LG joins GSM Association

This membership will enable LG to play a bigger role in defining future telecom needs in conjunction with mobile operators. Established in 1987, GSM Association (GSMA) is an international cooperative organisation designed to develop GSM mobile telecommunication technologies and platforms, as well as the worldwide wireless telecommunication industry. The organisation currently consists of 650 second and third generation mobile operators and more than 150 manufacturers and suppliers. Major GSMA members include Nokia, Motorola, Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco, among others.

"LG Electronics began its GSM handset business in 2000 and has posted a hefty growth rate of 100 percent every year. We now look forward to bolstering our partnerships with major global operators to aggressively penetrate the GSM and 3G markets in Europe and other regions around the world," said K H Kim, President, LG Electronics Middle East and Africa Operations.

LG, the first Korean company to join GSMA, will participate in over nine GSMA working groups, discuss mobile technologies-related issues, and contribute to the development of GSM and W-CDMA technologies. This will help the company track market trends and develop products to service customer needs.

As part of its activities, GSMA holds the annual 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France in February for companies engaged in mobile communications business from around the world.

Worldwide, the number of GSM subscribers now accounts for more than 73 percent of the world's digital wireless market; global GSM subscribers are predicted smash through the one billion mark in the near future. According to IDC, competition will drive growth in the telecom services and infrastructure equipment markets in the Gulf States, Iran, and Jordan this year. Mobile operators in these competitive markets will start the migration to next generation networks (NGN), convinced by the potential of NGNs for cost savings and return on investment (RIO).