Mobile World Congress is a Trade Show organised by GSMA that happens annually in Barcelona, Spain. It is known for being the world’s biggest phone show which is dedicated to the entire mobile communications industry across the globe.
The COVID-19 situation in the world has been at the peak since 2020 and people have been forcefully shut in their houses to reduce the risk of spreading the novel Coronavirus. However, the MWC in 2020 had been finalising on the idea of hosting a physical event even during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic but major exhibitors kept withdrawing their names from the list because of the obvious risk involved. Well, this year is going to be the same for GSMA as many exhibitors have started to pull out of the show to reduce the risk involved.
In a recent highlight about the Mobile World Congress, Google has announced that it will not be a part of this year’s event among other big names in the technology industry including Sony, Oracle, Ericsson and Nokia. As mentioned in a report by The Verge, there are several companies that have pitched in their preference for a virtual event instead of an in-person gathering.
“Following our current COVID-19 travel restrictions and protocols, Google has made the decision to not exhibit at Mobile World Congress this year. We will continue to collaborate closely with GSMA and support our partners through virtual opportunities. We look forward to this year’s activities and seeing you in Barcelona in 2022”, says Google according to a report by The Verge.
GSMA had to forcefully cancel last year’s Mobile World Congress because of the COVID-19 pandemic and it insists to go ahead with this year’s event despite the rising spike in COVID-19 cases around the world.
The organiser i.e., GSMA says that the companies would have to follow the standardized precautionary measures including a COVID-119 negative report within 72 hours of arrival in Barcelona, wearing masks and sanitisation, but all of these are just not enough to reduce the risk of spreading the Coronavirus. There will still be a potential risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus which every company and every national state is avoiding at this point in time. A mass gathering like there will be during the event is nothing but a hall full of potential threat.
Anyhow, the COVID-19 vaccination drive has begun in most parts of the world and the vaccines are getting more readily available to people but it is still not advisable for anyone to form large gatherings or go in big crowds. GSMA can have their shot next year as most big companies including Google are now not going to be a part of the Mobile World Congress 2021.
