By Matthew Key, CEO, Telefónica Digital

Barcelona once again played host to Mobile World Congress last week and as ever, it was a good time to touch base with the big industry trends.

Reflecting on what was said in the keynotes, the new product launches, and the meetings I had, three main takeaways come to me…

Firefox OS – An ecosystem gaining major traction

At MWC, we saw launch plans outlined for Mozilla’s Firefox OS. This is the first truly open mobile operating system built on HTML5 web standards.

Firefox OS has gathered incredible cross-industry support and now 17 other operators have joined Telefónica in supporting it, alongside handset manufacturers such as Alcatel, Huawei LG, Sony, and ZTE.

There is a chance here to make this very real – as a credible alternative to main OS. The mobile web will only fulfil its potential if it is allowed to be truly open.

Not only does it offer fantastic choice to consumers by unlocking them from the walled gardens of today’s mobile web, it lowers prices… making smart phones more accessible for consumers in emerging economies.

An explosion of interest in M2M and Mcommerce

Mobile World Congress was another reminder of how the mobile industry is moving far beyond phone calls and pure connectivity. Machine-to-machine (M2M) is a good example of this. We are investing in smart meter technology to help consumers have greater visibility and control over their energy consumption. We are investing and innovating in e-health to dramatically improve patient care and reduce inefficiencies. And we are enabling the creation of smarter homes, cars and cities.

Another area that is getting a lot of interest is Mcommerce. It’s clear to me that both M2M in the B2B market and Mcommerce in the B2C market offer such potential to disrupt established industries that we are seeing increasing numbers of players scrambling to find their place in the market.

My third and final observation is reflective in nature…

Despite the realisation by all telcos of the need to become digital to leverage these opportunities, there is a lack of consensus on how to get there.

What then is the way forward?

I firmly believe it’s around driving open partnerships and using mobile and digital technology to address pressing social needs.