They think it's all over...

Iain Morris, International Editor

February 12, 2020

10 Min Read
Now Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone quit this year's MWC

European Tier 1 operators Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone may have delivered a knockout blow to this year's Mobile World Congress by withdrawing from the event on Wednesday amid concern about the outbreak of coronavirus and the disruption it has caused.

UK-based Vodafone issued a statement on Twitter to say it had been monitoring the situation and would no longer participate in the show. Germany's Deutsche Telekom confirmed its withdrawal directly to Light Reading in an email.

The withdrawals by the two European giants follow an exodus of exhibitors in the last week and come after several operators in North America and Asia said they would no longer participate in the event. Those service providers include AT&T and Sprint from the US and NTT DoCoMo and Rakuten from Japan, while the UK's BT also today quit the show.

Most of the better-known organizations to have canceled participation in this year's MWC are shown in the table below.

Company

Status

Details

A10 Networks

Withdrawal confirmed

The network security vendor emailed Light Reading to confirm that it is pulling out of MWC Barcelona.

Accedian

Withdrawal confirmed

The network performance assurance vendor announced its withdrawal from MWC Barcelona via press release on February 10.

Adtran

Withdrawal confirmed

Broadband network equipment maker said: "ADTRAN announced its decision to withdraw from MWC due to concerns regarding the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The decision was not made lightly and ADTRAN looks forward to rejoining the MWC community in 2021."

Amazon

Withdrawal confirmed

Web giant said it would no longer exhibit at or participate in MWC because of the value it placed "on the wellbeing and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and press and analyst community."

Amdocs

Withdrawal confirmed

OSS/BSS player withdrew saying: "In the face of the public health concern from the novel coronavirus, we are placing the highest priority on protecting the health of our employees, customers and partners."

AT&T

Withdrawal confirmed

US telecom giant said it had decided not to participate after careful discussions. "Unfortunately, the most responsible decision is to withdraw our participation from the event to safeguard our employees and customers," it said.

BT

Withdrawal confirmed

UK telecom incumbent issued a statement on February 12 saying it would not be attending MWC.

Ciena

Withdrawal confirmed

Optical equipment maker said it was canceling all plans to participate in MWC due to growing concerns about coronavirus.

Cisco

Withdrawal confirmed

US equipment maker said on February 11 that it had made the difficult decision to withdraw from MWC due to concern about coronavirus.

CommScope

Withdrawal confirmed

The network infrastructure company alluded in its statement to the "business impact that would result if a quarantine were ordered." It has canceled its attendance and said it will explore virtual trade show and meeting options instead.

Dali Wireless

Withdrawal confirmed

The wireless fronthaul vendor said, in a statement, that because "there is still much unknown regarding the 2019-nCoV, Dali does not feel comfortable sending its employees to a widely attended international event."

Dell'Oro Group

Withdrawal confirmed

Dell'Oro VP Stefan Pongratz confirmed via a comment on Twitter that the analyst house would not be attending MWC Barcelona.

Deutsche Telekom

Withdrawal confirmed

German operator pulls out on afternoon of February 12 citing health concerns for employees and partners.

Ericsson

Withdrawal confirmed

One of the event's largest exhibitors was also one of the first to withdraw, saying it could not ensure the health and safety of employees and customers.

Facebook

Withdrawal confirmed

Social media giant withdrew on February 11, stating: "Out of an abundance of caution, Facebook employees won't be attending this year's Mobile World Congress due to the evolving public health risks related to coronavirus."

F5 Networks

Withdrawal confirmed

A company spokesperson confirmed to Light Reading on February 10 that the applications infrastructure company will not be on site at MWC Barcelona.

Infinera

Withdrawal confirmed

Optical equipment maker said it would no longer attend in "response to the ongoing threat of the novel coronavirus."

Intel

Withdrawal reported

Chipmaker reported by industry sources to have pulled out entirely because of concern about the spread of coronavirus.

InterDigital

Withdrawal confirmed

The company announced late Monday that it won't be at MWC Barcelona, adding that "nothing is more important to us than the health and welfare of our employees."

Intracom Telecom

Withdrawal confirmed

Backhaul specialist pulled out for health reasons, stating: "Our employees, partners and customers are of paramount importance and they are always our first priority no matter what."

