Mobile World Congress cancelled; OFC still on, with precautions

The GSMA, organizers of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) event held annually in Barcelona, Spain, announced yesterday that it will cancel this year’s event due to exhibitor and attendee concerns related to the coronavirus outbreak in China. The decision to scrap MWC, arguably the most important mobile communications event in the world, has led some in the optical community to wonder if OFC 2020, slated for San Diego March 8-12, will suffer the same fate. Organizers of the optical event today indicated in an online post -- and subsequently emphasized directly to Lightwave -- that there are no plans to cancel the show. They added that precautions to ensure attendee health will be put in place.

Despite the fact that only two cases of coronavirus have been identified in Spain, according to press reports, as well as the delivery of statements of support by Spanish government health officials, big name MWC participants such as BT and Vodafone on the carrier side and vendors such as Ericsson and Nokia had announced over the past week that they were pulling out of the show. “With due regard to the safe and healthy environment in Barcelona and the host country today, the GSMA has cancelled MWC Barcelona 2020 because the global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern, and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event,” said GSMA CEO John Hoffman. “The GSMA and the Host City Parties will continue to be working in unison and supporting each other for MWC Barcelona 2021 and future editions.”

In addition to Nokia, other vendors who would be expected to appear in San Diego, such as ADTRAN, Ciena, and Infinera, also pulled out of MWC. Meanwhile, with Chinese companies sending an increasingly large contingent of exhibitors and attendees to the show, concerns have arisen about OFC.

Taking precautions

With such concerns undoubtedly in mind, show organizers issued an updated statement on the event website today in the wake of the MWC decision. “Due to the COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus) outbreak, OFC Management is closely monitoring the ongoing potential impact for our attendees, exhibitors, and vendors,” said Ryan Strowger, head of OFC Management, in the statement. “We are following the guidance from worldwide health organizations and experts. We are fully committed to taking appropriate precautions to provide a safe and healthy environment for attendees.”

Such precautions include the deployment of hand sanitizer stations, taking extra care when cleaning common and assembly areas, and identifying emergency treatment facilities that could be used should they be required. The organizers also are urging attendees to limit their physical contact, including refraining from such common trade show activities as shaking hands and trading business cards. OFC Management suggests the use of badge scanners and the event app as alternatives.

Nevertheless, OFC Management recognizes its attendee and exhibitor roster will shrink. “OFC Management understands that individuals who have been in China (originating or visiting) within 14 calendar days, will be unable to participate in person at OFC 2020 due to travel restrictions barring access to the U.S.,” reads the statement. “Some Chinese exhibiting companies have determined that they will be unable to exhibit, while other Chinese exhibiting companies may utilize non-China based staff, or sales representatives/distributors with knowledge of their products and services to represent them.”

Huawei, which usually has a large booth on the show floor, had previously decided not exhibit of OFC 2020 and therefore their absence from the exhibit hall will be unrelated to the virus. However, several smaller Chinese companies have banded together over the past several years to populate a China Pavilion on the show floor. How large this section will be next March, and how neighboring exhibitors will feel about their proximity, is an open question.

So too is how the travel restrictions will affect the availability of conference speakers. A source within OFC’s media relations team says that Qi Bi, president of the China Telecom Technology Innovation Center and CTO of the China Telecom Beijing Research Institute, remains scheduled to give one of the plenary talks on March 10.

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