MWC expects 60k attendees, return of major brands in 2022

Barcelona, Spain, Feb 10 (EFE).- The Mobile World Congress, which will be held in Barcelona from February 28 to March 3, expects to welcome between 40,000 and 60,000 attendees in 2022, more than twice as many as last year, the organizer of the event said Thursday.

John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA, added that a number of representatives of leading brands from the sector who did not attend last year’s event – including companies of the caliber of Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nokia and Xiaomi – would be present this time around.

The MWC and the 4 Years From Now (4YFN), a sideline event for startups, will be focused on 5G technology, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, fintech companies and cloud technology.

After a lackluster edition in 2021 in which just over 20,000 people because of the pandemic, the world’s largest technology fair hopes to return to pre-Covid figures, although with visitors from China and Japan still living under tough coronavirus restrictions, attendance will still be well short of the more than 100,000 people in 2019.

Unlike last year, there will be no antigen tests required, although it is still compulsory to wear an FFP2 mask, while access to the site will only be granted with a certificate of vaccination, recovery from the disease or a negative test. EFE

mpl/ks