Mike Ueland, Telit Senior VP and GM, on Mobile World Congress MWC 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Following MWC 2013, we discussed the show with Telit's Mike Ueland.
The show (Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain - 2013) attracted 72,000 attendees this year which was a record. The new venue, Fira Gran Via, was better at keeping attendees out of the Barcelona rain since all the halls were connected and covered. MWC had a similar feel to CES earlier this year with heavy turnout jammed into fairly narrow halls. Samsung, ZTE, Ericsson, and others had oversized booths showcasing the latest in mobile devices. However, the connected life theme was evident everywhere. From a M2M perspective, the biggest news was AT&T's announcement that they will be taking over Verizon's long relationship with GM as the primary MNO for GM's OnStar service. This was a big coup for AT&T and also is indicative how big the battle is for the connected vehicle.
Telit exhibited at MWC this year for the first time in five years. In the booth, we highlighted our new xN930 module which supports HSPA/HSPA+/LTE variants in a NGFF form factor. We also announced a LTE module in the popular x910 form factor. The LE910, based on Qualcomm Technologies' GobiTM MDM9215, will be Telit's first LTE module delivered in the xE910 product family, and the company's second LTE offering, following the LE920 LTE automotive-grade module announced last year, also based on the MDM9215. Maybe the most popular part of the Telit booth was an Illy Coffee (also based in Trieste, Italy) espresso bar which was staffed by an artistic barissta.
Mike Ueland is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Telit.