Pre-pandemic, Mobile World Congress (MWC) was the annual event when it came to smartphones, telecommunications and connectivity in general. Over the past couple of years, however, it has been cancelled and shifted to a hybrid attendance model.
Whether it remain in that state is unclear, but what is none for now is that MWC will remain in Barcelona.
Organisers GSMA announced this week that Barcelona will remain the host city for the annual event until at least 2030, with the Fira de Barcelona being the venue where delegates, media and other guests will visit future MWC events.
“The annual February show has been held in Barcelona since 2006 and today’s news marks the latest agreement between GSMA and what it terms its ‘host city partners’; Barcelona City Council, Generalitat de Catalunya, The Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, event venue Fira de Barcelona and Tourism de Barcelona,” explained Justin Springham of Mobile World Live.
Since a change in location from Cannes to Barcelona sixteen years ago, the GSMA says MWC has grown to feature more than 109 000 global visitors in 2019 before the pandemic the following year.
“We’ve not just grown the event since our move to Barcelona but evolved it to include an entire ecosystem,” added GSMA Ltd CEO John Hoffman.
The GSMA also stated that more details on the renewed partnership will be announced at a press conference in Barcelona on 20th July.
As borders and mandates regarding COVID-19 begin to change across the globe, it will be interesting to see whether MWC will spark a return to large-scale in-person tech events thereafter.
