The debates within the Mobile World Congress (MWC) focus on the blurred borders between the physical and digital worlds, but do not pay attention to the abyss that exists between the congressmen who come from half the world and the people of Barcelona. While the mobile screens of Barcelonans were filled early in the morning with photos of Collserola and other nearby snowy landscapes, the Nordic congressmen stayed in their shirtsleeves at mid-morning and took advantage of the sunbeams that filtered into the spaces at open air between the pavilions of the Gran Via fairgrounds. What is extraordinary for some is common for others, and vice versa.
Even so, both worlds coexist with more harmony than discomfort on the streets of Barcelona and on public transport. The crowds early in the morning on the metro and the train are confirmation of the advanced indicator that they were the massive arrival of black vans from the rest of Spain and even from Europe. That bustle in the center of the Catalan capital and in the surroundings of Fira de Barcelona in l’Hospitalet moves to the interior. It is demonstrated by the more formal congressmen who move nervously through the corridors trying to get ahead of the mass of curious people who wander attracted by a mobile phone here, a drone there and an immersive reality experience beyond.
They will surely arrive late, because beforehand they had to queue to access the interior of the congress, to leave the jacket in the cloakroom and to print the paper accreditation. Because yes, the Mobile is purely technological and is accessed with a QR code linked to a photograph on the phone screen, but many want to hang around their necks the accreditation that shows their name, position and the company they work for.
The lines and packed aisles are living proof of a return to pre-pandemic normalcy. We already said it last year, but seen with perspective, it still wasn’t completely true since at that time all attendees were still required to wear a mask and the Asians were conspicuous by their absence. Now yes, Mobile is back to before. This time the masks seen among the public can be practically counted on the fingers of one hand and Asians are already 25% of the 80,000 attendees expected at Fira de Barcelona until Thursday.
When talking about Asians, you can only think of the Chinese, but the range is broader. The Korean company SK Telecom has come to occupy a central place in the most coveted pavilion, number 3. Its compatriot Samsung used to reign here and now it continues to do so, but without so many artifices, without filling the space with telephones and showing its potential only for doors inside.
As for the Chinese, Huawei has returned in style, with more square meters contracted than ever. Almost the entirety of an entire pavilion is occupied by them, with spaces open to the curious and others closed, with meeting rooms and work spaces even on two floors that become offices for many of the company’s professionals who come from China and from other parts of the world.
An important part of them are senior officials. More than half of the attendees hold positions with managerial power and the organization is committed to strengthening its presence instead of rewarding the number that led to exceeding 100,000 attendees before the pandemic. Even so, it is easy to find an Asian government representative surrounded by journalists from his country in the same corridor that a group of programming students who participate in training sessions of 4 Years From Now (4YFN), the brother small part of the MWC that is getting bigger and bigger.
The face of the CEO of the GSMA, John Hoffman, is a reflection of the feelings of the organizers and throughout the first day he wore a smile shared by the general director of Fira de Barcelona, ??Constantí Serrallonga. The strengthened relationship between both parties during the pandemic is now being rewarded in a room where the commitment to shift towards the broader technological concept is yielding its results and is accompanied by the sector, both local and international. The veteran Nokia has taken advantage of the MWC to change its logo and not be so tied to mobile devices and even shipping companies participate in the show.
Still, the phone is still the origin of everything. For this reason, the first day of the congress closed with a tribute to Martin Cooper, who led the team of engineers that in 1973 designed and built the first mobile phone. At that time, it weighed over a kilo and was the size of a brick.
