Three mobile operator leaders faced the question at yesterday morning’s opening keynote session at the GSMA Mobile World Congress of whether to put the brakes on any future investments or expansion, or adopt new methods of continuing to grow during these uncertain economic times.

The latest data from the mobile strategy consultant Omnitele suggests that the cost of providing networks to support excessive mobile broadband data traffic could threaten mobile operators’ profitability, particularly in the difficult economic climate.

Hamid Akhavan, CEO of T-Mobile International, told a packed press conference at Mobile World Congress this week that one of the major issues affecting the rollout of LTE was spectrum availability in Europe.

Danish company RACE Telecom has developed the WiGOMO ONE mobile phone configured to meet the needs of the child but also claims to give parents full control of usage. 

Skype has struck a deal with Nokia whereby its application will be integrated into the vendor’s smartphones starting with the N series, a further step in Skype’s strategy to reach mobile users.

After a year-long search and four regional tournaments, soft keyboard for touchscreens supplier CooTek has been named the 2009 Mobile Innovation Global Award Champion.

The GSMA has expanded the reach of its Mobile Money Transfer (MMT) programme, which aims to use mobile as a platform for sending remittances around the world.