Vodafone And Deutsche Will Not Have A Physical Stand At Mobile World Congress

The Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom groups will not have stands at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) to be held in Barcelona between June 28 and July 1, as elEconomista.es has learned.

The cancellation of the physical presence of the British and German companies is a severe blow to the organization of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), as they are two of the main partners of the GSMA. In both cases, the commitment of the operators to the telecom bosses and the fair is firm, although there is no exhibition space at the fair.

The British telecommunications company has been debating for the last few months about the convenience or not of its presence at the Fira de Barcelona site.

Despite the security measures proposed by the organizers, Vodafone management seems to give priority to internal prevention criteria, prioritizing the health of its managers, employees, partners, customers and collaborators in the face of the risk of contagion. And exactly the same has happened with Deutsche Telekom, which so far has not confirmed the presence of its equipment and material at the fairgrounds.

As the Economist has been able to find out, Vodafone has given an order to cancel the works of its stand at the MWC site. In its official statement on the matter, Vodafone has assured that it “remains fully committed to the Mobile World Congress, as the key event for industry and governments to unite in a shared vision on how to connect our economies and maximize the benefits of digitization. for all citizens and companies “.

In his view, “agreeing to the mobile ecosystem around the world is even more important in light of recent experiences. We appreciate the steps the GSMA has taken to facilitate engagement that best suits the customer.”

In the same statement, Vodafone states that “we will participate in a virtual and physical mixed way this year. Our stand will be digital and our physical attendance will be limited to some members of the Executive Committee. Opting for a hybrid presence without employees traveling is consistent with our global health and safety policy to protect Vodafone employees during this pandemic. “

This newspaper has already surveyed more than a dozen technology companies and telecommunications operators and verified the severe objections that many of them had with a view to participating in the next edition of the Mobile World Congress (MWC). By then there was no firm decision on the matter, pending the evolution of the pandemic and with particular assessments that invite caution.

The organization of the fair has advocated creating a big bubble not only in the Fira de Barcelona venue, once it was assumed that vaccination of all attendees could not be ensured. On the contrary, a dozen prevention measures were contemplated, together with PCR from Covid with a negative result carried out 72 hours before the start of the fair.