Press Releases

Society, Health and Environment Top Agenda at Mobile Conference

Governments, researchers, social scientists, and the wireless industry among delegates and speakers at Brussels conference

Mobile Communications: Society, Health, Environment - Brussels, January 20-21: A major two-day conference will allow experts from all over Europe to share evidence and opinion on the contribution of mobile communications to safety, the environment and European society.

Organised by the GSM Association's European Interest Group (GSME), the European Commission, and the Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF); the conference will look at key issues such as the accepted scientific consensus, best practice regulation and social contribution.

"The GSM Association, the global trade association for the world's GSM operators places the highest possible emphasis on matters of public concern about mobile communications," said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association and member of the board. "At the same time we want to ensure the full social and economic value of GSM is fully understood - this conference is an important opportunity for informative dialogue on these key issues."

Welcoming the conference, Kaisu Karvala, Chair of GSM Europe said: "The mobile industry recognises its responsibilities and will live up to them. We must listen to the scientific, medical, and social evidence; we must ensure we communicate clearly with our customers; and we must continue to adopt best practice network and service rollout."

The first day's agenda will take a close look at the emerging scientific consensus on health issues and will also examine measures to improve and inform public communications. The conference will then examine public attitudes to mobile communications and will also recognise the social contribution being made by GSM services - for example the conference will hear that, in some countries, as many as 1 in 3 genuine calls to the emergency services come from mobile phones.

On day two, case studies of best practice network roll-out, customer communications and public regulation will be shared by member states including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Sweden and the UK.

Michael Milligan, Secretary general of the MMF said: "This conference demonstrates the commitment of the industry - both manufacturers and operators - to openness and transparency. It also highlights the importance of taking a broad and inclusive view of issues around mobile communication and health."

With more than 200 delegates from around the world and speakers from several member states, the conference is the first gathering of its kind and will also feature a keynote address on the Risk and Governance of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) from Heinz Zourek, Deputy Director General of the Commission's Enterprise Directorate.

"The Commission's involvement on the conference has been vital," added Kaisu Karvala. "By working closely together we have been able to attract the top experts in the field to contribute evidence and opinion to the debate. By continuing to work together, we believe that we can construct a roadmap for operators and manufacturers that can ensure a healthy future for our industry and our customers.

"This conference will help us to meet those objectives and fulfil the interests of more than 400 million customers across Europe," she concluded.

Notes for Editors:


About GSM Europe

About the GSM Association

About the MMF

The MMF is an international association of radio equipment manufacturers whose members include Alcatel, Ericsson, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips, Sagem, Siemens, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. The MMF has offices in both Belgium and Brazil and is currently involved in over 30 countries as well as supporting an active international research program. For more information, visit the website at www.mmfai.org

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