GSMA & Nielsen Announce Mobile Backstage

GSMA & Nielsen Announce Mobile Backstage

A Unique Mobile Entertainment Conference at the Mobile World Congress 2008

LONDON, January 24/PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA and The Nielsen Company today announced that Black-Eyed-Peas
front man will.i.am and film actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini will
be among the headline speakers at a brand new mobile entertainment conference,
Mobile Backstage at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (11-14
February 2008).

This one-day event, produced by the GSMA in collaboration with Nielsen's
leading entertainment industry magazines Billboard and The Hollywood
Reporter, will include top music, film, TV, video and gaming industry
insiders in a programme that will get to the heart of challenges and
opportunities for the fourth screen, mobile medium. Mobile Backstage will
also offer refreshing perspectives on the mobile entertainment revolution
from some of today's top artists, filmmakers, producers, entertainment
executives and film festival professionals.

The interactive conference taking place on Wednesday 13 February at
Barcelona's spectacular National Palace above the Mobile World Congress
complex, will feature star powered keynote interviews, innovative case
studies, custom mobile entertainment research and panel sessions on
provocative topics such as creating content for mobile; value chain control
and compensation; business models, and social networking on mobile.

Mobile Backstage confirmed speakers include:

- will.i.am, singer/songwriter and founder of Black Eyed Peas
- Isabella Rossellini, Writer, Actor, Director
- Craig Palmer, President & CEO, Gracenote
- Mika Salmi, President. Global Digital Media, MTV Networks
- Jeff Hermann, VP of Mobile Media, Nielson Mobile
- Rob Lewis, CEO, Omnifone
- Tero Ojanpera, EVP Entertainment and Communities, Nokia
- Christopher Barry, SVP Digital Media and Business Strategy,
Sundance Channel
- Jerome Paillard, Director, Marche du Film, Festival Du Cannes
- Jody Shapiro, Producer
- Erik Rosenlund, Filmmaker
- Ken Wardrop, Filmmaker
- Javier Perez Dolset, Founder, CEO Zed
- Simon Protheroe, New Media and IT Direct, Eidos

"Mobile Backstage will provide a unique glimpse behind the content
curtain," said Bill Gajda, Chief Marketing Officer for the GSMA. "With
master-class insights from artists that create compelling content to
operators and others in the value chain that work to deliver it to a global
audience on an unprecedented scale."

"This event is a natural fit for the Nielsen entertainment brands," said
Tamara Conniff, Group Editorial Director, Billboard. "With these speakers we
seek to enlighten, provoke, and inspire the mobile community. We are thrilled
to be working with GSMA."

Internationally known actress, Isabella Rossellini will showcase and
discuss her role in the making of a brand new series of mobile short films
titled GREEN PORNO, conceived, written by and featuring Rossellini and
produced in association with Sundance Channel . The films have been selected
to premiere at both the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival this
year. Mobile Backstage will host their mobile industry premiere.
Black-Eyed-Peas frontman, will.i.am will provide the perspective of a world
leading music artist on the potential to reach a global fan base via mobile
phones.

The GSMA expects to announce additional headline artists in the coming
days.

About the Mobile World Congress:

The GSMA's Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Congress are the world's
leading mobile communications conference and exhibition events, where top
executives from mobile operators, equipment vendors, IT companies and
entertainment providers meet to do business. In 2007, more than 50,000 people
attended the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The Mobile World Congress in
2008 will take place at the Fira de Barcelona, Spain, between 11th and 14th
February 2008. For more information please visit

http://www.mobileworldcongress.com.

About the GSMA:

The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing
more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries and territories
of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support
the Association's initiatives as key partners. The primary goals of the GSMA
are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily
accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national
economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their
suppliers. The Association's members serve more than 2.5 billion customers -
85% of the world's mobile phone users.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with
leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information
(ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), business
publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek) and trade shows. The
privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with
headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA. For more
information, please visit, http://www.nielsen.com.

Source: The GSMA and The Nielsen Company

For more information please contact: Mark Smith or David Pringle, GSM Association, Email: press@gsm.org

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