MWC Barcelona 2024 welcomes the most iconic names in connectivity for nine keynote sessions; event features include 4YFN, Connected Industries, Journey to the Future, GSMA Foundry and the GSMA Ministerial Programme
26 February 2024, Barcelona: GSMA MWC Barcelona 2024 returned to the Fira de Barcelona today, 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.
Mats Granryd, Director General of the GSMA, 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 With over half of our attendees coming from beyond the core mobile ecosystem, MWC no longer represents just one industry.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 - Tim H ttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom; Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange; Jos Mar a lvarez-Pallete, Chairman & CEO of Telef nica; and Margherita Della Valle, Group CEO of Vodafone Group - 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.
Jos Mar a lvarez-Pallete, Chairman of the GSMA Board and Chairman & CEO of Telef nica, said, In April this year, we celebrate 100 years that Telef nica has been bringing people closer through the power of connectivity. As Telef nica 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% 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% adoption by the end of the decade.
58% 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% of global GDP in 2023, a contribution that amounted to $5.7 trillion of economic value.
5G is expected to benefit the global economy by more than $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.
New and returning features for MWC Barcelona 2024 include the Talent Arena by Mobile World Capital Barcelona in Hall 3; the startup and innovation platform, 4YFN, which celebrates its 10th anniversary edition in Halls 8.0 and 8.1; Connected Industries and GSMA Foundry on the GSMA Pavilion in Hall 4; Journey to the Future in Hall 6.
The MWC Barcelona keynotes and content from the Debate Stage will be live streamed from the MWC website and app, as well as from Mobile World Live. All of this content and the conference sessions will be available on demand on the MWC website.
Find the latest news and information live from the MWC Barcelona Press Zone.
- ENDS -
About GSMA
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
One-button synth generates random four-track ideas
Cyma Forma and French artist Bambounou have announced RND synth, a compact hardware synthesizer built aro...
08/05/2026
Portable four-layer granular and sampling instrument
Tasty Chips have announced the GR-2, a new granular synthesizer and sampling instrument that combines e...
08/05/2026
Video Show Report
Video of SUPERBOOTH 26: Polyend Drums
Polyends big announcement for Superbooth 2026 is the Drums, a new drum machine that features both ...
08/05/2026
Deal agreed as NI enters new chapter
Native Instruments CEO Nick Williams has announced that a definitive agreement has been signed for the company to be ac...
08/05/2026
Video Show Report
Video of SUPERBOOTH 26: Erica Bullfrog Drums
The Bullfrog Drums is the latest collaboration between Erica Synths and Richie Hawtin, and ...
08/05/2026
In our latest blog, Tim Pearson reflects on the recent launch of Play Snooker, the new digital home of snooker by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker A...
08/05/2026
Pete reunites with Dogs Trust for a fourth series and a two-part overseas special
London, Friday 8th May 2026: The award winning factual entertainment series P...
08/05/2026
Wuppertal May 8, 2026
Riedel to Support Glasgow 2026 as Official Connectivity Integration Provider Riedel Communications today announced its return as a spons...
08/05/2026
ICG is excited to share news of our official launch in Northern Ireland, marking a significant milestone in the agency's growth.
Led by Digital Marketing M...
08/05/2026
Over the past ten years, Thames Water, in partnership with Arqiva, has installed more than 1.2 million smart meters, creating one of the most extensive advanced...
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
January 8, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), a leader in high-performance, on-s...
07/05/2026
February 9, 2024
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning pioneer i...
07/05/2026
March 20, 2024
NAB 2024, Las Vegas - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-awa...
07/05/2026
April 1, 2025
CINEMACON, APRIL 1, 2025 - Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming syste...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), an Academy and Emmy Award-winning de...
07/05/2026
June 15, 2025
Colorfront participated in the ICTA Barcelona Cinema Technology Summit on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Held at The Phenomena Experience, the event feat...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
July 1, 2025
Passion and dedication will take you places. Come with us on a short trip to the heart of India, where Annapurna Studios is living-up to the inspi...
07/05/2026
July 3, 2025
Colorfront (colorfront.com), the multi-award-winning developer of high-performance dailies/transcoding/streaming systems for motion pictures, OTT,...
07/05/2026
September 1, 2025
IBC 2025, Amsterdam - Colorfront (colorfront.com) - the Acade...
07/05/2026
April 17, 2026
LOS ANGELES - April 17, 2026 - Colorfront today announced Colorf...
07/05/2026
April 23, 2026
NAB 2026, Las Vegas - the Academy and Emmy Award-winning develop...
07/05/2026
Comscore to Announce First Quarter 2026 Financial ResultsRESTON, Va., May 7, 2026 - Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting a...
07/05/2026
Thursday 7 May 2026
Sky continues Sphere Abacus partnership with The Death of S...
07/05/2026
Thursday 7 May 2026
Sky Confirms Saturday Night Live UK will return this September for Series Two
Saturday Night Live UK will return for a second series, as S...
07/05/2026
Save 20% on the Sky Glass Gen 2 and Sky Glass Air TVsThursday 7 May 2026
How to watch the World Cup on Sky Glass
Tune into the World Cup on the BBC and ITV vi...
07/05/2026
Production sound mixer Dirk Sciarrotta has mixed Family Feud for 28 seasons. Thats up to 200 syndicated episodes per year, plus primetime celebrity specials - a...
07/05/2026
As audience expectations have evolved, Owen has stopped trying to hide microphones or excuse amplification. Instead, he treats sound as a fully immersive part o...
07/05/2026
Well known Irish faces pushed to the edge in new series of
Uncharted with Ray G...
07/05/2026
RT will premiere A Traveller Family, a compelling new documentary exploring the...
06/05/2026
New pricing tiers for vocal/dialogue restoration tool
NoiseWorks Audio's AI-powered vocal and dialogue processing plug-in is now available in three diff...
06/05/2026
Popular mixing & routing software overhauled
Following a recent public beta test, RME have launched the final release version of the powerful mixing and rou...
MWC Barcelona 2024 welcomes the most iconic names in connectivity for nine keynote sessions; event features include 4YFN, Connected Industries, Journey to the Future, GSMA Foundry and the GSMA Ministerial Programme 
