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FIVE months later than scheduled and nearly two-and-a-half years after the previous edition, the Mobile World Congress is back in Barcelona – albeit adapted to the Covid situation and with fewer international visitors and exhibitors.
Probably the planet's biggest, or at least most high-profile, technology trade fairs, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) takes place annually in Spain's second-largest city and will do so until 2024 inclusive, after which the organisers may renew the contract with Barcelona authorities or may move it to Paris or Milan.
The MWC 2020, due in February, was all set to go ahead, as the Coronavirus crisis had not yet spread beyond China and some neighbouring countries, other than a handful of isolated cases in Europe which were under control with the patients quarantined – but the majority of the main exhibitors, specifically those based in east Asia, pulled out as a precaution, making the event inviable.
Stringent anti-Covid protocol
This year's, moved to between June 28 and July 1 – on the basis that the vaccine roll-out would be well under way and summer temperatures would slow the virus, compared to the original February date when contagion was still high in Spain and vaccines had barely started – will not be as 'normal' as the 2019 edition, but will allow up to 30,000 people to visit in person over the four days, with tickets on sale for €21.
Temperatures are taken at the door of the venue, the Gran Vía in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, and fast-track Covid tests and PCRs must be taken by everyone who attends a maximum of 72 hours before their arrival, with negative results, in addition to a personal written declaration stating they do not have any symptoms compatible with the virus.
The MWC 2019 had over 107,000 visitors, but the organisers and Barcelona's authorities consider it a success already – purely by the fact it has been able to go ahead.
Contagion risk, or perceived risk, is not the only factor that has led to the 2,400 companies exhibiting in 2019 to drop to 700 in 2021 – as most are based outside of Spain, restrictions on travel imposed either by Spanish or home authorities make it difficult, expensive or even legally impossible for many to attend.
This said, a high number have opted to take part remotely.
Who's there in person and online
Ericsson was the first major corporation to decide not to be there in person, and the Finnish mobile giant was followed in this decision by LG Electronics, NVIDIA, Sony, Nokia, Oracle, Google, Facebook, Samsung, Qualcomm, Lenovo, Xiaomi, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Dolby, BT, Cisco, Intel and Motorola.
But Huawei, ZTE and Telefónica decided to go ahead, and their stands opened today (Monday) in Barcelona.
Orange and TelcoDR are among the 300 or so companies which will be taking part online, meaning around 1,000 representatives of digital corporations will be able to network during the event.
Scheduled online sessions have been arranged with Amazon Web Services, Braze, Facebook Connectivity, Huawei, IBM, KORE, Lenovo, NVIDIA and Snapchat, using a video-conferencing platform the MWC organising company, GSMA, already used this year in Shanghai for a similar event, according to CEO John Hoffman.
Barcelona city council expects to earn about €300,000 from the token-priced entry tickets of €21 each available to local and international professionals in the digital, motoring and finance sectors, among others.
About 50% of those attending in person are from southern Europe – in total, about 100 nationalities, compared with 198 in 2019.
Catalunya's regional government has arranged and helped finance the presence of 56 companies, organisations and technology centres from all four provinces for its 'Digital Catalonia' stand and is supporting 42 start-ups from around the region in its 'emerging businesses' zone, '4YFN'.
Impact on city economy
Since the MWC 'landed' in Barcelona in 2006, it has earned the metropolitan area a total of €4.8 billion and created 128,000 temporary jobs.
Its record year was 2017, with over 108,000 visitors, and its last 'normal' edition generated €473 million and 13,900 temporary jobs.
Clearly, it is not expected that the 2021 edition will reach figures anywhere near these, and local hotel and catering traders' associations say they have hardly had any bookings as yet – although they are crossing their fingers for 'last-minute reservations'.
The MWC 2019 saw practically every hotel room in the city booked up, although at the moment, over half of them remain shut and bookings range from about 25% to 35%.
Those which are booked are mainly the hotels practically next door to the venue, with very few rooms taken across the rest of the city.
Nevertheless, the hotel and catering associations say they are optimistic, motivated and 'much cheered', since an event of this magnitude finally going ahead in Barcelona will help 'relaunch the city', hopefully leading to a 'copycat' effect if it inspires confidence, sparking a gradual return to normal trading conditions.
Extra safety steps
Security measures at the MWC 2021 have been increased – they were already dramatically expanded in 2018 and 2019, in response to the threat of terrorism in Europe and in the wake of the August 2017 attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.
This year, though, as an extra measure, the regional military police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, have been working hard on getting its drone fleet ready in time for the event.
Four drones operated by 12 pilots are now in function for the MWC venue and its surroundings in addition to the usual police presence.
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