MWC returns to Shanghai as Chinese 5G showcase and prelude to Barcelona
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) returns tomorrow to Shanghai after a year's absence due to the coronavirus with 5G as the main theme and strong measures to prevent contagion in what will be a prelude to the Barcelona event, scheduled for late June.
Usually it is the event in the Spanish city that is held first each year, but the situation of the covid pandemic, significantly more controlled in China than in the Iberian country, made the organising body, the GSM Association (GSMA), decide to reverse the order this year.
"Everyone is watching us", GSMA CEO John Hoffman recently acknowledged, in reference to the prevention measures that will mark an event where far fewer attendees are expected than in other years, not only due to the strict requirements for entering China but also because the capacity has been limited to 20,000 people, a third of that of the last edition held in 2019.
Anyone wishing to enter the designated venues will be required to show a QR code proving that they do not come from areas at risk of infection within China and, if coming from abroad, a negative nucleic acid test (PCR) within the previous seven days, although the organisers have set up sampling points on-site.
However, because these restrictions will exclude many of those who have participated in the event in previous editions of the pandemic, the GSMA has opted for a mixed model with a portal called "My MWCS Online" in which they hope "thousands of people from over 100 countries" will be able to take part virtually.
The Shanghai event, where security measures are in the hands of the Chinese authorities, will allow the GSMA to take more responsibility in this area ahead of MWC Barcelona.
“Shanghai is about establishing the ability to bring people together in a tech space. A successful show is nobody gets ill and we get to discuss, debate the importance of China in the global market”, he said.
“Barcelona will be a little bit different, it is the big stage. COVID requirements will decrease our capacity. We’re not going to have 110,000 people, with travel restrictions, testing capacity and one-way traffic through the exhibition, there’s no way.” They hope to attract between 40,000 and 50,000 people.
Attendees in Barcelona will require a negative COVID-19 test result (within 72 hours) and testing will be available at the venue.
Meanwhile, Shanghai will be the first course on the MWC menu in 2021, with the progress of 5G networks taking centre stage, a sector in which China has shown great interest in recent years.
With China’s operators reporting rapid gains in both building 5G infrastructure and recruiting customers, it is no surprise to see discussions around deployment, advances towards standalone networks and services based on the technology featuring heavily. Alongside the new network infrastructure technology, the event’s other core themes are AI, Connected Industry and Start-up Innovation.
The event will focus more on discussions between players in the telecommunications sector than on presentations, with parallel summits such as the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) on the evolution of 5G or the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) on intelligent mobility.
