Mobile World Congress

MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show organized by GSMA (formerly the GSM Association), dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.

"3GSM" redirects here. It is not to be confused with UMTS.

MWC Barcelona
Status28 June – 01 July 2021
GenreMobile communications
VenueFira de Barcelona Gran Via
Location(s)Barcelona
CountrySpain
Inaugurated1987 (1987) (as GSM World Congress)
Attendance109,500 (2019)
Organized byGSMA
Websitemwcbarcelona.com

The event, cancelled for 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, had been held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, usually in February or early-March. It is attended primarily by device manufacturers, network equipment providers, representatives of wireless carriers, and the press, among others. Its annual attendance is generally around 100,000 people, while mobile phone manufacturers often use the conference to unveil upcoming devices.[1]

GSMA has extended the MWC brand to two other trade shows in Shanghai, China (MWC Shanghai) and Los Angeles, United States (MWC Los Angeles, formerly MWC Americas), but the brand remains most synonymous with the Barcelona event.

History

The name of the event has evolved over the years. The origin of the event traces back to a business conference on "Pan Europe Digital Cellular Radio" (the original working name of the GSM mobile system) held in Brussels in 1987.

The name "GSM World Congress" was first used in 1990 when the event was held in Rome. For the next few years the event moved to a new city each time, passing through Nice, Berlin, Lisbon, Athens, and Madrid, before setting in 1996 in Cannes. The event was held in Cannes for 10 consecutive years, with the name evolving to 3GSM World Congress from 2003.

In 2006, the event moved to Barcelona, held at the Fira de Montjuic, with the name Mobile World Congress first used for the 2008 event. In 2011, GSMA announced a long-term deal to continue hosting the event in Barcelona through 2023.[2]

In February 2020, a large number of vendors announced plans to withdraw from the then-upcoming show, tentatively scheduled for 24–27 February, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic (which are magnified by the strong Chinese presence in the telecom industry). This included major vendors and operators such as Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Intel, LG, Nokia, STMicroelectronics, Vivo, and Vodafone. On 11 February 2020, it was reported that GSMA was considering cancelling the event entirely; health measures were already to be instituted, including a requirement for Chinese attendees to undergo a two-week quarantine prior to the event, as well as body temperature checks of attendees. Chinese vendor Huawei, as well as Samsung, announced plans to remain with a reduced presence, with Huawei primarily sending its European executives only.[3][4][5] On 12 February 2020, GSMA CEO John Hoffman announced that MWC 2020 had been cancelled, stating that the event had become "impossible" to host under these conditions.[6]

On September 23, 2020, due to continuous threat that COVID-19 will affect the 2021 event, the GSMA announced that is postponing the Mobile World Congress Barcelona to the last week of June.[7][8]

International editions

In 2015, GSMA's Mobile Asia Expo was renamed Mobile World Congress Shanghai.[9]

In 2016, CTIA announced a partnership with GSMA to replace its annual Super Mobility trade show for the U.S. wireless industry with Mobile World Congress Americas, beginning 2017. The event was first held in San Francisco, before moving to Los Angeles for 2018.[10][11]

  • GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009
  • Mobile World Congress 2012
  • Shane Smith of Vice Media during Mobile World Congress 2017

References
  1. Alleven, Monica (1 March 2018). "GSMA wraps 'hugely successful' MWC18 despite fewer attendees than expected". FierceWireless. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  2. "MWC staying in Barcelona until at least 2023 - GSMA CEO". Telecompaper. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  3. Singh, Manish. "MWC hangs by a thread after Nokia, DT and other big names back out". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  4. Kleinman, Zoe (11 February 2020). "Coronavirus: Facebook and Intel ditch MWC tech show". BBC News. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  5. Tibken, Shara. "Samsung pares back MWC presence on coronavirus concerns". CNET. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  6. Warren, Tom (12 February 2020). "The world's biggest phone show has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns". The Verge. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  7. "GSMA Delays MWC Barcelona 2021". IoT Times. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  8. "Barcelona will have to wait for MWC 2021". Cities of the Future. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  9. Zaharov-Reutt, Alex (15 July 2015). "Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2015 starts today thru 17 July". iTWire. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  10. Segan, Sascha (22 June 2016). "CTIA, the US Mobile Show, Becomes MWC Americas". PC Magazine. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  11. Notwell, Lindsay (21 September 2018). "Top 3 Takeaways from the 2018 Mobile World Congress Americas". Network Computing. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
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