MWC hopes to surpass 101,000 visitors and generate up to €550m

The world's biggest mobile fair – Mobile World Congress (MWC) – returns to Barcelona from March 3 to 6 with a focus on artificial intelligence.

Organizers hope to surpass the 101,000 visitors that attended last year and generate an economic impact of €540–550 million.

Huawei, Samsung, Meta, and Google are some of the 2,700 companies that will be presenting their latest tech innovations, including robots, transparent screens, and flying devices.

There will also be a conference program with 1,200 speakers, including the father of modern artificial intelligence, Jürgen Schmidhuber.

Commited to Barcelona

During a press conference on Wednesday, organizers GSMA reaffirmed their commitment to Barcelona despite leadership changes.

The 2025 edition will be the last with Mats Granryd as director general of GSMA, and he promised that the relationship with Barcelona will remain unchanged after his departure. 

"There is no change in commitments whatsoever," he said, "no instability whatsoever."

The congress has signed a contract with local authorities until 2030, which will be automatically renewed if all parties agree.

As part of the deal, the various administrations committed to increasing their contributions to the congress from €15 million to €24 million.

Venue expansion

GSMA CEO John Hoffman said he is eagerly anticipating the expansion of Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue which is expected to be completed by 2027.

"We are now using every square meter. It's hard to believe, but we've nearly outgrown that space, which is why we're looking forward to the grand opening of Hall Zero in 2027. It looks amazing, and we can't wait to fill it all up," he said.

Disruptive energy

Hoffman spoke of the buzz around AI in the tech world, comparing it to the early days of mobile technology.

"In this new tech era with AI creating massive opportunities you can feel the excitement that's going to be in the air," he said. 

"The same disruptive energy that was brought as the mobile industry first exploded, it's back again at MWC 2025. There's a real sense that not only is everything possible, but it’s actually going to happen," he added.

Remote driving of a car in Finland

During the press conference, the organizers admitted they had few details on what will be showcased across the eight pavilions of the Gran Via venue, as companies are reluctant to reveal their presentations in advance.

They did announce that one of the innovations will come from Nokia and Elmo Cars, who will demonstrate how a car located in Finland can be remotely driven.

Organizers explained that the number of people attending won't be the most important measure of success, but, Granryd said, "we hope everything will be better and bigger."

Podcast

To get a flavor of the MWC experience, check out the podcast below, recorded at the 2024 fair.