The CBoss Corp. dancing girls, one of the most familiar sights at the annual Mobile World Congress show, will be absent at the 2013 event as the Russian Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) vendor has had its contract for next year "terminated for breach of show regulations" by the show's organizer, the GSM Association (GSMA) .



The decision to bar CBoss from next year's event, which will be staged in a new venue in Barcelona, follows the Russian firm's marketing campaign at last week's event. Not only did it have the regular dancing shows that tend to attract a certain type of crowd, but this year the dancers were handing out invites to attendees offering them the opportunity to secure an evening dinner date with one of the CBoss dancers, all under the banner of a marketing campaign entitled "CBOSS Deep Market Inspection." (Honest!)

Having an evening out on the town with the vendor's dancers is usually the preserve of CBoss's customers, but this year, the pamphlet noted, "market knowledge and intellect can earn the privilege to dine with our famous girls."

Those lucky enough to attend were offered "champagne, caviar and a beautiful girl conducting a vis-a-vis interview* [sic]," where the "personal preferences of both interviewer and interviewee will be accommodated."

The full details can be found on the pamphlet, pictured below, for those that want to digest the offer in all its glory.





The marketing campaign attracted negative comments from many MWC attendees, prompting Light Reading to ask the GSMA about the Russian firm's status. While the organization cited "breach of show regulations," it said it couldn't go into further details as it is a contractual issue.

The GSMA added that while companies in the past have had contracts terminated for other reasons (such as bad debt issues), there was no record of any other company being barred because of breach of show rules. The association also noted that there were no records of any complaints about CBoss at the show.

At the time of writing, CBoss had not responded to a request for comment.

So Mobile World Congress will be somewhat different in 2013: It will be held at new show grounds on the edge of Barcelona and will be lacking the perennial feature of the CBoss dancers.

What do you think of this decision? Our message boards below await your views…

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading