The GSMA today announced the North American edition of MWC will move to Las Vegas in 2022. The event, which had previously been held in Los Angeles, will move to the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall from September 28-30.
It will continue to be held in partnership with the CTIA. The event is part of the GSMA’s annual series of MWC shows that include editions in Barcelona, Africa and Shanghai.
All of GSMA’s events have taken a big hit because of Covid. The Americas event was cancelled in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. And although it went on as planned in 2021, it was much scaled down from previous years.
The 2021 Los Angeles event didn’t offer much in the way of news-related keynotes, but there was still value in meeting people face-to-face and garnering news from vendors and other industry stakeholders.
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Alejandro Pinero, the head of events for the Fierce Telecom group, said, “Los Angeles was always an odd fit for their U.S. MWC show. They didn’t manage to build a connection with the entertainment, gaming or auto industries, which are largely present in LA and that the GSMA was targeting to expand the remit and reach of the show. The plan to grow the show was always to attract these verticals and it just didn’t work.”
Kevin Gray, publisher of the Fierce Telecom group, said, "Committing to venues and dates in this environment is extremely difficult. While Los Angeles was a great location for this show over its previous few renditions, the market has changed a lot. What was once looking like more of a convergence between Telecom and Entertainment, has completely reversed, and the "entertainment" angle of the show might not be as applicable as it once was. I'm excited to hear they’ll be in Las Vegas, and I'm confident it will be a great show. The industry is ready for live events to return, and our team is looking forward to being there in full force."
This year’s MWC Las Vegas event will focus on the theme of Connectivity Unleashed and cover topics such as 5G, IoT and telco cloud.
The Las Vegas Convention Center’s new West Hall was completed in 2021 and comprises 1.4 million square feet of event space.
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GSMA currently has its hands full preparing for its premiere event in Barcelona, Spain, which takes place next week.