• Cancellations: Government, Generalitat and Barcelona City Council try to stop the fright
  • Measures: A mobile without handshakes to avoid contagion

The large telecommunications operators are in talks to clarify their participation in the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which is currently maintaining its appointment in Barcelona between February 24 and 27. Cancellations continue to accumulate and already add up to a dozen companies, with the North American Intel as the last notable absence.

The eyes are directed to Telefónica, the main Spanish company in the sector, which would also inaugurate this edition of Mobile with a speech by José María Álvarez-Pallete, its executive president. Contacts with other operators, such as Vodafone and Orange, include in recent weeks the international forum as a recurring theme. The lines are intertwined at different levels, as they admit from several of these companies. Thus, the CEO of Telefónica Spain, Emilio Gayo , has conversations with António Coimbra , CEO of Vodafone Spain. and Laurent Paillassot , CEO of Orange Spain.

The GSMA Council , the global employer of mobile telephony, will meet this Friday and study the possible cancellation of this year's fair due to the coronavirus.

Telefónica's commitment is especially relevant for Mobile. The other two large operators do not make the decision from Spain. Vodafone resolves it at the group level, that is, in the United Kingdom, while Orange's participation takes shape in France and is smaller than those of its competitors.

Low ads have taken speed this week. On Tuesday, it has dawned with the cancellation by Intel, Vivo and Mediatek . Previously, LG, Ericsson, Nvidia, Amazon and, already this Monday, Sony, NTT Docomo, Odigimi, TCL Communication and Gigaset have succeeded each other.

For this reason, the administrations have gone out to emphasize their support for the appointment. Arancha González Laya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation, has called "calm" to the participating companies, which mobilize around 110.00 annual participants. Quim Torra, president of the Generalitat, has contacted the advisor of the GSMA organization, John Hoffman . The Minister of Digital Policies and Public Administration of the Generalitat, Jordi Puigneró, has cried out against "the fear virus". Likewise, Mayor Ada Colau and her deputy mayor Jaume Collboni have expressed themselves in the same line.

The times, however, do not play in favor of Mobile. The recommended quarantine has led the GSMA to require a minimum of 14 days without stepping on China before the Mobile celebration. That is, anyone who is currently in the Asian country could no longer attend. But the latest health recommendations, which advocate extending that period to 24 days, if followed would prevent him from accessing the Fira de Barcelona who in February was in China.

Huawei, Chinese telecommunications giant, is currently maintaining its assistance, also reaffirmed by Xiaomi, another of the major mobile manufacturers in the Asian country. It is estimated that the assistance of Chinese professionals to Mobile exceeds the figure of 6,500, at least 5% of the total .

The GSMA has banned the entry of any professional from the Chinese province of Hubei to the Fira. In addition, participants must certify that they have not been in contact with someone infected with the coronavirus. Among the extraordinary sanitary measures, there is a campaign, disinfectant material and unpublished protocols, such as replacing each microphone used by a speaker and the recommendation to avoid any handshake in this global meeting.

This epidemic has already left more than 1,000 dead in mainland China, already over 42,000 people infected, according to the latest balance sheet set by the authorities on Monday

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Know more

  • Spain
  • Telefonica
  • China
  • Sony
  • Xiaomi
  • Arancha González Laya
  • Barcelona
  • United Kingdom
  • France
  • Huawei
  • José María Álvarez-Pallete
  • Mobile World Congress
  • Quim Torra

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