HONG KONG, China (AVING Special Report on 'Mobile Asia Congress 2009') -- <Visual News> The Mobile Asia Congress is being held November 18-19 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event brings together leaders from Asian mobile operators and key players in the broader mobile ecosystem in an exclusive forum for sharing visions and strategies that will shape the mobile future. Over a two-day period, senior mobile industry executives from across Asia and the world will explore high-growth industry areas, emerging topics and a mainstay of strategic and technological issues, with an emphasis on developments in the Asian market.

On the eve of the 2009 Mobile Asia Congress, the GSMA, the body that represents the worldwide mobile communications industry, issued key findings that underscore the strength and success of the Asia Pacific mobile industry. The GSMA today released its Asia Pacific Mobile Observatory Report, which shows that since 2003, the Asia Pacific market has more than tripled in size, adding over a billion connections and growing at 26% CAGR1 to reach 1.7 billion connections in 2008. The study was carried out for the GSMA by global management consultants A.T. Kearney across the 47 countries in the region.

The Observatory findings show that, as the global mobile market has grown beyond 4 billion connections, in 2009 the Asia Pacific region will cross the 2 billion connections threshold for the first time. By 2013, it is expected that an additional 1 billion connections will be added as the Asia Pacific market is projected to exceed 3 billion connections. With the continued investment in mobile broadband it is likely that mobile will be the primary form of data communications and rich internet access for the majority of people in the region.

The Asian Mobile Observatory examines issues across a diverse footprint of countries and markets and shows that the industry outlook is positive as mobile makes a massive contribution on the economic, environmental and social agenda of the 47 countries in Asia Pacific. The research has shown that the mobile industry's relentless focus on bridging the digital divide and driving innovation in the years to come, coupled with regulatory and governmental support to develop and implement sustainable policies, will aid this ambitious growth.