By Oystein Bergmann, Bureau Chief, Scandinavia

GSMA MWC Barcelona 2024 returned to the Fira de Barcelona Monday, marking the beginning of the world’s largest and most influential connectivity event.

Hosted by the GSMA, MWC Barcelona convenes leaders from the global mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries for four days of networking, driving new business and delving into the latest trends shaping the future of connectivity. 

Director-General of the GSMA, Mats Granryd, said, “It is fantastic to be here with you today at the opening of MWC in beautiful Barcelona! With over half of our attendees coming from beyond the core mobile ecosystem, MWC no longer represents just one industry. As connectivity brings us together, technology opens possibilities – with connectivity driving a fusion of technology and purpose across all sectors, enabling new possibilities. This week is all about exploring the future’s potential for businesses and society.”

Industry leaders and innovators on the MWC Main Stage

MWC Barcelona welcomes some of the most respected names in connectivity as keynote speakers, representing leading figures from business, government, academia, and non-government organisations. 

Among the sessions taking place at the MWC Main Stage on Day 1 is an exclusive gathering of the CEOs at Europe’s largest mobile operators – CEO of Deutsche TelekomTim Höttges; CEO of Orange Christel Heydemann; Chairman & CEO of TelefónicaJosé María Álvarez-Pallete, ; and Margherita Della Valle, Group CEO of Vodafone Group Margherita Della Valle, – from 4:30-5:00pm CET.

The keynote will explore the state of the mobile industry in Europe, the need for policy change to support infrastructure investments, the transition to green energy, and the importance of fostering industry-wide collaborations such as the GSMA Open Gateway. 

José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chairman of the GSMA Board and Chairman & CEO of Telefónica, said, “In April this year, we celebrate 100 years that Telefónica has been bringing people closer through the power of connectivity. As Telefónica has changed with the times, so too has our industry which now benefits every business and individual on the planet. At MWC Barcelona 2024, you will see how collaboration and connected innovations are driving positive societal change that will help us realise the future’s potential over the next 100 years.”

GSMA Open Gateway: Unlocking the potential of 5G 

The GSMA outlined the progress the industry and its partners are making in unlocking the full potential of 5G and commercialising network APIs through the GSMA Open Gateway initiative.

Unveiled at MWC Barcelona 2023, the Open Gateway is designed to accelerate the growth of digital services and apps by providing developers with universal access to operator networks. Over the last 12 months, 47 mobile operator groups – representing 239 mobile networks and 65 per cent of global connections – have now signed up to the initiative. 

Working with technology partners including AWS, Infobip, Microsoft, Nokia and Vonage, a total of 94 APIs are now commercially available to enterprise developers in 21 markets across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas.

Purposes for which APIs have recently been brought to market include fraud prevention and identity verification.    

Mobile Economy Report 2024

To mark the opening of MWC Barcelona, the GSMA launched its annual Mobile Economy Report. It spotlights the latest trends shaping the global mobile ecosystem and recommends areas of investment to help the industry expand mobile access and improve service quality. Key findings include:

5G will account for over half (51%) of total mobile connections by 2029 and reach 56 per cent adoption by the end of the decade.

58 per cent of the world’s population were using mobile internet at the end of 2023, representing 4.7 billion users and an increase of 2.1 billion since 2015. 

3 billion people are still not using mobile internet despite living in an area covered by mobile broadband networks (the ‘Usage Gap’), underscoring the urgency of addressing barriers to adoption highlighted in the GSMA’s ‘Breaking Barriers’ campaign, such as handset affordability and literacy/digital skills. 

Mobile technologies and services generated 5.4 per cent of global GDP in 2023, a contribution that amounted to US$5.7 trillion of economic value. 

5G is expected to benefit the global economy by more than US$930 billion in 2030, of which the primary beneficiaries are expected to be manufacturing (36%), public administration (15%) and the services (10%) industries.

GSMA Ministerial Programme  

The GSMA Ministerial Programme is the world’s largest gathering of policymakers and industry leaders that enable the digital economy. Ministers, heads of regulatory authorities and policymakers come to MWC every year to meet with mobile industry CEOs and senior representatives of international organisations, share knowledge, and evolve priority policy and regulatory issues.