Light Reading

Withdrawal confirmed

Light Reading will not be sending its editorial staff to MWC Barcelona. We'll be monitoring MWC-related developments remotely and covering the industry's most interesting people, capital and technology news.

LG

Withdrawal confirmed

South Korean consumer electronics firm was the first big vendor to back out last week.

McAfee

Withdrawal confirmed

The computer security firm said: "Due to our continued concerns about novel coronavirus, McAfee has decided to withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020."

Mediatek

Withdrawal reported

Mobile SoC giant has pulled out to preserve the health and safety of its staff.

Nokia

Withdrawal confirmed

Finnish equipment giant quit on February 12 after carrying out a risk assessment and, like Ericsson, says it will use demos at smaller events closer to its customers.

NTT DoCoMo

Exhibition withdrawal confirmed

Japanese operator has canceled its exhibition but not said if this means no staff will be attending the event.

Nvidia

Withdrawal confirmed

Chipmaker withdrew over the weekend, saying the safety of staff, partners and customers was its paramount concern.

Panorama Software

Withdrawal reported

Reported by The Mobile Network to have said it will not be exhibiting at or participating in this year's show because of virus concerns.

Radwin

Withdrawal confirmed

Broadband wireless equipment specialist has canceled its participation, citing the health and safety of staff.

Rakuten

Withdrawal confirmed

Japanese ecommerce company quit MWC citing health and safety concerns surrounding the novel coronavirrus.

Sony

Withdrawal confirmed

Japanese electronics giant said safety and well-being were its priorities as it canceled its exhibition and participation.

Spirent

Withdrawal confirmed

Test company Spirent announced on February 11 that it had made the decision not to participate in this year's MWC out of concern about coronavirus risks.

Sprint

Withdrawal confirmed

US operator due to merge with T-Mobile said in a statement: "Our team will not be attending MWC due to concerns around the novel coronavirus."

Veon

Withdrawal confirmed

Emerging-markets operator, with 212 million customers worldwide, confirmed its withdrawal to Light Reading on February 12.

Viavi Solutions

Withdrawal confirmed

A smaller vendor at the show, Viavi said it would have sent 50 people until it decided the risks were too great.

Vodafone

Withdrawal confirmed

UK-based operator pulls out on afternoon of February 12 citing health concerns for employees, customers and partners.

Sources: The companies, media reports, The Mobile Network's list, and Light Reading editors.

Despite the mass exodus, the GSM Association, which organizes MWC, is still set to run the show starting on February 24 and plans to introduce more hygiene facilities and restrict access to visitors from China, where the coronavirus started and is at its worst, in an attempt to address concerns. It has not responded to recent requests for a comment on the withdrawals and has issued no official statements about the event since February 9.

However, a report in Wired magazine says the GSMA is now eager to cancel this year's event but is at loggerheads with Spanish authorities, which refuse to declare a health emergency. Without that, the GSMA cannot claim back insurance on MWC, according to that report.

For all the latest news from the wireless networking and services sector, check out our dedicated mobile content channel here on Light Reading.

If the show does go ahead, it now seems likely to attract only a fraction of the 109,000 attendees who went last year.

Explaining its decision, Vodafone said: "While the potential risk is hard to quantify accurately at this stage, we have taken this decision because we place the utmost importance in the safety and wellbeing of our employees, customers and partners."

Deutsche Telekom later posted its own Twitter message saying: "Deutsche Telekom has decided not to participate in the MWC this year. This wasn't an easy decision for us. But the health of our employees and of everyone who is our guest at MWC comes first. The MWC is a great fair. And we are already looking forward to the next MWC."

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— Iain Morris, International Editor, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

Iain Morris

International Editor, Light Reading

Iain Morris joined Light Reading as News Editor at the start of 2015 -- and we mean, right at the start. His friends and family were still singing Auld Lang Syne as Iain started sourcing New Year's Eve UK mobile network congestion statistics. Prior to boosting Light Reading's UK-based editorial team numbers (he is based in London, south of the river), Iain was a successful freelance writer and editor who had been covering the telecoms sector for the past 15 years. His work has appeared in publications including The Economist (classy!) and The Observer, besides a variety of trade and business journals. He was previously the lead telecoms analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, and before that worked as a features editor at Telecommunications magazine. Iain started out in telecoms as an editor at consulting and market-research company Analysys (now Analysys Mason).

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