A vendor takes a selfie at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. © GSMA
Earlier this week we caught up with Archives of IT trustee, Dr Mike Short CBE, on his return from the Mobile World Congress – MWC25 Barcelona – and the 30th annual GSMA Global Mobile Awards, or GLOMOs as they are better known.
It was a memorable anniversary for Short, who, as Chairman of the GSM Association, founded the GLOMOs with colleague Mark Smith in 1996. Known at the time as the GSM Awards, the inaugural awards ceremony took place in Cannes and the event has endured ever since.
For the past three decades, the GLOMOs have recognised the industry leaders, individuals, and governments setting the standard for mobile and digital innovation.
Looking back through the evolving award categories and list of past winners, brings to life the history of the mobile phone industry and highlights the rapid pace of change in the sector.
Rapid growth and innovation
The awards were originally conceived to mark the journey from 10 million GSM customers globally to 100 million; promoting the adoption of the GSM standard and consumer take-up, which was predominantly European at the time. Today, there are six billion mobile customers globally and China Mobile, Huawei and SK Telecom feature heavily on the list of award winners.
Alongside the growth in adoption and ubiquity of mobile telephony, the tech itself has advanced rapidly over the past 30 years. Back in 1996, the cutting-edge Nokia 2110i took the Outstanding GSM Handset prize. The winner of the equivalent prize this year, the Best Smartphone, was the Google Pixel 9 Pro. Comparing the features and technology within the two illustrates just how far consumer devices have evolved in that time.
Short highlights the ‘mobile camera phone’, which celebrated its 25th birthday last year, as a straightforward example of the pace of change. “26 years ago, we had no mobile camera phones and without them there would be no social media industry,” he said. “Can you imagine how we would do social media without a camera phone? Or even texting without images?”
What does the future hold?
Today, with more than 1.4 billion smartphone devices shipped per annum, the device is the most inclusive tech on the planet. And, according to Short, the buzz at MWC25 suggests the industry is seeing huge growth in areas such as streaming – music, video and gaming; digital health; mobile payments; and initiatives that support the UN Development Goals such as enabling connectivity and access to information, services, and economic opportunities, particularly for those in poverty.
AI is also omnipresent. Indeed, not unsurprisingly, Short reports that AI was “everywhere” at MWC25, whether it’s being used to optimise networks, improve energy efficiency, or deployed in mobile services.
Given the speed of innovation, and the impact of small developments like the mobile camera phone on other industries, it’s difficult to predict what might happen in the future.
But we can be certain that the pace of change will continue. Short expects near term advances in areas like digital health diagnostics (made possible through wearable devices); growth in autonomous vehicles and connected cars; and, more generally, an ever increasing range of connected ‘things’.
This makes the sector an exciting career choice for young people, with plenty of opportunity and scope for continued growth and innovation. Short’s advice for those young people is clear: “Try and imagine the future and consider how much potential there still is for change and growth. And then imagine how much potential there is for you.”
Related article
For more on the history and evolution of the mobile phone, and links to interviews with the leaders who made it happen including Dr Mike Short CBE, check out Archives of IT’s feature article – From Bricks to Bendables: 40 years of mobile phones.