The Mobile World Congress 2020 was among the first major global event to receive the axe in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MWC is an annual trade show organized by GSMA, dedicated primarily to the mobile communications industry. However this year, Mobile World Live intends to hold the annual tradeshow in-person, reported the CEO of the GSM Association, John Hoffman.
MWC hosts one show in Barcelona and another in Shanghai. While MWC 2021 Barcelona is set to happen in July, Shanghai MWC will be held next week. MWC 2021 Shanghai expects to see 20,000 attendees instead of the 60,000 that were seen during MWC 2019 Shanghai. About MWC Barcelona, Hoffman added, Barcelona will be scaled back to 40,000 to 50,000 attendees.
Additionally, attendees at MWC 2021 Barcelona will require a negative COVID-19 test result (within 72 hours). Testing will be available at the venue. He also stated that the GSMA would use technology to create a “touchless environment”, from registration to all the events held within MWC.
Hoffman believes that holding these shows will give people a bit of hope.