LONDON, Dec. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA today announced that CEOs and senior executives from Bharti Airtel, Deezer, Dropbox, General Motors, Juniper Networks and Qtel will take to the stage in keynote sessions at the 2013 GSMA Mobile World Congress, taking place 25-28 February 2013 at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona. The company announced several new sponsors participating in the App Planet and mPowered Brands programmes, along with new partner events and training sessions taking place at Mobile World Congress.

"Mobile World Congress conference attendees will have the opportunity to hear from some of the most prominent individuals in the mobile industry today, as well as leaders from companies in other industries," said Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer, GSMA. "We are particularly excited to welcome several speakers who are making their debuts in the Mobile World Congress keynote programme and will offer new perspectives."

Stellar Keynote Lineup at Mobile World Congress
A number of additional CEOs and senior executives from leading companies across the mobile ecosystem and in adjacent industries have recently been confirmed to speak in the Mobile World Congress keynote programme, including:

• Sunil Mittal, Chairman and MD, Bharti Airtel
• Axel Dauchez, CEO, Deezer
• Drew Houston, Founder and CEO, Dropbox
• Stephen Girsky, Vice Chairman, General Motors
• Kevin Johnson, CEO, Juniper Networks
• Dr. Nasser Marafih, Group CEO, Qtel Group

These executives join previously announced Mobile World Congress keynote speakers:

• Randall Stephenson, Chairman, President and CEO, AT&T
• Rene Obermann, CEO, Deutsche Telekom
• Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson
• Franco Bernabe, Chairman, GSMA and Chairman and CEO, Telecom Italia Group
• Suk-Chae Lee, Chairman and CEO, KT Corp.
• Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla
• Susan Whiting, Vice Chair, Nielsen
• Stephen Elop, President and CEO, Nokia
• Kaoru Kato, President and CEO, NTT DOCOMO
• Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO, Qualcomm
• Talmon Marco, Founder and CEO, Viber Media
• Lars Nyberg, President and CEO, TeliaSonera
• Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, Vodafone Group

Beyond the keynotes, the 2013 conference will also include sessions exploring hot topics such as big data, mobile cloud, mWallets, NFC, small cells and smart cities, as well as the role of mobile in adjacent industries like advertising, automotive, finance and retail. For more information on the Mobile World Congress keynotes, as well as the full conference programme, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/conference.

Nokia, Plantronics and Samsung to Host ADCs in App Planet

For the fourth year at Mobile World Congress, App Planet will bring together mobile industry leaders and the application development community to participate in programmes focusing on the explosive growth in the mobile apps market, as well as exhibition, product and service demonstrations, networking and workshops. The GSMA today announced that App Planet Supporting Sponsors Nokia, Plantronics and Samsung will be holding app developer conferences (ADCs) in App Planet, joining previously announced App Planet Supporting Sponsors including the Car Connectivity Consortium and Wireless Industry Partnership. The Official App Planet Sponsor is Generalitat de Catalunya - Government of Catalonia and Supporting Sponsor is Inneractive. For more information, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/app-planet-overview/.

New Partner Events and Training Sessions 

In addition to the GTI Summit taking place on Tuesday 26^th February, Mobile World Congress will also feature partner events from companies including ClickSoftware, Fastback Networks, IBM, MasterCard, the Open Mobile Alliance and Taisys. For more information on these new partner events, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/partner-events/

Mobile World Congress 2013 will also include training sessions delivered by Andrew Seybold Wireless University and Award Solutions. These independent seminars will focus on the deployment of next-generation mobile technologies and include sessions such as "Mobile Today and Tomorrow" presented by Andrew Seybold Wireless University, and "Making an Impact with VoLTE" and "Keys to Successful LTE Networks", both presented by Award Solutions. For more information on these training sessions, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/training/

New mPowered Brands Supporting Sponsor
Mobile-Loco has joined as the latest mPowered Brands Supporting Sponsor at Mobile World Congress. Designed to develop marketers' and enterprise leaders' mobile knowledge and to fast-track their use of mobile for marketing and consumer engagement, mPowered Brands comprises three elements: the mPowered Brands Zone, mPowered Brands Theatres and mPowered Brands Mobile Ambassadors. For more information on mPowered Brands, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/mpoweredbrands-overview.

Demonstration Sponsors for Mobile World Congress Media Welcome Reception
The GSMA announced that Mobeam, Symphony Teleca and Trend Micro will be participating in demonstration showcases at the first official Mobile World Congress Media Welcome Reception.  Held on Sunday, 24^th February from 17:00 to 19:00 at Fira Gran Via, this networking cocktail reception will offer accredited press and industry analysts the opportunity to meet with leading players from across the mobile ecosystem and preview the week's activities in relaxed social environment. For more information on the Media Welcome Reception at Mobile World Congress, visit www.mobileworldcongress.com/press/.

The Mobile World Congress is the cornerstone of the Mobile World Capital, which will be hosted in Barcelona from 2013 to 2018. The Mobile World Capital also includes the Mobile World Centre, the Mobile World Festival and the Mobile World Hub, programmes and activities that will span the entire year and will benefit not only the citizens of Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain, but also the worldwide mobile industry. For more information on the Mobile World Capital, visit www.mobileworldcapital.com. 

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with more than 230 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo. 

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

SOURCE GSMA