The amount of money spent on mobile phones and related services will reach more than $1 trillion for 2012, meaning that almost half of global consumer tech spending now goes towards the mobile sector.

A report recently released by Gartner shows that mobile services are expected to generate 37 percent of global consumer technology spending in 2012 at $800 billion, while the sale of mobile phones will account for 10 percent at $222 billion.

By 2016 these figures will increase to $1 trillion and $300 billion respectively, illustrating just how dominant the global mobile industry is becoming.

Addition mobile technology will also benefit with spending on apps expected to rise from $18 billion this year to more than $60 billion by 2016. Spending on e-books, online news and other information services is expected to account for $16 billion alone by 2016.

“There are two product classes, which in term of absolute dollars are significantly smaller, but offer tremendous growth by 2016. These are mobile apps stores and e-text content. We expect consumers to more than triple their spending in these latter two categories by 2016,” explained Amanda Sabia, principal research analyst at Gartner.

In addition to mobile phones and services, the other major segment of the consumer technology market is entertainment services such as cable, satellite, IPTV and online gaming. At present this accounts for 10 percent of consumer spending at $210 billion in 2012, but is expected to rise to almost $290 billion by 2016.

To see if Gartner’s figures are correct head down to the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, February 25-28. If you’re after accommodation then look no further than EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of Barcelona, organise all your entertainment needs and arrange transportation. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

Expect big things in the coming years when it comes to mobile payments, at least that’s what the latest report from ABI Research is telling us.

According to the research firm, 2013 will be the year when Near Field Communication (NFC) leaves its ‘trial phase’ behind and becomes more widespread with 285 shipments of NFC-enabled smartphones expected worldwide.

Recent predictions also suggest that by 2017 the total number of shipments with NFC will come close to a staggering 2 billion including media tablets, gaming consoles and PC accessories, in addition to smartphones.

The technology is mainly seen as offering contactless payments in stores where customers swipe their device over payment terminals equipped with contactless NFC readers. However, the addition of online/offline authentication, retail and loyalty applications, reader functionality and advertising will give service providers news streams of revenue.

Android and WP8 operating systems are already pushing the NFC handset market forward and are even beginning to build into other devices with the addition of NFC into Android tablets and Windows PCs.

However, industry experts believe that touchless mobile payment solutions won’t really take off until Apple enters into the market. The firm has been typically secretive so far about its plans to add NFC functionality into its future iPhones. It may well be that Apple is waiting for others to make the initial move before it makes any decisions.

Whatever Apple decides to do, mobile E-commerce is expected to exceed $1 trillion worldwide by 2017 and NFC is set to become the most popular payment platform followed by point-of-sale payments.

If you want more information on the future of mobile payments and NFC head down to the Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona. For the best in accommodation, arranged transportation, hotel recommendations, and anything else you can think of to make your stay in Barcelona one to remember, look no further than EAS, the travel agent you can trust. With our expert local knowledge we can source rooms in the best hotels, find you the most centrally located apartments and organise all your transportation needs. We’ll even arrange yacht and aircraft charters. Click on this link for more information.

Finally Britons have been given the chance to join millions of Americans, Finns, South Koreans and Australians after Everything Everywhere was given the go ahead to deploy the country’s first commercial 4G network.

The giant operator, which is a merger of Orange and T-Mobile, will switch on its network in October. The new signalling standard for 4G networks, called Long-Term Evolution (LTE), will allow smartphone users to download data 10 times the speed currently allowed by 3G networks. Within a few years it is predicted that 4G will be around three times faster than the most expensive home broadband packages on offer.

The decision by Ofcom essentially gives Everything Everywhere a head start over rivals Vodafone and O2. The UK’s second and third largest carriers are not able to start using the new bandwidth until after a radio spectrum auction which is due to conclude in March of next year. They stated this week that the regulator had created a temporary monopoly in allowing Everything Everywhere to switch to 4G before they could. Ofcom countered, however, saying that the need to keep the UK in the digital race was more important than any complaints about competition.

Everything Everywhere has still not released details of how extensive its 4G coverage will be, but it is expected to take years before the whole of the UK is covered. Islands of 4G coverage will spring up around the major cities first, where investment is likely to be highest.

By 2015 almost the entire population should be able to use the new network as operators have agreed to 98 percent coverage across the country. However, for those who prefer their older handsets, the 2G networks will still be around for the foreseeable future. So good old fashioned text messages and regular phone calls still have some time before they are consigned to the history books.

For all the latest information on the world of 4G and other mobile-related news, head to the GSMA’s Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, 25-28 February. If you’re after accommodation then look no further than EAS, your friendly local travel agents. We’ll find you the best hotels and rented apartments right in the heart of Barcelona. Or if you prefer, why not try one of our luxury yachts – the choice is yours. Just click on this link to fill in our request form.

New details have emerged about the content of next year’s GSMA Mobile World Congress, which will be held 25-28 February at Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

The GSMA have confirmed that the CEOs of AT&T, Ericsson, Qualcomm and Viber will give keynote speeches during the four-day event. These industry executives join previously announced speakers including the CEOs of Deutsche Telekom, Mozilla, Nokia, Vodafone Group, and Telecom Italia Group.

A programme of talks will cover topics such as “Mobile Operator Strategies”, “The Future of Communications”, “Operating in the Cloud”, and “Mobile in Media”.

Adding on to 2012’s successful Connected House exhibit, this year’s Mobile World Congress will feature Connected City, which will showcase all the latest cutting edge wireless technologies for the smart cities of the future. In addition, a Wireless Broadband Alliance Wi-Fi Zone will focus on next-generation hotspot migration, Wi-Fi roaming and offload and Wi-Fi and heterogeneous networks among other things.

Given the explosive growth of the apps market, App Planet will be back again this year featuring more product and service demonstrations, network opportunities and workshops from some of the biggest and most influential companies in the mobile apps market.

And this year’s mPowered Brands Programme will see GSMA and Leger Marketing team up to reveal the results of their 50-country citizen assessment on the importance of mobile technology on people’s lives. The assessment will focus on issues such as quality of life, individual productivity and shopping behavior among other things. The results will be shared at the mPowered Brands Theatre at the Mobile World Congress, so head down if you want to be part of the action.

Next year’s Mobile World Congress will be the biggest yet and will be housed in the state-of-the-art facility, Fira Gran Via, Barcelona. For the best hotels, rented apartments and other accommodation choices contact EAS, your friendly local travel agents here in Barcelona. With our expert knowledge and experience we’ll make sure you have an unforgettable stay. We’ll even sort out your transportation and nightly entertainment needs, so click on this link to fill in our request form.