership conference featuring visionary keynotes and panel discussions, with 1,700 exhibitors showcasing cutting-edge products and technologies.
Mobile companies, vendors and other businesses across the globe are attending the event, which will help them in networking in the coming days, Anne Bouverot, GSMA director general, said in the opening event.
Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, chief executive of Etisalat, a UAE-based telecom services provider, said voice calls make up just half of total internet surfing in his country's operation.
“Within our network currently, voice service is in the fifth position, while internet dominates services.”
He shared data that showed a subscriber who has a smartphone used data 25 minutes roughly a day, while its only 12 minutes for voice use.
Daniel Hajj, chief executive of America Movil, a leading mobile operator in Latin America, said 90 percent of their revenue still comes from the voice call. The four-day congress will include a number of sessions with the participation of global technology leaders and regulators.
Different teams of delegates from Bangladesh, including the government, regulator and the mobile operators, are also participating in the top technology fair.
A team from the Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and ICT led by Minister Abdul Latif Siddique is taking part in the show. Other team members are Md Abubakar Siddique, telecom secretary; Md Nazrul Islam Khan, ICT secretary, and Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of BTRC.