The GSM Association has canceled the Mobile World Congress telecom fair due to increased concerns about the coronavirus 2019-nCoV. In recent days, many exhibitors have already withdrawn. The entire fair is canceled, but nothing is known about events around it.
GSMA director John Hoffman has announced that it had become impossible to organize the fair. Important exhibitors including major European providers such as Orange, Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom, network suppliers Nokia and Ericsson and smartphone makers such as LG, Sony and HMD Global had already withdrawn.
It is unknown whether the events surrounding the fair will continue. Smartphone makers Oppo, Huawei and Lenovo, among others, had planned announcements in the weekend leading up to the show through events at locations in Barcelona. Sony, LG and HMD Global, among others, have canceled those press conferences, but Huawei posted another teaser for its event on Wednesday.
The cancellation of the fair is related to 2019-nCoV, the new corona virus that emerged in China last month and is causing unrest worldwide. Until now, the GSMA had maintained in official reporting that the fair is going ahead as planned. The organization did propose measures such as a ‘no-handshake’ policy and a temperature measurement for visitors. MWC was supposed to take place from February 24 to 27 in Barcelona.