This year will see the 20th annual Mobile World Congress Barcelona take place, at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, on 2-5 March. The week-long gathering will attract global leaders, innovators and policymakers to explore the future of mobile and digital transformation, reports Antony Savvas.
CEOs and leaders from the breadth of the global mobile and technology ecosystem and beyond are set to take to MWC stages, with keynotes from the likes of AT&T CEO John Stankey, BT Group CEO Allison Kirkby, China Mobile CEO He Biao, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges, Lumen CEO Kate Johnson, Nokia CEO Justin Hotard, NTT CEO Akira Shimada, Orange Group CEO Christel Heydemann, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Vodafone CEO Margherita Della Valle, among the hundreds of speakers taking part across the event.
Show numbers
To illustrate the scale of the show, regarded as Europe’s largest annual technology event, last year’s conference and expo attracted 109,000 attendees from 205 countries and territories, and there were over 2,900 exhibitors, sponsors and partners. There were over 1,200 speakers and thought leaders, and the GSMA Ministerial Programme convened 188 delegations from 148 countries, 40 intergovernmental organisations, 66 ministers and 111 heads of regulatory authorities.
The 4YFN startup event welcomed over 1,000 exhibitors, nearly 380 speakers and over 900 investors with collective funds totalling €60 billion.
Antony Savvas