MADRID: A scaled-back version of the world’s biggest mobile telecommunications fair got under way on Monday in Spain under tight virus controls, with top firms avoiding an in-person presence after the pandemic derailed last year’s edition.
Spain’s King Felipe V and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were on hand for the opening of the four-day Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, one of the first big technology conferences staged in Europe since the start of the pandemic.
“We are back to business, we are back to Barcelona, we are back together,” Mats Granryd, director general of the industry association that stages the congress, the GSMA, said in an opening address.
The event, which is usually held in February, is taking place this year both in-person at Barcelona’s main conference centre as well as digitally, with an online appearance by tech billionaire Elon Musk among the highlights.
Participants will only be allowed into the congress if they have a negative COVID-19 test result which is less than 72 hours old and will have to sign a daily declaration that they are in good health.
