MWC Barcelona (formerly but still commonly referred to as Mobile World Congress) is an annual trade show dedicated to the mobile communications industry. The event is held in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 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 A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

manufacturers often use the conference to unveil upcoming devices. The event is organised by the GSM Association (GSMA). GSMA has extended the MWC brand to four other trade shows in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China (MWC Shanghai),

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

, Rwanda (MWC Kigali, formerly MWC Africa)

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States (MWC Las Vegas, formerly MWC Los Angeles), and

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar (MWC Doha) but the brand remains most synonymous with the Barcelona event.

History

The name of the event has evolved over the years. The event's origin 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 Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

. The event was held in Cannes for ten consecutive years, with the name evolving to 3GSM World Congress from 2003. In 2006, the event moved to Barcelona, held at the Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc. In 2008 the GSM Association, which had been formed in 1996 and had taken an increasing interest in the event, completed the purchase of the show with the name changing to Mobile World Congress for the first time. The GSMA endorsed the International Mobile Gaming Awards in 2008, which were held at the event from then until 2012. In 2011, GSMA announced a long-term deal to continue hosting the event in Barcelona through 2023. Starting in 2013, Mobile World Congress has been held at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

(magnified by the strong Chinese presence in the telecom industry). This included major vendors and operators such as

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...

Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

, LG,

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

, STMicroelectronics, Vivo, and

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

. 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 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

, as well as

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

, 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. In April 2020, it was announced that Barcelona will continue hosting the event until 2024 as a consequence of cancellation of MWC 2020. On 23 September 2020, due to the potential of COVID-19 to affect the 2021 event, the GSMA announced that it would postpone the Mobile World Congress Barcelona to the last week of June. On 17 March 2021, GSMA stated the 2021 edition would still proceed with a controlled maximum number of 50,000 attendees. At least 10 large exhibitors announced their withdrawal, including

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

and

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...

. BT was the first Tier 1 telco to announce their withdrawal. In 2022, from 28 February to 3 March, the Mobile World Congress took place. The mobile technology convention anticipated over 1,800 attendees and exhibitors from 183 countries. All participants were required to have a PCR test or vaccination certificate to take part in congress. At the 2023 Mobile World Congress, companies including

and

Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...

discussed the future of 5G-Advanced, or 5.5G technology. At the 2024 Mobile World Congress, Lenovo unveiled the world's first transparent laptop.

International editions

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

. 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 San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for 2018.

Gallery

File:mobile world congress 09.jpg, GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009, held in Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc File:Samsung's Virtual Reality MWC 2016 Press Conference (26666393696).jpg,

Samsung Gear VR The Samsung Gear VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with Oculus VR, and manufactured by Samsung. The headset was released on August 21, 2015. When in use, a compatible Samsung Galaxy device acts as ...

during Mobile World Congress 2016 File:ShaneSmith2017.jpg, Shane Smith of

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

during Mobile World Congress 2017 File:MWC 2019 (46487932494).jpg, Exhibition floor of MWC Barcelona 2019 File:MWC 2019 (40254120163).jpg, Demonstration of a female humanoid during MWC Barcelona 2019 File:Sánchez asiste a la inauguración del Mobile World Congress 06.jpg, Opening of MWC Barcelona 2019 File:MWC21 - 18.jpg, GSMA Mobile World Congress 2021 File:MWC21 - 25.jpg, GSMA Mobile World Congress 2021 File:MWC21 - 33.jpg, GSMA Mobile World Congress 2021 File:MWC21 - 42.jpg, GSMA Mobile World Congress 2021 File:MWC21 - 56.jpg, GSMA Mobile World Congress 2021

References

External links

{{commons category
MWC Barcelona

MWC Shanghai

MWC Kigali

MWC Las Vegas

MWC Doha
1987 establishments in Spain Recurring events established in 1987 Telecommunication conferences Telecommunications organizations Tourist attractions in Barcelona Trade fairs in Spain Wireless