Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona, Spain, is coming soon. This is the largest international wireless trade show and MWC19 is expected to be full of big announcements from the global leaders in wireless. Let’s take a sneak peak, regarding what we can expect to see. You may be surprised.
First, the show has been rebranded. The three major events will be called MWC19 Barcelona, MWC19 Shanghai and MWC19 Los Angeles. The wonderful world of wireless is such a fast-changing place full of innovation and transformation. The MWC brand is just trying to keep up with the changing industry.
Theme of MWC19 is intelligent connectivity focused on 5G, IoT, AI and more
The theme of MWC19 is Intelligent Connectivity. It will focus on 5G, the IoT, intelligence from AI and hyper-connectivity. They will also focus on some of the potential trouble spots that will pop-up in coming years. Many items like trust, content, wellness and more.
GSMA is expecting more than 107,000 attendees from more than 2,400 different companies and more than 200 different countries. Thing of MWC19 Barcelona as the CES of the wireless industry.
Attendees, people and companies are from wireless world, and from other industries who are connected to the wireless world. MWC always has carriers and handset makers, but it also has many different companies who play an important role in the changing and rapidly growing wireless industry.
Plus, there are non-wireless companies who are entering the mobile space to transform their own industries and gain a competitive advantage by having the first-mover-advantage in their space.
AT&T, Verizon, Synchronoss, HPE Telco and more at MWC19
My calendar is filling up in the weeks leading up to MWC19 with companies who want to pre-brief me on their upcoming announcements. There are also plenty of invitations from companies at the show itself. This is a very active show from global companies.
There will be many keynote speakers who are leaders of many wireless companies. They discuss the future and what’s coming tomorrow for them and for the wireless industry.
Many companies like AT&T, Verizon, Cisco, Synchronoss Technologies, HPE Telco, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Nokia, Google, Facebook, Huawei, ZTE, Oracle, Qualcomm, Vodafone, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz, NTT and so many others will be at the show either as a keynote speaker, presenter, with a booth or all of the above.
Many of these companies are top-of-mind while others are less well known, but all are important players in changing wireless going forward, both for mobile networks, smartphone makers and companies in other industries moving into wireless.
5G, AI and IoT are top of mind and will likely play a very large role. The way this new technology will impact the wireless industry, and in fact other industries.
Remember, we have seen Uber and Lyft pop up and become leaders in the taxi and limousine industry, which they are in the process of reinventing and transforming.
With that said, I expect 5G and wireless to continue to introduce more ideas like this. Companies who will use innovation and new thinking to redefine a number of different industries.
5G wireless pay TV will transform pay TV industry
Consider 5G wireless pay TV. This new world has begun, and this transformation will only accelerate in coming years as faster wireless technology moves into more regions.
Remember, 5G isn’t a switch that happens instantly. Rather, it is a process that takes years to roll out, city-by-city.
There will be plenty of new tech trends on display. These include, but are not limited to AI, IoT, Virtual Reality or VR, Augmented Reality or AR, robotics, drone technology and so much more.
I fully expect MCW19 to blow us all away as they do every single year. Expect the unexpected. I wonder what surprises are in store for us? I am starting to get the feeling there will be some exciting announcements.
The wireless industry is one of the fastest growing and fastest changing industries. And 5G will open this wireless world to other companies in other industries. That along with IoT, AI and an assortment of other new technology will make for an exciting show.
Some companies will bring us up to speed on their plans for this next year. Other companies, who are lesser known in the space will use this as an opportunity to break-out of all the noise and get attention.
Plus, there will be a wide assortment of new and existing, large and small companies who all want one thing… to be noticed by the media at the show. That’s always the challenge.
Wireless growth and innovation will only accelerate from here. We are entering the most exciting times in our lives and mobile is the center of this universe going forward. Yes, MWC19 Barcelona is gearing up for quite a show indeed next month. So, stay tuned.
