The largest annual gathering of telecommunication industry bigwigs that will take place in Barcelona, Spain is in jeopardy. Mobile World Congress (MWC) where the likes of LG, Samsung, Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson often appear and take up gigantic show space have all indicated that they might not turn up this year. The reason, Coronavirus.
Scheduled to take place between February 24-27th, the much anticipated event that paves the way for future technology to showcase their potential, MWC has grown over the year as mobile begins to play a vital role in society and nations. Just as this week Nvidia has decided to pull out from the congress citing fear of the virus spread and concerns for its staffs and partners, it is also worth noting that Spain has already seen its first victim. The global pandemic is recording over 30,000 cases and over 800 deaths thus far, known to be very contagious, people are avoiding crowded places and mass gathering are usually avoided. GSMA, the world body governing the telecommunication industry has persisted that the show must go on, as the world is at the cusp of witnessing the biggest transformation since the industrial revolution when 5G and AI take centre stage.
However, the body is monitoring the situation closely and will be working closely with health officials and MWC organisers on safety steps.
