Ericsson Kills MWC Barcelona Attendance Plans

Ericsson is not attending this year’s MWC Barcelona event scheduled for late June citing ongoing health concerns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move is similar to its decision last year that eventually saw event organizer GSMA pull the plug on the mega-event. Ericsson is not attending this year’s MWC Barcelona event scheduled for late June citing ongoing health concerns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move is similar to its decision last year that eventually saw event organizer GSMA pull the plug on the mega-event. “In view of the continuing impacts from COVID-19 and our primary consideration toward our people, their health, and well-being, we have decided not to participate in MWC 2021,” the vendor noted in a statement to SDxCentral. “The decision, whilst regrettable, reflects our precautionary approach to managing the pandemic from a people and travel perspective whilst vaccination programs are rolled out globally. We look forward to the opportunity to rejoin future events and continue to work closely with the GSMA and industry partners.” A previous report from Light Reading also cited comments from Ericsson that it would not be attending this year’s MWC Barcelona event. GSMA noted in a story from its Mobile World Live outlet that it “expressed respect” for Ericsson’s decision. Ericsson has traditionally been one of the biggest exhibitors at the annual MWC Barcelona event, typically renting out a significant portion of a hall of the event’s Fira Gran Via venue in Barcelona. The Ericsson decision came on the heels of GSMA putting out a statement outlining its “health and safety” plans for the event. The “multi-layered” plan includes required negative COVID-19 tests by attendees before they are allowed to “board planes and travel to Catalonia,” those arriving by plane or car being directed to local testing sites, a negative rapid test before being allowed into the venue, and a new test required every 72 hours. For the site itself, GSMA noted that there will be double the amount of entryways in order to alleviate traffic congestion, social distancing features put in place, and enforced one-way traffic flows throughout the venue. The organization also said that it expects to limit physical attendance to around 50,000 people, which is around half of the event’s normal attendance. And in preparing for the worst, GSMA also said it will host a virtual component to the event. This is expected to be similar to what the organization did for its recently completed MWC Shanghai event. GSMA noted that the hybrid version of its Shanghai event attracted around 25,000 live attendees and another 175,000 people that viewed online content.. GSMA last month attempted to get ahead of broader concerns about the event. CEO John Hoffman explained to the group’s Mobile World Live outlet that the group was looking to create a “bubble” for all of Barcelona. “Our view is it would be great if the world was vaccinated, but we can’t rely on that in 2021, so instead we’re relying on testing upfront to ensure our bubble isn’t just the Fira Gran Via but the whole of Barcelona,” Hoffman said. Barcelona is approximately 39 square miles and home to more than 1.6 million people. Vendors such as Cisco, VMware, and Nokia as of last month said they were still evaluating their MWC Barcelona attendance plans. Ericsson was one of the first big exhibitors to pull out of last year’s MWC Barcelona event, announcing that it was not going to attend the event due to concerns over the then rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus just weeks before the event. A number of larger vendors also cancelled their attendance plans and GSMA was eventually forced to cancel the 2020 event just weeks before it was set to begin. The organization later offered a compensation package to attendees and exhibitors tied to future events. This included a full refund for individual attendees and future discounts for exhibitors. The MWC Barcelona event has historically taken place in late winter, but the GSMA swapped its position with its MWC Shanghai event for 2021. The organization cited a desire to hold the event physically for the move.