LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE ASIA EXPO 2013: The second annual GSMA Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai promises to be even bigger and better than the inaugural event held in 2012, with more participants and new exhibits.

The GSMA expects more than 20,000 people through the doors during the three-day event (opening tomorrow), a 25 per cent increase on the 15,500 attendees from 2012. The show floor has tripled in size at 25,000 square metres, compared with 8,000 square metres in 2012, with 80 per cent of exhibitors coming from outside China.

“This year is our second year in Shanghai and we have great expectations for a wonderful event. We’re targeting both the mobile business-to-business sector as well as local and international tech savvy consumers,” said John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Limited, at a local press event in Shanghai yesterday.

Speakers participating in the thought leadership conference include operators China Mobile, Telstra, and KT, network equipment makers Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei and emerging mobile OS player Ubuntu.

“We’re very proud of the top-level conference participants that you will be able to hear over the next few days,” said GSMA chief marketing officer, Michael O’Hara.

Samsung is present at the event for the first time with Sony also using the event to run a major product launch, while companies from outside the mobile sector are making a splash, including Coca Cola and Ford.

Ford is running an outdoor test track and connected car stand showcasing the car maker’s SYNC voice control technology and the Active City Stop and Active City Park solutions.

The 2013 exhibition also includes a Connected City, which aims to demonstrate the benefits of the GSMA’s Connected Living programme with contributions from China Mobile, Cisco, Ford, Huawei, KT and SAP.

NFC is also a major feature of Mobile Asia Expo with an NFC treasure hunt, NFC University Challenge and the ability to purchase food using NFC handsets. App Planet, meanwhile, has “a lot of things for developers to engage and learn about the initiatives happening in the industry”, according to O’Hara.

“We look forward to showcasing some of the great and exciting new advances in the mobile ecosystem not only here in China but around the world,” John Hoffman concluded.