16 February 2008

Relevant Events

More than 55,000 participants attended the third edition of the Mobile World Congress held in the Catalan capital. The four-day event took place in the premises of Fira de Barcelona.

Bill Gajda, director of the GSM Association, responsible for the event, indicated that his organization wishes to continue to work in Barcelona. He also showed his satisfaction for the development and success of this latest edition. "In March we will begin negotiations with Fira, the Catalan government and the Barcelona Hotel Association. Right now we are not considering other options", Gajda said. "We want to continue in Montjuic while we have sufficient capacity. We like the atmosphere, but some buildings are becoming old and the congress brings together 55,000 professionals and the best of high technology. We want to make sure that Fira will continue to invest (in infrastructure)", Gajda concluded.

Some testimonials:

Larry Bensadon, BlackBerry sales director for Vodafone, said that "ever since the congress is organized in Barcelona, the expansion has been phenomenal. At Cannes there was a limited capacity and poor infrastructure." The executive added that "people come to work, we have endless meetings and we require a strong infrastructure, such the one offered by Barcelona."

Eduardo Mendez, responsible for security architecture and service with Telefonica Spain. "The first two years people said that Barcelona was better than Cannes with regard to the hotel infrastructure and communications. This year, the commentary is how we managed to survive in the past, before Barcelona." The executive added that "Barcelona left a good feeling among all participants."

Chul Heum Yon, a Nortel executive based in South Korea. "Barcelona is perfect, especially since the weather is nice and you can enjoy the town and its leisure and gastronomy."

Source: El País, 15/02/2008. Expansión, 15/02/2008