As the name change suggests, the organizers  that is the GSM Association  have realized that in a world of 4G and wireless broadband, exhibitors and visitors want to, and need to, reach out beyond traditional cellular.

So what themes and trends will be the talk of the show this year? Well as regards mobile handsets, we marked your cards with our series of articles in this weeks and last months issue of EE Times Europe where we highlight the major issues such as chip integration, the challenges with mobile processors and the likely impact of Google on carriers and the likely winners in areas such as operating systems, GPS chips , power management devices and OLEDs.

There will be an upbeat mood following announcements late last month of a near 11 percent increase in handset shipments in 2007, and a forecast of 1.2 billion units for this year. The fact that emerging markets and low-cost models are driving this growth will not deter the enthusiasts, who will also point to increasing demand for smartphones. Chip suppliers and mobile software and service providers will beat the drum of increasing functionality for fewer bucks, but this is a well-worn theme.

On the infrastructure side, the hot topic is likely to be mobile broadband and Long Term Evolution. Here, we were ahead of the game with our two reports from Barcelona last year, where we flagged up the major issues following discussions with chip suppliers, basestation equipment makers and test gear manufacturers.

We noted that in any discussion of what follows the 3GPP transition to LTE via HSDPA and HSPA, the elephant in the room was, and this year is even more so, the efforts of the mobile WiMAX community.

Both efforts got major fillips over the past few months, from technologists and regulators, and the battle lines are drawn, even if no clearer than last February, as regards the exact timing and pace of deployment of both wireless broadband options. Backers of LTE, of whom there are certainly many, got an extra boost to their story late last month when the 3GPP standards organization indicated that the LTE radio access network specifications would be completed by the end of this year. That signals early floundering about development activity is behind us and its all systems go for controlled development and testing that all works together with legacy networks, and new handsets.

Expect to see announcements about progress in LTE base-station design from chipmakers such as Texas Instruments, NXP, Freescale and picoChip, joined by others such as Qualcomm on the handsets. Most of these will also be making the news about mobile WiMAX, and will feel more comfortable about strutting their WiMAX stuff now that the event is a true mobile congress.

Another, related, element to Long Term Evolution will also take center stage at MWC. So start getting used to System Architect Evolution (SAE), which specifies the mobile core network. Work towards final specifications for this is progressing well according to regulators operators and equipment makers, and should be finalized early next year.

Other topics that are likely to get an airing and are worth following include progress in mobile payments  with suppliers of chips for Near Field Communications, such as NXP and ST, paying attention to the feedback from the numerous trials that are in progress  indoor coverage via beam-forming techniques and femtocells, touch screens for handsets and, inevitably, mobile TV.

The hesitancy of Ericsson about 3G home access points may be understandable, but the luke-warm attitude of chip suppliers, such as Broadcom, Qualcomm, TI and to a lesser extent ADI and Xilinx, to femtocells is leaving the field open, in particular, to picoChip and to some degree RadioFrame and NextWave.

It will be interesting to ascertain at the event if these dynamics are changing or likely to change in the near future.

Another topic to track at the event is the advances in bringing location capability to mobile handsets. The past few months have seen much commercial activity in this sector, with, for example, NXP buying GPS chip startup GloNav  which implies a change in direction for the Dutch group from a software-based approach to embedding GPS capability into its handset chip platform to a hardware-based system. Nokia has also set its sights on satellite-based location services with a huge $8.1 billion punt on digital map provider Navteq.

On the technical side, CSR will be bringing to Barcelona its approach to integrating software-based enhanced GPS capabilities into handsets, and others are expected to show their hand in helping mobile phone users find their way to the nearest Tapas bar, if not navigate their way around the sprawling MWC grounds.

As to mobile TV, the first invitations we received were from the likes of DiBcom, Siano Mobile Silicon and Newport Media to come and experience their offerings in live demonstrations. But this follows similar briefings at previous 3GSM Congresses and while the silicon suppliers are doing their best, the fledgling market remains blurred. Regulatory uncertainties about spectrum availability in Europe, and political interventions about the choice of technology, while well meaning, have not helped.

We will enjoy finding out when you can expect the mobile TV experience!