The Mobile World Congress or MWC is billed as the "world's most influential event in the connectivity industry." Last year's edition saw a scaled-down event with just a fifth of the normal visitors coming through its doors.

This year up to 60,000 people are expected to attend over the next four days.

Talking Technology 

The MWC is a chance for mobile operators, device manufacturers and service providers to converge in the same space, physical and virtual – to talk tech.

John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer for MWC organizers GSMA, told CGTN Europe he was delighted to see the event back to its usual size following a pandemic-enforced low-key MWC in 2021.

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"I think it's fantastic to be back. I mean, I think the pandemic made people realize how important digital connectivity is. So to have people back at this scale in Barcelona is fantastic for us, but also fantastic for the future. It is to have 160 delegations from countries across the world international organizations here, to see the innovations to understand how they can enable digital transformation in their countries," he said.

A More Connected 5G Future
The event has traditionally acted as a shop window for all the major players to showcase their new products, but the focus this year has also been on technological infrastructure and how those new developments will offer more opportunities for consumers in the future.

5G continues to grow. Mobile operators Xiaomi has harnessed the new generation technology in its latest devices like the Pro 5G POCO.

The mobile technology is already in place and in the near future, when the networks have full implementation - there will be major advances, according to David Montanya, the European Product Manager for Xiaomi.

" We are in a revolution. I would say an evolution," he said. "For example, cloud-gaming. So, if you have cloud-gaming, it means that you can go to work, stay at home, or commute and take the experience of streaming games with you. You weren't able to do that before and now you are, thanks to 5G," he told CGTN Europe.

The global mobile phone industry is set to double in size in the next four years to a value of over one trillion dollars. And with 5G now becoming more mainstream, people can expect major developments in all areas from artificial intelligence to healthcare.