Ehrlich will point to the GSMA Board’s recent support for the continuation of mobile broadband development in the form of LTE technology as a catalyst for this new mindset.
In addition, the rebranding of this week’s Congress also reflects the changing landscape of the mobile industry from one that is technology-centric to services oriented.
“We need to be agnostic about the precise technologies being used – or not used – at the radio access layer,” he told the Show Daily in a briefing prior to his keynote presentation this morning. “For some operators, for example, WiMAX may be a threat. For others it may be an opportunity. Irrespective of these individual considerations, the GSMA needs to embrace the entire constituency, including CDMA operators.” Indeed, the GSMA Chairman states that CDMA operators that have committed to an LTE future will have full GSMA representation within the next year. He also believes the GSMA should include non-Board Member companies in its various committees.
However, Ehrlich is determined that the GSMA does not lose its focus. “The GSMA has always been about mobile. Irrespective of the approaches taken by individual members, or the precise technologies being deployed, our core competency remains the same; mobile services.”
