Debriefing MWC 2024

I am back from an amazing, thrilling yet edutaining week in Barcelona, Spain, out of which, I had spent 4 full days at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2024, which occurs every year, bringing the leading technology & telecom organizations, along with enthusiasts, senior leaders, from the public & government sector, and professionals under one roof, to meet, network, exhibit and collaborate for the global good. My article last week was on the sneak peek of the event ; this week I would like to debrief MWC as a summary report.

MWC is organized by GSMA, the Global System for Mobile Communications Association that brings together numerous mobile carriers from around the world and more than 400 companies involved in the mobile ecosystem. The event is sponsored by major telecom & technology companies. The goal of the event is to promote telecom innovation, and so as build a platform of communication and collaboration among its stakeholders. The theme this year was on Future First, which works towards solving challenges of today and tomorrow. The event was hosted at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via, cutting-edge, functional venue with 240,000 square metres of floor space.

Over 100,000 visitors attended, 2,700 exhibitors participated, 1,100 speakers presented, and 1,000 investors were available to fund various startup projects that were pitched during the 4 days session, from 26th to 29th of Feb last week. There were a number of singing ceremonies, MoU (Memorandom of Understanding) strategic partnerships formed, and awarding bodies that recognized several projects & organizations as a whole which can be obtained via the MWC official website.

I was delighted to see companies from Oman e.g. Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), participating at this global event (with its innovation labs), aligning with Oman Vision 2040 to drive innovation and shape the future of telecommunications in Oman, and also Ooredoo, actively being involved in forming innovative partnerships and engaged in the prestigious GSMA Ministerial Programme.

The focus this year was primarily on 5G advanced (a.k.a 5.5G), Artificial Intelligence (Ai) and Cloud. This of course is in addition to highlighting latest products and services that are built on top of the prime focus of the event. Major telecos presented their case studies on adopting 5.5g networks (bringing 10x the speed of the existing network we operate on, i.e. 10 Gbps download) and the value they attained from the same, from strengthening application capabilities, reducing latencies to securing the network in overall. Solution providers (e.g. Huawei) have presented 10 innovative Ai technologies for cloud as I have elaborated in my last week article, while others have shared evolutionary enhancement to their offerings – from new mobile phones, smartwatches, wearables and the likes.

Impressive concepts were also demonstrated, from flying cars, air taxis, bendable and flexible hybrid wearable, smart rings, Ai pin tags, Smart Glasses, robot dogs and dolls. I was thrilled to see a transparent laptop presented, so as amazed with Xiaomi’s new entrance into Electric Vehicle Market, with is SU7 vehicle, fully connected car. I also had the opportunity to be hosted by an Ai podcast, which of course was interesting but scary as well, for not it only presents an opportunity, but surely loss of jobs to many as well, not-so-thanks to Ai revolution of course.

Vibrant and engaging discussions, innovative products and solutions, productive meetings and networking sessions, fruitful partnerships and alliance formed were some of the outstanding outcomes of the 4 full-days jam packed event at MWC this year. I look forward to see how and when will some of these technology concepts presented become live and a reality. Many of which will surely help government, businesses and individuals transform and ultimately prosper. Until we catch up again next week, stay positive.