In February of this year, the GSM Association announced the first results of its emerging markets handsets initiative. The Association had been working for some time with a group of operators in developing markets, brokering an agreement with Motorola to supply 6m handsets at an ex-factoy pricepoint below USD 40. As Director of Strategic Initiatives at the GSM Association, Ben has been a key archiect of this so-called ‘ultra low-cost’ programme.

The deal was seen as a major breakthrough in extending mobile telephony to markets which have previously been excluded by economic factors and is part of an ongoing project to build the economies of scale required to bring basic handset costs down to USD 25 per unit or lower.

Ben will chair the Day Two panel at MEX entitled: “Access for all: the inclusive mobile experience.” The session will also feature a keynote presentation from Charlotte Grezo, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Vodafone.

Ben Soppitt joined the GSMA from Nokia following a career as a Management Consultant with Accenture.

PMN previously published a report on low-cost handsets and you can find more information about the GSM Association project at www.gsmworld.com/emh/index.html.