Mobile World Congress


MWC Barcelona is an annual trade show organized by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry.
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.
GSMA has extended the MWC brand to two other trade shows in Shanghai, China and Los Angeles, United States, 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" 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.
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. 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. 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.

International editions

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